Confidence man by ron suskind1/6/2024 ![]() ![]() But it does seem clear that once he learned that Geithner ignored this option, Obama didn’t do much of anything about it. In its article from last week, the Associated Press called Obama’s directive an “order to consider.” I often order my 14-month-old daughter to consider making less of a mess while eating. It’s not completely clear from press accounts whether Geithner directly countermanded an order about Citi. That’s why the concern here isn’t what the book tells us about Geithner. Confidence Men also confirms what we knew about Obama’s White House: that the president appointed the wrong economic team from the start, failed to crack down on the banks, and was Solomonic to a fault when formulating responses to the financial crisis (oh, and news flash: Larry Summers is hard to work with!). In early 2004, when Suskind and Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill produced The Price of Loyalty, I reviewed it for The New York Times and found it persuasive.That book was the first to confirm what everyone knew anyway: that the Bush White House was run according to politics, not policy. I guess I should note also that I’m on record as taking Suskind at his word in such matters. I should note that I haven’t read the book and will purchase it on the same schedule as regular mortals. ![]() The early accounts suggest that we should worry what he’s learned in the job so far. While news stories about Ron Suskind’s new book Confidence Men have emphasized Tim Geithner’s supposed betrayal of Barack Obama on the question of winding down Citigroup, we should all be more interested in what the book tells us about Obama. For the first couple of years, while insiders are still trying to advance and curry favor, background quotes in such articles and books tend to show the POTUS as resolute, thinking of the big picture while those around him pursue their narrow agendas, and doing all those admirable things Kipling once advised.īy now, the ship is leaking, figuratively and literally. This is just about the right time, according to recent history, for the appearance of inside-the-White-House accounts that show the president in an other-than-flattering light. ![]()
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