Confidence Men

Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President

De: Ron Suskind

Narrado por: James Lurie

The hidden history of Wall Street and the White House comes down to a single, powerful, quintessentially American concept: confidence. Both centers of power, tapping brazen innovations over the past three decades, learned how to manufacture it.

Until August 2007, when that confidence finally began to crumble.

In this gripping and brilliantly reported book, Ron Suskind tells the story of what happened next, as Wall Street struggled to save itself while a man with little experience and soaring rhetoric emerged from obscurity to usher in “a new era of responsibility.” It is a story that follows the journey of Barack Obama, who rose as the country fell, and offers the first full portrait of his tumultuous presidency.

Wall Street found that straying from long-standing principles of transparency, accountability, and fair dealing opened a path to stunning profits. Obama’s determination to reverse that trend was essential to his ascendance, especially when Wall Street collapsed during the fall of an election year and the two candidates could audition for the presidency by responding to a national crisis. But as he stood on the stage in Grant Park, a shudder went through Barack Obama. He would now have to command Washington, tame New York, and rescue the economy in the first real management job of his life.

The new president surrounded himself with a team of seasoned players—like Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, and Tim Geithner—who had served a different president in a different time. As the nation’s crises deepened, Obama’s deputies often ignored the president’s decisions—“to protect him from himself”—while they fought to seize control of a rudderless White House. Bitter disputes—between men and women, policy and politics—ruled the day. The result was an administration that found itself overtaken by events as, year to year, Obama struggled to grow into the world’s toughest job and, in desperation, take control of his own administration.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind intro-duces readers to an ensemble cast, from the titans of high finance to a new generation of reformers, from petulant congressmen and acerbic lobbyists to a tight circle of White House advisers—and, ultimately, to the president himself, as you’ve never before seen him. Based on hundreds of interviews and filled with piercing insights and startling disclosures, Confidence Men brings into focus the collusion and conflict between the nation’s two capitals—New York and Washington, one of private gain, the other of public purpose—in defining confidence and, thereby, charting America’s future.

Fabulous book

This is the best book I have read on the subject of what went on behind the scenes during the first two years of Obama's presidency, what happened with healthcare, the economy and why his popularity flagged. The narration by James Lurie is just superb, I have listened to it four times and always hear something new. It is very informative and entertaining.

It's Tough Being President

This book gives plenty of insight into the Obama White House. I pray that he can develop the leadership wisdom to take better advantage of his advisors over the next two years.

Why we should hate Bankers, and Govement failed

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Inside story on how the Greedy Bankers took us down the road of a great depression. We also find out that neither Dem’s nor Repub's didn’t help. Makes you want to hold the financial leaders for Treason. Terrorist are a threat, but these guys can do a lot more damage.. and faster!

Who was your favorite character and why?

None...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No--Got too mad

Any additional comments?

Great book! I learned I didn't want to know what I now know

Obama is not Liberal enough...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I'm glad I listened, because it helped me understand a point of view that I didn't understand before. I read this book because it was recommended to me by a professional college with a very dark view of our country's economic future. I didn't realize the level of liberal bias from the author's view point prior to listening to the book. I figured it out pretty quick when Elizabeth Warren (Miss min. Wage should be $24 per hour) was characterized by the author as one of the most brilliant people on the face of the planet. I have a healthy skepticism about books like this that are written as a fly on the wall perspective on some of the most powerful people in the world. If you would like to understand why the far-left has been dissatisfied with Obama's first term this book is for you.

If you’ve listened to books by Ron Suskind before, how does this one compare?

I have not, but I googled him halfway through listening and read some scathing opinions of the author that lead me to further distrust the validity of some of the quotes in the book. My problem with the author is he tries to give the impression that this is a hard hitting unbiased review of Obama's economic policy's but never really gets there. All the blame goes to Larry Somers and the harshest criticism of Obama is that he is too collegial and not Liberal enough.

Have only listened to the first 15 minutes...

and I can't stand the narrator’s voice! It distracts from the story!! All I can think about is his low, scratchy delivery.