Did Ron Suskind get it wrong in 'Confidence Men'?
As his controversial new book hits shelves today, Ron Suskind is increasingly coming under fire for inaccuracies and misquotes alleged by the White House. As the storm builds over 鈥淐onfidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President,鈥� it鈥檚 difficult to determine 鈥� on both sides 鈥� where truth ends and image begins.
In an interview on NBC鈥檚 Today Show this morning, Mr. Suskind defended his book as 鈥減icture perfect鈥� and 鈥渟olid as a brick鈥� even as host Ann Curry recited a series of refutations from those quoted in the book.
鈥淐onfidence Men鈥� paints a picture of President Barack Obama鈥檚 lack of leadership and sometimes-dysfunctional White House economic team鈥檚 learning on the fly in the midst of an economic crisis. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Suskind says he conducted 746 hours of interviews with over 200 former and current people in the administration, including 50 minutes with the President himself. Some of those administration officials are now saying they鈥檝e been misquoted.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former chief economic adviser Christina Romer, and former Communications Director Anita Dunn, all contest the book鈥檚 reporting, saying their words were either taken out of context or never actually spoken.
In 鈥淐onfidence Men,鈥� Ms. Dunn is quoted as saying 鈥渢his place would be in court for a hostile workplace. .鈥�.鈥�. Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.鈥�
Dunn told that she was quoted out of context and that she told Suskind 鈥減oint blank鈥� that the White House was not a hostile work environment. Suskind allowed a Post reporter to review a recorded excerpt of his original interview with Dunn, in which she tells Suskind about a conversation she had with senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
鈥淚 remember once I told Valerie that, I said if it weren鈥檛 for the president, this place would be in court for a hostile workplace,鈥� . 鈥淏ecause it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.鈥�
When pressed on the quote, a serious omission, Suskind told NBC鈥檚 Ms. Curry 鈥淚t鈥檚 a political season鈥�. everyone鈥檚 under pressure.鈥�
On Monday, Mr. Geithner also slammed 鈥淐onfidence Men,鈥� calling it 鈥渟ad little stories.鈥� In it, Suskind claims Geithner dawdled in carrying out Obama鈥檚 orders on the economic crisis, and occasionally ignored his advice.
"I haven't read this book, but, to borrow a phrase, I lived the reality," Geithner told reporters at the White House, . "And the reports I've read about this book bear no resemblance to the reality we lived together."
Refuting that he and other economic advisers were slow to implement Obama鈥檚 orders on the economy, Geithner told reporters, "I would never do that. I've spent my life in public service. It's my great privilege to serve this president. And I would never contemplate doing that."
Not surprisingly, Obama鈥檚 press secretary, Jay Carney, is also questioning Suskind鈥檚 credibility and the book鈥檚 accuracy.
"What we know is that very simple things, facts that could be ascertained 鈥� dates, quotes, statistics 鈥� are wrong in this book,鈥� Mr. Carney said Monday. "In fact, one passage seems to be lifted almost entirely from Wikipedia鈥�. Based on that, I would caution anyone to assume that if you can't get those things right, you [can] get the broader analysis right," he added.
In the Today Show interview Tuesday, Curry also ran through a list of facts and statistics found to be inaccurately stated in the book.
Suskind, however, stood by his book. He pointed out that the book was 500 pages long and that it was hard to check every fact. He also said to Curry about the misquoting charges: 鈥淲hen the curtain is pulled back, [sources] often respond vigorously.鈥� He maintained that 鈥淐onfidence Men鈥� was not about tearing Obama down but about charting his growth.
鈥淭he whole point of the book is the evolution of Barack Obama to now and the President is quite forceful. In a way saying 鈥業'm the President, people hoped I would be,鈥� and that's part of what the book says.鈥�
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
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