37 "Look, I'm already in a war": Fiona Hill, author interview.

38 "I need to give him an answer": Several administration officials, author interviews.

39 "a fair amount of chest beating": Rice, No Higher Honor, 68889.

40 "I think you need to poll": Stephen Hadley, author interview.

41 regime change as their goal: Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told Condoleezza Rice by phone that one condition of a cease-fire was that "Misha Saakashvili has to go." Rice rejected the demand and made it public. See Rice, No Higher Honor, 688.

42 "I want to hang Saakashvili": French newspaper accounts, cited by Asmus, Little War That Shook the World, 199.

43 "Did you look at a map?": Condoleezza Rice, author interview.

44 "What's the one thing": William Luti, author interview.

45 the announcer say "Pawlenty": Heilemann and Halperin, Game Change, 382.

46 "I'm trying to remember": Latimer, Speech-Less, 273. In an interview with the author, Ed Gillespie said that "would capture the sentiment" that the president felt about Palin.

47 "reckless choice": Heilemann and Halperin, Game Change, 368. In an interview after leaving office, Cheney told Jonathan Karl of ABC News that the Palin pick was a "mistake" because "she'd only been governor for, what, two years" and "I don't think she passed that test" of being prepared to take over the presidency. See Karl, "Dick Cheney: Picking Sarah Palin for VP Was 'a Mistake,' " July 29, 2012, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/dick-cheney-picking-sarah-palin-for-vp-was-a-mistake/.

48 "You really want me to": Latimer, Speech-Less, 26970. In an interview with the author, Gillespie said he did not recall that.

49 "From stem to stern, President Bush": Wayne Berman, author interview.

50 "not chasing the public opinion polls": Latimer, Speech-Less, 271.

51 "My fellow citizens, we live": George W. Bush, video address to Republican National Convention, September 2, 2008, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080902-11.html.

52 twelve times as often: Peter Baker, "The Party in Power, Running as If It Weren't," New York Times, September 5, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05assess.html.

53 McCain thanked "the president": John McCain, acceptance speech, Republican National Convention, September 4, 2008, http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/transcripts/20080904_MCCAIN_SPEECH.html.

54 "did the president say": Murphy and Purdum, "Farewell to All That."

55 "Do they know it's coming, Hank?": Paulson, On the Brink, 1.

56 "What the hell is going on?": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 45658.

57 "Will we be able to explain": Ibid.

58 "How did we get to this": Paulson, On the Brink, 23537.

59 "If we don't shore up": Ibid.

60 "Someday you guys are going": Ibid.

61 "stopped saying he was glad": Charlie Younger, author interview.

62 "what else can go wrong": Karen Hughes, author interview.

63 "do you have a death wish?": David Petraeus, author interview.

64 "What happens if we don't?": Ed Gillespie, author interview. For a slightly different version of the conversation, see Paulson, On the Brink, 25557.

65 "I will give you all": Joel Kaplan, author interview.

66 "Our people are going to hate us": Tony Fratto, author interview.

67 "In that political environment": Ibid.

68 "Tell Hank to calm down": Michele Davis, author interview. See also Paulson, On the Brink, 25557.

69 "If we're really looking at": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 43940.

70 despite twenty-five trips by Condoleezza Rice: Rice visited Israel and the Palestinian territories three times as much as Colin Powell did and twice as much as any other destination during her four years in office. http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/secretary/rice-condoleezza.

71 should be called MARX: Latimer, Speech-Less, 26566.

72 a "strong supporter" of it: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 5068.

73 "They were a nonfactor": Matt Latimer, author interview.

74 It was "a stunt": Latimer, Speech-Less, 25862.

75 calling McCain a "stupid prick": Ibid.

76 "I could see the headlines": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 46062.

77 "McCain asked for this": David Axelrod, author interview.

78 "We can't even defend": Latimer, Speech-Less, 25862.

79 concluded there were $3 trillion: Ed Lazear, author interview.

80 "our entire economy": George W. Bush, address to nation, September 24, 2008, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080924-10.html.

81 "I don't think Congress has": George W. Bush, telephone call with Angela Merkel, September 25, 2008. Notes of call provided to author.

82 "What's McCain going to": Heilemann and Halperin, Game Change, 38789.

83 "Hank, we are going to get": Kaplan interview. See also Paulson, On the Brink, 295300.

84 "We need to get there": Kaplan interview. See also Paulson, On the Brink, 295300.

85 "If money isn't loosened up": Several participants, author interviews. See also George W. Bush, Decision Points, 46062; Dick Cheney, In My Time, 509; Paulson, On the Brink, 295300; Sorkin, Too Big to Fail, 49293; Heilemann and Halperin, Game Change, 38789; and Balz and Johnson, Battle for America, 348.

