Rebuttal

Geithner Attacks ‘Confidence Men’

Book bears “no resemblance to the reality we lived.”

Ron Suskind’s book Confidence Men continues to ruffle feathers in the Obama administration: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Suskind’s White House expose is full of “sad, little stories” and “bear[s] no resemblance to the reality we lived.” Suskind alleges in the book that Geithner never followed through on President Obama’s instructions to prepare plans for dismantling Citigroup, and a top banker calls Geithner “our man in Washington.” Separately, The Washington Post corroborates some of the book’s account of women’s alienation in the Obama administration: It says several female staffers confronted Obama in November 2009 over the fact that men seemed to enjoy greater access to him. Afterwards, the president worked to incorporate them more into White House and campaign business.