Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsHIGHLY RECOMMENDED for corporate managers and investors
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2019
As euphoric as I felt in 2008 at Obama's presidential win, I felt much of his presidency was littered with half-baked (Obamacare) and ineffective (Iran) policies. It seemed he dithered and shied away from tough decisions (the Keystone pipeline delay, the theater of the Bowles-Simpson Commission). So how, I always wondered, had he managed to save the US auto sector? I remember thinking in 2009 that (a) Chrysler and GM were in such bad shape they could not be saved, (b) any attempt to save them could backfire terribly if it failed and (c) even if they were saved, they would still find a way to disappoint down the line. I am an investor, and although I do not follow the industry closely, I was nevertheless struck by how different GM performed pre-2008 crisis vs. post-crisis.
This book decisively answered my curiosity. Steve Rattner, as the head of Team Auto in Obama's administration, provides a scintillating, detailed and fast-moving account of the bailout effort. I am stunned that this team achieved the restructuring of both GM and Chrysler in such short time (about 6 months). He literally had people, most with no auto experience, joining one day and then a month later these very same people were meeting senior executives and board members of Chrysler and GM. Many of these hires were in their 20s and 30s! Rattner structures the plot, personalities and financial data (it helps to have an introductory understanding of assets, liabilities and financial instruments) fluidly and at times humorously, navigating back-and-forth between the trees-and-the-forest view without losing or confusing us.
Apart from questions of Rattner's personality and the merits of the bailout itself, I think the negative reviews I've read seriously discount how intrepidly Rattner furnishes the telling details, side conversations, phone calls .... the "Color" .... that all outstanding writing shares. He does this while maintaining a firm hold of the high-level themes that run throughout the book. Bankruptcies are not easy events to explain or go through. I am perplexed that many reviewers found Rattner to be arrogant. Really? Try reading memoirs of other people who worked in Washington. They quote reporters quoting them. Dick Cheney refers to himself as President of the United States Senate (which he is but ....). Rattner, in my view at least, was refreshingly candid in his doubts about taking the job, admitting when he didn't know what to say for example when cornered by a Congressman, and expressing his surprise at things he and the team overlooked given the fast pace of events. He even does us the favor of "second-guessing" himself at the end by asking, "What could we have done better?" and providing thoughtful ripostes for decisions they voted against. When was the last time you heard someone who worked in Washington pose hypotheticals against himself? When he does criticize or complain about people, which again is refreshingly honest (I read some other Washington memoirs which were so vanilla it seemed like a joke), he does not do it in a mean-spirited way and provides examples of what prompts the criticism so that we can form our own views. I was also struck at how gracious he was, in both writing the book and managing the bailout, in giving scope, credit and support to others, especially junior staff who did much of the work. He actually seemed to enjoy their energy and commitment. You will notice how much of the book he spends describing what people in his team did, as opposed to focusing on himself, which would have been easy to do. Such a leader, I suspect, was working tirelessly and collegially in the background to set-up others to succeed. He rarely mentions Obama since they did not interact much, and highlights how he did not even make the cut as a "potted plant" in one of the first speeches Obama gave about the auto bailout effort.
Whether you agree with or like Steve Rattner or not, I applaud his journalist-trained ability to weave politics, autos and financial restructuring into a compelling story, incorporating multiple players, complex events and his own commentary to help explain. If you enjoyed the Flash Boys or Liar's Poker, or other business books such as Warren Buffet biographies, you will definitely enjoy this book.
