Editing Steven Rattner (section)

==Public service==
[[File:P053109PS-0025 (3647639023).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Advisors sit-in on phone calls between President Obama and regional politicians concerning the next day's announcement about General Motors filing for bankruptcy (May 31, 2009). From left: Treasury advisor Harry Wilson; Ron Bloom, auto industry advisor; Steven Rattner, Treasury Department auto industry advisor; Brian Deese, National Economic Council; Gene Sperling, economic advisor; and Larry Summers, Director of the National Economic Council.]]
During his tenure with ''The New York Times'' in Washington D.C., Rattner developed an interest in economic policy, drawing him to politics and public service. In the mid-1990s, he began to work actively on behalf of Democratic candidates, beginning with President [[Bill Clinton]]. In 2008, ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that he had long aspired to a cabinet position.<ref name = Roberts/>

In February 2009, with [[General Motors]] and [[Chrysler]] insolvent, Rattner was appointed counselor to the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] and lead auto adviser, a [[List of U.S. executive branch czars|role informally referred to in the media as the "car czar"]]. He soon assembled a team that grew to 14 professionals to address the financial problems of the two auto companies.<ref name="NYT0127" />

Reporting to both Treasury Secretary [[Timothy Geithner]] and [[Lawrence Summers]], the head of the [[United States National Economic Council|National Economic Council]], Rattner's team developed a plan to save both the two manufacturers and related suppliers and finance companies. The plan involved a government investment of $82 billion in the sector, coupled with controlled bankruptcies for the two auto companies, as well as new management for both, and the closure of 2,000 automobile dealerships and loss of tens of thousands of related jobs.<ref name="SGSB">{{cite web|last=Shao|first=Maria|title=The 2009 U.S. Auto Bailout Was Necessary, Argues Rattner|url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/knowledgebase/cgi-bin/2011/03/16/the-2009-u-s-auto-bailout-was-necessary-argues-rattner/|work=Stanford Knowledgebase|publisher=Stanford Graduate School of Business|access-date=May 2, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322211900/http://www.stanford.edu/group/knowledgebase/cgi-bin/2011/03/16/the-2009-u-s-auto-bailout-was-necessary-argues-rattner/|archive-date=March 22, 2011}}</ref><ref name="WAPO120906">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/auto-bailout-was-not-unmitigated-success/2012/09/06/4edae4bc-f854-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html "Auto bailout was not unmitigated success"] {{Webarchive|url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160329093722/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/auto-bailout-was-not-unmitigated-success/2012/09/06/4edae4bc-f854-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html |date=March 29, 2016 }} by Zachary Goldfarb, "The Washington Post" September 6, 2012.</ref> A [[White & Case]] lawyer claimed that Rattner had threatened the reputation of [[Perella Weinberg Partners|Perella Weinberg]] if they continued to oppose the controlled bankruptcies; however Parella Weinberg denied this claim and ''The New York Times'' found that Rattner had never spoken with the lawyer who made the claim.<ref name="merced">{{cite news |last1=De La Merced |first1=Michael J. |title=White House Denies Claims of Threat to Chrysler Creditor |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/white-house-perella-weinberg-deny-claims-of-threat-to-firm/ |access-date=September 16, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=May 3, 2009}}</ref>

Rattner later stated that the toughest decision for President Obama about the two auto companies was whether to save Chrysler. There was, however, no disagreement about asking GM CEO&nbsp;[[Richard Wagoner]]&nbsp;to step aside.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rattner|first=Steven|title=Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry|year=2010|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-547-44321-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780547443218}}</ref>

By July 2009, both automakers had emerged from bankruptcy, had new management and were on their way to profitability.<ref name="SGSB" /> At that time, Rattner left Washington and returned to private life in New York.