Whether talking about who he supports for president, what hethinks of former American International Group CEO Ed Liddy'sappearance before Congress, or the circumstances that led him toaccept leadership of the bailed-out insurance giant after Liddystepped down, AIG CEO Bob Benmosche has a unique and direct way ofcommunicating his thoughts.

In the current issue of New York magazine, writerJessica Pressler offers a compelling look at Benmosche's transitionfrom a retirement spent tending his vineyard in Dubrovnik, Croatiato becoming CEO of AIG at a time when both the company and thegovernment were taking a beating over the bailout in the court ofpublic opinion. Pressler's account of the events includes candidinterviews from many of the players involved in the transition,most importantly Benmosche himself.

The feature offers a first-person narrative of the writer'sexperience as she spent four days in Croatia listening to the AIGexec's take on issues related and unrelated to the re-emergence ofAIG. The end result is a nine-page feature that produces quotessuch as this one on Benmosche's view of early efforts made torescue AIG from itself: “Say you're sitting there, you havegangrene. And I don't have any instruments. All I have is an ax.And I've gotta grab the ax and cut that sucker off. But the ax isdull. And it makes a mess. That's what they did, in the beginning.They whacked that sucker off. And they kept hacking.”

To read the full feature, see the New York magazinestory, “TheRandian and the Bailout“