Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President

Mismanagement. Over the course of 500 pages in a book titled, Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President, Ron Suskind presents the many missed opportunities and mismanagement in the early years of the Obama administration. He also explores every possible meaning of “confidence.” Assembled from hundreds of hours of interviews with hundreds of people, I found this book to be comprehensive, and also packed with errors in details that were sometimes distracting. Given the broad scope and journalistic style, some errors are to be expected, and historians should sort it all out. The villains of the book are Larry Summers and Rahm Emmanuel, the best examples of Suskind’s key premise: “the key president’s authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisors” (p. 458). Any reader interested in contemporary politics will enjoy this book.

Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
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