Paul O'Neill and John Snow

Having just finished reading Paul O'Neill's book from a couple years ago, The Price of Loyalty, it's natural to develop a completely different perspective of Treasury Secretary John Snow than one would glean from listening to him speak in public.


He has been routinely mocked in these pages (see here and here), and for good reason - he comes off as a buffoonish sort of caricature with big bushy eyebrows, who repeats the same talking points over and over.

When pressed for elaboration or some spontaneous thought that might inspire faith in the stewardship of the nation's finances, he always disappoints.

Listening to he and Alan Greenspan sit side by side during Congressional Testimony was a sight to behold - the Treasury Secretary would never veer from what sounded like a prepared script, while the Fed chairman would wax eloquently for many minutes at a time, informing and amusing, while sometimes confounding his audience.

The Economist Magazine has referred to the Treasury Secretary as a traveling salesman:

In theory, Mr Bush's economic team is headed by John Snow. The president was on the point of sacking his treasury secretary at the end of last year; he then pulled back—but only apparently to keep Mr Snow as a travelling salesman for his pension-reform scheme. The former railroad boss has recently visited such well-known global financial centres as San Antonio, Albuquerque and New Orleans.

But, after digesting Mr. O'Neill's tome, Mr. Snow's approach to his job now seems clear.

About three years ago, when asked by the Bush administration if he wanted the job of Treasury Secretary, Mr. Snow must have rightly figured, "Well, if it's not me they'll find someone else to just parrot what the inner circle wants, and history will blame Bush and Greenspan for this mess anyway, so why not be Treasury Secretary for a few years and allow all my descendents to talk about me like I was another Alexander Hamilton".

There are many accounts in The Price of Loyalty where an outspoken Secretary O'Neill was taken to task for not promoting the party line. For example, speaking honestly about issues such as the "strong" dollar policy and working with Alan Greenspan to craft "triggers" for tax cuts. He remarked on more than one occasion that "cutting taxes is not an economic policy" and bristled when told that "deficits don't matter".

In the end, balking at the last round of tax cuts proved to be his undoing, but it sounded like he had one foot out the door anyway. His recollection of Christine Todd Whitmann and Colin Powell as the other square pegs was particularly enlightening and the continuing absence of what he called an "honest broker" within the inner circle goes a long way in understanding many White House decisions.

It's not clear how much of this John Snow understood when accepting the position of Treasury Secretary about three years ago, but the White House seems to have gotten exactly what they were looking for - another "yes man".

We have a newfound respect for our Treasury Secretary.