Overhaul (eBook)

Description

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A uniquely informed investigative account of one of the biggest financial crises of President Obama’s early administration

 

During his first year in office, President Obama faced the possibility of more than a million lost jobs as GM and Chrysler headed for financial ruin. He joined forces with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and economic advisor Larry Summers in a historic government intervention to keep these two auto-industry giants afloat, working against a ticking clock and fielding vocal opposition from free market champions along the way. It's from this vantage point that former New York Times financial journalist Steven Rattner witnesses a new administration's grace under pressure in the face of gross corporate mismanagement—a scenario rich in hard-earned lessons for managers and executives in any industry.

About the Author

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As Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Rattner led the Administration’s efforts to restructure the auto industry. Prior to that, he was Managing Principal of Quadrangle Group, LLC. At Lazard Frères & Co. he was Deputy Chairman/Deputy Chief Executive Officer, after tenures at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. He was also employed by the New York Times for nearly nine years, principally as an economic correspondent. He continues to write for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Financial Times. He lives in New York.

Praise for Overhaul…

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"Obama auto czar Rattner delivers a vigorous account of the bailout of the automobile industry -- a success, though one fraught with controversy... A fine inside-baseball account of how things can get done when people agree to get them done, even in Washington." --Kirkus Reviews

"OVERHAUL is filled with delicious descriptions of what happened behind the scenes in the White House and at the Treasury Department as the effort to save GM and Chrysler unfolded... a riveting read." --Wall Street Journal

"Required reading." --New York Times

"[a] compelling story about how government reacts to economic crisis...Rattner's book is an extraordinary account of how government, brandishing the stick of bankruptcy, was able in a few months to accomplish tremendous restructuring of a major American industry in ways that had eluded the private sector for half a century or more. (His material on GM's clueless management is truly priceless.)" --Slate.com

"Unquestionably the best book so far about the Obama presidency" --Slate.com

"[OVERHAUL] offers a careful, but lively, account of the auto industry bailout. Rattner takes us from the very beginning, when the Bush Administration was still in charge and two Detroit automakers were on the verge of total collapse, almost until the present day, when one of the companies (General Motors) seems to be thriving and the other (Chrysler) seems at least to be surviving." --NewRepublic.com

"While there have been other books about the Obama administration, this is the first from the inside and it is full of glimpses behind the curtain that we usually have to wait four years to see….The best parts of “Overhaul” are the vivid pictures Rattner paints of the economic team.” –Bloomberg News

“Steven Rattner shows a journalist's eye for detail….OVERHAUL is a feast of political and financial intrigue.” – Detroit Free Press

"With lively reconstructions of meetings in the Oval Office, Rattner shows the struggle over whether government should intervene….persuasive…illuminating…After Team Auto, GM has a much cleaner balance sheet and is set for a stock market flotation before theend of the year. The government might well get its money back. So those who think Obama is bad for business should read Overhaul. But anyone who believes in the fiction of arm’s-length government investment will find some corrective facts, too." -- Financial Times

"Overhaul" is not a Washington memoir, even though it is set in Washington, and it involves one of the most deeply politicized issues in recent memory. It is a Wall Street memoir, a book about one of the biggest private-equity deals in history....unexpectedly fascinating" - Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker

"Overhaul is required reading to understand the auto industry." - Motor Trend

"[a] surprisingly modest account…Rattner has a journalistic talent for the telling detail, resulting in a memorable tale of life in the middle of the economic meltdown….Rattner deftly draws portraits of the inhabitants of "the Oval" and the West Wing….Rattner has proved himself a gifted chronicler." - Time Magazine

"[Rattner] writes lucidly and does a good job of balancing reportage and opinion. He gives us a useful record of both what the auto bailout looked like from inside the process and what the U.S. government looks like -- when it's working and when it is not. From both angles, this is a comprehensive, useful and readable look under the hood." - Knowledge@Wharton (UPenn)