Larry Summers -- My Experience
My own experience with Larry Summers squares exactly with Sheryl Sandberg's. In contrast with some of the criticism leveled at Larry, I have seen him exert rare commitment both in supporting women and in addressing the issues facing economically disadvantaged communities. When Larry was president of Harvard, he reached out to initiate a meeting with me to discuss what more Harvard could do to improve education in low-income communities; I don't remember any other college president doing this in the eighteen years I've been at this. He joined our board of directors two years ago and I have thought more times than I can count about how much his engagement has done for our broader cause.
I have encountered just a few individuals of Larry's stature and influence who have made as much time to engage in the questions we face at Teach For America and in the movement to ensure educational opportunity for all. We have benefited greatly from his intellectual bandwidth and his appetite for strategic dilemmas big and small. In my view people's choices about where to spend their time are the best evidence of their actual priorities, which tells me that Larry is one of the most committed leaders in America to ensuring that all of our nation's children -- particularly African-American and Latino/Hispanic children -- have equal educational opportunities.
During Larry's tenure on our Board, I've also been struck by his instincts to mentor and coach the young people, particularly women, who are part of our staff and alumni force. In fact I don't think anyone has spent as much time coaching me personally over the last year as he has. As I read some of the harsh comments about him, I worry that we're characterizing him based on some ill-chosen comments rather than based on where he puts his time and how he chooses to use his influence outside the public spotlight.
Our President-Elect faces challenges of incredible magnitude, and I hope we will give him the latitude to engage the country's most able leaders in solving these challenges. Not only do I think it would be terribly unjust if inaccurate perceptions about Larry Summers' beliefs held him back from having greater influence in our country, but based on my personal experience, it would be all of our loss.
Wendy Kopp is the founder and chief executive of Teach For America, the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in pursuit of educational excellence and equity. Currently more than 6,000 Teach For America corps members teach in urban and rural communities, while 14,000 alumni continue working for change from inside and outside the education system.
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You and Sheryl Sandberg - Larry Summers' True Record on Women. Full court press, eh?
Thanks for that character reference. The job is for Treasury Secretary. Naomi Klein and other progressives have pointed out that Summers and Rubin ARE RESPONSIBLE for the present financial disaster. So thanks. But NO THANKS.
I care not a whit about the feminist diatribe.
The question is this: is Summers the one who talked Clinton into signing off on deregulating the financial institutions? If so, no go.
It's no secret that Summers has been lobbying hard for this post. I suspect that he, or his media relations staff, has been reaching out to institutional allies to create this fog around just how much of a clumsy oaf he really is. Defending a wealthy person on your board incorporates a lot of self interest.
Here is another bright, successful professional woman who has had personal dealings with Larry Summers, and further expands the positive picture of this much-maligned economic mastermind. I fervently hope that America understands that the women who speak out on behalf of Sec. Summers are some of the sharpest minds our country offers. Larry Summers is possibly not media savvy, but he is economy savvy, and that's what we need.
"bright" and "successful"
Such a smart cookie.
But not a nobel prizewinning economist or physicist.
women are too stupid for that, remember? Well, according to Lare, we are.
He never said that! Please, read the speech and come back and tell me that is what he said!
Thank you!
Finally the truth is coming out about Larry.
If the shrill feminists have any integrity left they will call off their jihad against him.
So women don't like being called stupid possessors of inferior brains, and you call us "shrill" and "jihadists?" Women must just love you. You're not helping Summers' case or your own. Do some soul-searching about your own sexism before you comment on anybody else's.
He never said that! THAT is the point. You are burning a straw-man, and that is shameful. And it is doubly shameful to accuse as sexist anyone how speaks in defence of the man you'd turn to straw.
I had read some negative stuff, and felt a bit concerned. Yet, at the same time realizing that that's just one account, I kept an ear to the ground.
I'll hang onto this in case i need to offer another perspective to a dubious friend or family member.
Glad I took the time to read it, and thankful you took the time to write it.
Same could be said of Eliot Spitzer. And then he betrayed the sacred trust placed in him.
I believe we must apply the very highest standards for those who aspire to the highest offices. The posts in Obama's cabinet demand no less.
I demand from my government the exclusion of those who have violated the sacred public trust. I believe Summers has done so, repeatedly, your admiration not withstanding.
Klein's Shock Doctrine, Perkinsian Economic Hit Men, and the Bush-APA Torture Doctrine (isolation and psycho-religio attacks) have forever changed how I see our political economy. And their absence from contemporary analyses is my greatest frustration.
Dr. Reisner on Democracy Now! http://www
Back on 27 November 2007, I made this comment on Dr. Stephen Soldz's Web site.
http://psy
"We get fooled, again and again, by being mind-f*cked (the impolite phrase for Naomi Klein’s brilliant ’shock doctrine’) into thinking we are only part things that must relate to the Whole via bachelor fathers with terrible tempers and unspoken habits. Our science, psychology, has midwifed this monstrous abuse of being human."
I have lost all faith in the usual cast of suspects. We keep seeing the same faces, and the same glaring absence of others, on our oh-so-erudite panels.
This we cannot abide.
Look. Misogynists generally have no problem with women doing traditionally female jobs, like teaching.
It's when we train for, and out-do men in, jobs like engineer, physicist, computer programmer that they get their little panties in a twist.
It is these very jobs that, not finding enough American men to train in them, universities have actively recruited.
