The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry

I confess! When I scanned the fascinating table of contents for “The Power and the Money,” I immediately read the hilarious eight pages, “CEO Joke File.” (You will too!)• “My mom used to tell me not to laugh at another’s condition because we may be in their position one day. So I laugh at Bill Gate’s condition every day.”• “Steve Jobs would’ve been a better president than Trump. But I guess comparing apples to oranges is unfair.”• “I hope Elon Musk never gets involved in a scandal. Elongate would be really drawn out.”• “What’s the best thing about an Oprah Winfrey joke? You get the joke! You get the joke. You all get the joke!”This book entertains with another 50 CEO jokes about 18 “titans of industry”—but I hope you’ll read every engaging page of “The Power and The Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry,” by Tevi Troy.U.S. presidents “come and go,” writes bestselling historian Tevi Troy, who served in the White House and as Deputy Secretary of Health. “But CEOs—Chief Executive Officers of large corporations—in contrast, can potentially reign for decades.” What’s the best model for protecting your business while maintaining a healthy relationship with every new president’s administration? This book will shock you! Many CEOs were clueless on how to relate to U.S. presidents (and vice versa). You’ll love this book!Here's a taste of the “epic clashes” between 27 U.S. Presidents and 18 corporate CEOs.#1. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” (Ronald Reagan)#2. Lyndon Johnson, as senate majority leader, “…would brag about being the first legislator to get a car phone.” As president (he loved phones everywhere, including his bathroom), LBJ so valued his connection with CEO Lew Wasserman “…that he tried to make Wasserman as accessible as his own aides.” Without consulting the him, LBJ had someone from the White House Signal Corps install a phone in this CEO’s bedroom! True story! #3. Lee Iacocca “got an early lesson in the potency of cultivating presidential support.” Learning that Richard Nixon was sympathetic with the car industry, Iacocca went over the head of the Transportation Secretary to lobby Nixon on pending air bag regulations. “The regulation was suspended and air bags would not be mandated on American cars until…model year 1998.”#4. Reagan told Iacocca: “…you’re a smart guy, but my pollster tells me I’d commit political suicide if I raised the gas tax.” He explained that “people would blame him every week when they filled up their gas tanks.” Reagan added, “That’s why you’re sitting on that side of the desk, and I’m the President.”#5. As a child, Bill Gates “had an active mind and a quick tongue. Once, when his mother asked him what he was doing, he said, ‘I’m thinking.’ When she queried, ‘You’re thinking?’ He responded, ‘Yes, Mom, I’m thinking. Have you ever tried thinking?’ Such snappishness would occasionally get him into trouble in his battles with the government, but it was the active mind, and its early attraction to computers, that set him on his path in life.”#6. “Today, corporations are subject to a panoply of government impositions in the form of regulations and legislation that shape the way they do business. Everything from taxes to hiring to environmental impact to hours worked is regulated to some degree and plays into business strategies and consideration. This is far different than the situation as it stood in the late nineteenth century, when men like J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller built their monopolies with little federal governmental input.”#7. Jack Welch, who “eschewed interest in a possible cabinet opportunity,” did join Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Council. After one meeting that went very well, this CEO said, “…I’ve been coming down here since 1980, and this was the first presidential meeting I’ve ever had where it was like talking to a peer.”#8. Warren Buffett said in 2016, “I’ve never called a president in my life. So I don’t initiate ‘em. But…if any president asks me for help in any way, I mean, that’s part of being a citizen.” Stunning! Buffett “had thus far lived under fifteen, or one third, of our nation’s forty-five presidents.”#9. Barack Obama’s “war on Fox News” prompted a strong response from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, “who maintained a reputation as a non-partisan newsperson during his time at Fox.” Wallace called Obama’s team “the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington.”Tevi Troy concludes his fascinating book with five rules of thumb, including this: “When CEOs do fight, they need to be careful. It should not be done lightly, and if done, it must be done with a purpose in mind.” Former attorney general Bill Barr wrote in his memoir of being interested in working at GTE because CEO Chuck Lee wanted to push back against the regulatory state.” Barr believed that some CEOs: “…are afraid the regulators will retaliate. Some act like hostages suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”THERE’S MUCH MORE!Kathryn Graham, publisher of the “Washington Post,” who was the only Fortune 500 female CEO at the time, “had interacted with nine presidents, and eight of them—all but Nixon—had come to her house for one of her famous get togethers. Tevi Troy notes one dinner guest’s memorable moment:“In 1988, as the Reagans were preparing to return to California, they had one last dinner at Graham’s house. Someone spilled a drink, and Reagan got down on his hands and knees to clean it up.” The author adds, “Graham never again had as close a relationship with a president or a first couple as she did with the Reagans.”I couldn’t put this book down. You’ll love it!

I bought this book with very high expectations as I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Troy's books Fight House and Shall We Wake the President. I must say Dr. Troy really outdid himself. This book provide a unique mixture of history, insights and a dollop of humor. I would strongly recommend.

Best-selling author and presidential historian Tevi Troy has written his fifth book, “The Power and the Money: The Epic clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry”.Having worked as a high-level advisor in the White House, Dr. Troy adds personal experience and insight to historical perspective as he chronicles the relationships, interdependence and feuds between presidents and CEOs. His engaging writing style and fascinating anecdotes will fuel the reader’s interest to the end.

Incredibly timely and insightful history of the complicated relationship between private industry and public power in America by one of our preeminent presidential historians.

Troy’s The Power and the Money is a great read. Not only did I find it an insightful accounting of an oft-overlooked part of presidential history, but its impressive research and approachable style maximized its applicability, furthering my understanding of the unique relationship between POTUS and CEO. After 2020’s Fight House, I again turned to Troy for top-tier writing on politics and was not disappointed. If you are not familiar with him, he has built an authoritative library on a subject he has extensive real-life experience in.