residence predecessor successor children birth_place title profession birth_date term_start order spouse article_title term_end name alma_mater
clifton , virginia gene sperling stephen friedman 3 peekskill , new york director of the national economic council economist 18 july 1954 2001 4th susan lindsey lawrence b. lindsey
 2002 lawrence b. lindsey bowdoin college harvard university
lawrence b. lindsey

lawrence b. lindsey was director of the national economic council -lrb- 2001 -- 2002 -rrb- , and the assistant to the president on economic policy for the u.s. president george w. bush .
he played a leading role in formulating president bush 's $ 1.35 trillion tax cut plan , convincing candidate bush that he needed an `` insurance policy '' against an economic turndown .
he left the white house in december 2002 and was replaced by stephen friedman after a dispute over the projected cost of the iraq war .
lindsey estimated the cost of the iraq war could reach $ 200 billion , while defense secretary donald rumsfeld estimated that it would cost less than $ 50 billion .
as of 2013 , the iraq war cost over $ 2 trillion and could grow to $ 6 trillion counting interest .
