On the evening of Friday, Sept. 12, Timothy F. Geithner gathered 20 Wall Street executives in a conference room at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. began the session, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Standing up, his voice boomed. Lehman Brothers was on the brink of failure, he said, and the government would not save it. Next up was Geithner, president of the New York Fed. He remained seated and spoke more quietly, staring the executives in the eyes, according to the sources. The Fed had developed plans to ... (more)