Tim Geithner, the new US Treasury Secretary-apparent, is very like his new boss.
First, they are the same age. They were both born in August 1961.
Second, they both have a modest, likeable manner (despite being ambitious and self-assured).
Third, they are both thin and youthful-looking.
Fourth, they both had an Asian upbringing. Mr Geithner went to school in Thailand, Mr Obama in Indonesia.
Fifth, they are both cautious, pragmatic policy wonks.
All in all, they should be able to work together well.
Update: Dan Gross makes a similar point, in a more learned fashion:
Geithner has a great deal in common with Obama. They’re almost exactly the same age. (Both were born in August 1961.) They’re both products of elite East Coast universities: Geithner was a Dartmouth undergrad and has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins. Like Obama, Geithner is a citizen of the world. He spent a chunk of his childhood in Asia. (He has “lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan,” his résumé notes.) Both are skinny, fit, high-energy guys with two children. And like Obama, Geithner sometimes appears mismatched to the majesty of his surroundings. Geithner has a quick laugh, a sense of irony, and bounces in and out of rooms at the sedate New York Federal Reserve, a grand fortress in Lower Manhattan.
