William Seidman

Needed: A New Generation of Bill Seidman's

While watching the financial news out of the corner of my eye at lunch, I noticed the name "William Seidman" flash across the screen.

For those who don't recall, Seidman was the crusty, very independent, and scrupulously honest chairman of the FDIC when it dealt -- successfully -- with the S&L mess 20 years ago. (Amazingly, Seidman had no ties to Goldman Sachs, as far as I know.)

My immediate reaction was relief: Seidman is exactly the kind of public servant this country used to be able to call upon to navigate financial messes.

I figured, Obama was appointing him to play an advisory role of some kind. Sure, that makes great sense.

The next thought was, Seidman must be pretty old by now (Hell, he seemed old 20 years ago when he was the FDIC chair.)

In fact, Seidman was 88 years old. Sadly, the news is that he passed away after a brief illness.