“The areas I most focused on in the White House Treasury was the whole question of the deficit and fiscal discipline,” Rubin says. “I also focused on international economic policy.”

On the domestic front, Rubin considered the plight of the economic situation in the inner cities and emphasized the importance of strengthening the investment opportunities and financial support for small businesses.

“He was very concerned about microbusinesses and micro loans,” Alvarez says. “Rubin really saw a need to focus on the needs of the small entrepreneur and cared about cities.”

On the international front, Rubin’s defining moments came in the form of two international crises, both averted in part because of his leadership abilities as Secretary of the Treasury.

During the Asian Economic Crisis, Rubin went “out of his way to share credit with Larry to build him up and to let people know what a valuable player and indeed star Larry was,” Sperling says.

“Bob’s approach to a difficult budget or financial crises was to recognize the extreme uncertainty and then bring the smartest people he could in each relevant area and then grill them until you had done everything possible to reduce the uncertainty, “ Sperling adds.

Rubin also heralded strong leadership during the Mexican financial crisis and helped lead a bipartisan effort to control the effects of the loan defaults.

“He brought integrity and courage to the Clinton White House,” Podesta says. “During the Mexican bailout he put together an unprecedented financial maneuver. With Rubin’s encouragement and advice we put through something that had only 20 percent approval in the opinion polls.”