1960

Rubin attends Harvard Law School for all of three days before dropping out to travel. He would get his law degree from Yale in 1964.

1966
After only two years at the New York law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Rubin makes a major career shift, taking a position as an associate at Goldman Sachs.

1990
Rubin becomes co-chairman of Goldman, with a salary of more than $26 million. He cultivates a philosophy similar to that of his future boss, Bill Clinton: economically moderate and center-left on social issues.

1993
Clinton taps Rubin to head the newly created National Economic Council, a strong advocate of deficit reduction and a proponent of Nafta. The American economy under Clinton begins to improve.

1995
Rubin is chosen to replace Lloyd Bentsen, becoming the 70th secretary of the Treasury. During Rubin's four-year tenure, the deficit is wiped out and unemployment drops to a record low. Clinton describes Rubin as the "greatest secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton."

1999–present
Rubin returns to the private sector, becoming chairman of the Citigroup executive committee. He is named the company's chairman when the bank stumbles and C.E.O. Chuck Prince steps down.