86 "I told you you'd miss me": Jonathan Alter, The Promise: President Obama, Year One (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 12. Alter added this to the paperback edition.

87 "It was almost like children": Eric Draper, author interview.

88 "Well, I've clearly lost control": Several participants, author interviews.

89 "That was the most ridiculous": White House official interview.

90 "Gee, Hank, I didn't know": Paulson, On the Brink, 295300.

91 "They're not going to get": Fratto interview.

92 "Six hundred points!": Julie Hirschfeld Davis, "Bailout Bill Slapped Aside; Record Stock Plunge," Associated Press, September 29, 2008.

93 went down 228 to 205: U.S. House Clerk's Office. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml.

94 had plummeted 777 points: Davis, "Bailout Bill Slapped Aside."

95 "Let's get Hank back over": Fratto interview.

96 "this could be worse than 9/11": Draper interview.

97 "Give us the ball for twenty-four hours": Kaplan interview.

98 "If you don't pass this": Specter, Life Among the Cannibals, 141.

99 74 to 25 later that day: U.S. Senate roll call record. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00212.

100 263 to 171 two days later: U.S. House Clerk's Office. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml.

101 smoked cigars to mark: Fratto interview.

102 "I realized this is not": Petraeus interview.

103 "How important is this": Stephen Hadley, author interview.

104 "You know, Condi, you": Ibid.

105 "I just don't think it is": Ibid.

106 "quite pleased": Cheney aide, author interview.

CHAPTER 36: "I DIDN'T WANT TO BE THE PRESIDENT DURING A DEPRESSION"

1 contingency plans for Obama: Peter Baker, "Bush Prepares Crisis Briefings to Aid Obama," New York Times, December 16, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/us/politics/17transition.html.

2 until the end of 2015: Gordon and Trainor, Endgame, 53941.

3 an "eviction notice": Ed Gillespie, author interview.

4 Just 14 American troops: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, known as icasualties.org, http://icasualties.org/iraq/ByMonth.aspx. Note that this link goes to the page showing all coalition casualties; to get the American casualties requires using the filter at the bottom.

5 set to the tune of a song: Rice, No Higher Honor, 703.

6 "Colonel Qaddafi?" Bush said: George W. Bush, telephone conversation with Muammar el-Qaddafi, November 17, 2008. Notes of call provided to author.

7 "About the only thing that": George W. Bush, remarks, Kennedy Center honors ceremony, White House, December 7, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXH8ww1XACE.

8 "We've still got a few weeks": Rice, No Higher Honor, 722.

9 asked Washington for: Bill Vlasic and David M. Herszenhorn, "Pursuing U.S. Aid, G.M. Accepts Need for Drastic Cuts," New York Times, December 2, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/business/03auto.html?fta=y.

10 "If he told me he made a decision": Dick Cheney, author interview.

11 "There is no way in heck": Rattner, Overhaul, 3436.

12 passed the House that night 237 to 170: U.S. House Clerk's Office. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll690.xml.

13 "consider other options if": Dana Perino, statement, December 12, 2008, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/12/20081212.html.

14 "I remember what it was like": Administration official, author interview.

15 "This is the farewell kiss": Steven Lee Myers and Alissa J. Rubin, "Iraqi Journalist Hurls Shoes at Bush and Denounces Him on TV as a 'Dog,' " New York Times, December 15, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html?pagewanted=all.

16 "I'm okay," Bush told: Video of incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKFh4PYmmc&feature=related.

17 "was white as a sheet": Draper interview.

18 "Don't worry about it": Video of incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKFh4PYmmc&feature=related.

19 "Maliki's guards start beating": Douglas Lute, author interview.

20 "Hey, please, don't worry": Administration official interview.

21 "That man, he represents": Ibid.

22 "Good reflexes": Ibid.

23 could not let the firms go: Joel Kaplan and Ed Lazear, author interviews.

24 "Look, Hank, you have to": Kaplan interview.

25 "This is a difficult time": George W. Bush, speech and question session, American Enterprise Institute, December 18, 2008, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/12/20081218-2.html.

26 "In the midst of a financial": George W. Bush, remarks announcing auto bailout, December 19, 2008, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/12/20081219.html.

27 "And this year, Mr. President": Joshua Bolten, author interview. See also Rattner, Overhaul, 4142.

28 "You know, it's kind of like": George W. Bush, news conference, January 12, 2009, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2009/01/20090112.html.

29 "remind and explain": Walter McDougall, e-mail exchange with author.