After a supper meeting Jim had arranged for me to attend with George Soros, Jim said he needed to speak with me privately.

“I’ve really thought over your problem about finding the perfect president,” he said, “and I have an unorthodox idea I’d like you to think about before responding.”

Okay, I thought. I’m ready for anything.

“How about me?” he asked.

This I wasn’t ready for. “You know we can’t pay you even close to what you’re worth, just a normal salary and a bunch of options.”

“I’ve worked out the finances,” he replied.

“Jim, are you sure?” I asked.

“I’m sure,” he replied. “Now it’s up to you.”

“Give me a week,” I said. “I’d love to work with you, but in fairness to both of us, I just need to think it through.”

I talked it over with my wife. Jim had no corporate experience. Wall Street would be unimpressed and think he was just a figurehead. He wasn’t a telecom expert. He had no experience managing a large public company. His style was different than ours. Would our team accept him? At any moment he could be named to the Cabinet and he’d be gone.

On the other hand, I liked him. He’d founded a large law firm of his own and built it up before going to Congress. That’s like being in business, right? He had tremendous contacts who might eventually wind up being partners or investors. He could get us in with foreign governments. What we were doing was so new, no one had experience, anyway. And he did fit our profile. He did have a spectacular failure, if you count narrowly losing a governor’s race and not becoming President of the United States as a failure. And clearly, he was a lion in a cage. Being a Washington lobbyist just didn’t suit him. Plus, I liked him. It just felt right.

Sometimes logic and Wall Street don’t matter. Sometimes you’ve got to go on instinct. It was one in the morning, and I’d been moody over this decision for days. Our bankers and board had advised against it. Howie said he sort of liked it but it was up to me. I’d talked to my wife and argued both sides till she no longer knew what to think. Then, suddenly, at one a.m. it became clear.