Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind reports that at the height of the financial crisis, President Barack Obama ordered Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to devise a plan to dissolve Citigroup — a directive his subordinate ignored, the Associated Press reports.

The revelation, included in Suskind's forthcoming book on the Obama administration's handling of the crisis, "Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and The Education of A President," suggest the president faced difficulty managing disparate voices in his administration.

"The speed with which the bureaucracy could exercise my decision was slower than I wanted," Obama told Suskind, according to AP.

In the book, Geither reportedly denies he intentionally slowed down Obama's orders or that he upset the president over his handling of Citigroup.

Suskind reportedly writes that "the Citibank incident, and others like it, reflected a more pernicious and personal dilemma emerging from inside the administration: that the young president's authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisers."

The book is to be released on September 20.