371. A Free-Trade Democrat in the Trump White House

Freakonomics Radio

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Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2019

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For years, Gary Cohn thought he’d be the next C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs. Instead, he became the “adult in the room” in a chaotic administration. Cohn talks about the fights he won, the fights he lost, and the fights he was no longer willing to have. Also: why he and Trump are still on speaking terms even after he reportedly called the president “a professional liar.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	So your life story, I guess, is pretty remarkable.
0:04.8	Thank you.
0:06.0	You were not destined for Wall Street?
0:09.4	For Wall Street?
0:10.2	Any street.
0:16.6	Gary Cohn was born in 1960 in the suburbs of Cleveland.
0:21.1	He had severe dyslexia and was a terrible student.
0:24.2	As a consequence, he bounced from school to school
0:27.1	if there were an award for least likely to succeed,
0:30.8	Cohn might have qualified.
0:32.6	His parents were worried he wouldn't make it through high school.
0:35.5	His grandparents ran an electrical contracting business
0:38.5	where Gary worked after school.
0:40.4	He was a whiz with inventory and anything else numerical.
0:45.1	You know, as the rest of the world was telling me,
0:47.3	you're going to be a disaster, you're a failure,
0:49.5	maybe you'll be lucky to drive a truck.
0:51.4	My grandparents who I really admired
0:53.8	who built the family business, thank you for saying,
0:56.2	you're going to be fine.
0:57.2	And they were great people, and I really influenced you.
1:00.4	Cohn did make it through high school and college
	...

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