(http://www.politico.com/)
Did Steve Jobs warn Obama?
By: Tim Mak
October 21, 2011 07:03 AM EDT
_Steve Jobs_ (http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/SteveJobs) told
President Barack Obama he was “headed for a one-term presidency,” citing
the U.S.’s competitive disadvantages with China and a “crippled” education
system, a new biography of the former Apple CEO indicates.
“You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” Jobs told Obama in a meeting
last year where he asserted that the White House needed to be more friendly
toward business, _according to the Huffington Post_
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/steve-jobs-biography-obama_n_1022786.html)
, which
obtained a copy of Walter Isaacson’s forthcoming book, “Steve Jobs.”
Jobs also told Obama that “regulations and unnecessary costs” put the
United States at a competitive disadvantage with China, where companies can
build factories more cheaply.
The _recently deceased Jobs_
(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65282.html) also told Obama that
the education system was “crippled by union
work rules,” according to Isaacson. Jobs proposed principals be able to
hire and fire teachers based on merit, and to extend the length of both the
school day and academic year.
Jobs also suggested that Obama meet with several other CEOs who could talk
about the needs of innovative firms, but in a characteristic huff, Jobs
declared his intention to skip the event when the White House added
additional names to the list.
Jobs also objected to the menu of that meeting, telling a venture
capitalist that shrimp, cod and lentil salad was “far too fancy” and objecting
to
a chocolate truffle dessert. The White House overruled him, according to
the book, citing the president’s fondness for cream pie.
According to the Huffington Post copy of Isaacson’s book, Jobs was
reluctant to take a meeting with Obama without a personal invitation from the
president. A five-day standoff ensued due to his stubborn insistence on this
point, despite his wife’s exhortation that Obama “was really psyched to meet
with you.” They eventually met at the Westin hotel at the San Francisco
airport.
Jobs talked with Obama on the phone several times after that, according to
Isaacson, and later offered to help with the creation of political ads for
Obama’s 2012 campaign.
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