We're not talking about the poor, or women's rights here. We're talking about economics.
It's the ECONOMY he's damaged by neglecting and legitimizing discrimination against, and failing to enforce Title IX in, the scientific and engineering education of fully HALF the talent in our country.
Larry Summers deserves to be evaluated with regards to the post he would occupy, Treasury Secretary. He is an atrocious choice for that job, as are all the other guys rumored to be under consideration.
Lawrence Summers played a key role in lobbying Congress for the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act. His timely appointment by President Clinton in 1999 as Treasury Secretary spearheaded the adoption of the Financial Services Modernization Act in November 1999. Upon completing his mandate at the helm of the US Treasury, he became president of Harvard University (2001- 2006).
Paul Volker was chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in the l980s during the Reagan era. He played a central role in implementing the first stage of financial deregulation, which was conducive to mass bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions, leading up to the 1987 financial crisis.
Timothy Geithner is CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which is the most powerful private financial institution in America. He was also a former Clinton administration Treasury official. He has worked for Kissinger Associates and has also held a senior position at the IMF. The FRBNY plays a behind the scenes role in shaping financial policy. Geithner acts on behalf of powerful financiers, who are behind the FRBNY. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Jon Corzine is currently governor of New Jersey, former CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Ethan, we're gonna need skis and a parachute for this ride!!!
I've looked over the supposedly controversial comments that Mr. Summers made and I've listened to the arguments of those who speak well of his character and his abilities. I'm a woman, and I have no problem at all with Mr. Summers character and I think he sounds like an excellent choice for Sec. of Treasury. If Barack and his advisors feel this is the most able man for the job, I very much hope he'll be selected.
Thanks for this post. If Obama were not so smart and politically powerful, the knee-jerk tendencies of many Democratic liberals, including some feminists, would be a worry for him. Fortunately, Obama's way too smart, and way too politically impregnable (from the left, at least) not to brush such clowns off his shoulder, in the great gesture he famously used against Hillary. Choosing Emmanuel was a wonderful stroke of genius and, more importantly, of pragmatic independence. Obama was signaling the kooks of the Democratic left, in Congress and out, as well as his Republican enemies, that Obama will be a relentlessly tough and effective fighter, not a "nice guy" subject to the kooky whims of the left anymore than he will be bowing to pressure of any kind from the right. The opposite of Bush in every single respect, Obama is going to surround himself with nothing but formidably brilliant, tough people, just like him. Obama knows better than anyone that the left is literally helpless against him. Who ELSE are you gonna turn to? This is terrific, because Obama needs to govern entirely from the pragmatic center. He needs to listen to the smartest voices from across the political spectrum, and THEN decide. This is clearly how he intends to get to the best course of action. Then, with the help of Emmanuel and other brilliant tough "guys," Obama will enforce his will and get the job done, whether the PC crowd yelps or not. Lucky us!
Ahh, the "kooks of the Democratic"--just exactly who would they be and what and whose interests do they represesent? Why, not only his base, but if you look at the polls, the vast majority of the American people on the issues.
This is a bad omen and Obama should be forewarned not to betray the people with the newest rhetoric from the Right that Emanuel represents a gatekeeper to maintain the status quo.
After Bush--and being awarded on audacity of hope, if Obama is truly intelligent, and even more--if he is ethical, he will not betray the American people with high-minded rhetoric while carry on business as usual.
Summers should be eliminated for any position in Obama's cabinet based solely on being wrong about the economy. He was for deregulation, unapologetically.
It's great that these two women endorsing Summer think he is a great guy who treats women well. However, when applying for a position as secretary of treasure, being a great guy is not top priority. It's knowing the economy and being able to predict economic shortcomings, and being ahead of the pack against deregulation. Here is where Summers fails miserably.
Now Summer admits he was wrong and wants us to trust him. I say it is too late. We need people with better judgement.
Democrats appear to be VERY uncomfortable with the kind of frank talk spoken by the likes of Larry Summers, Christian Hoff Sommers, Steve Sailer, and James D. Watson. It seems that they like science UNTIL it disrupts their myths and fantasies (especially in the realms of sexuality, race, and environment).
The leftists at Harvard trashed Larry Summers. And it looks like they did it while madly waving the banners of intellectual curiosity, science, tolerance, diversity of thought, academic freedom, and compassion.
It was done, I believe, contrary to those ideas.
Yes. And that is what is so painful about this whole incident. The left is clearly, indisputably more science and reason friendly that the other side; it LITERALLY pains me to see reasonable, mature discussion made impossible by a brutal leftist dogma that violently purges anyone who dares speak with frankness. WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!
Political correctness, hah! This has nothing to do with political correctness. Frankly, I am not really concerned with whether or not Summers is a good choice for Sec. of Treasury--I trust Obama's judgment. But, I cannot sit back when people keep defending what Summers said about differences in quantitative ability between men and women by saying it was frank talk backed up by scientific evidence. It is not.
Here is the bottom line. Summers, unfortunately and quite plainly, had no idea what he was talking about regarding potential explanations for women's under-repr
Before you go and say, "read what he said," I read his actual talk, and, as he discussed the three potential explanations, he clearly favored the idea that genetic differences between men and women explain mean (and standard deviation) differences in quantitative ability (most likely cited Benbow & Stanley, 1980; Science). Recent research, however, reveals no meaningful mean (and standard deviation) differences in quantitative ability between men and women (Hyde, 2008; Science). Go here if you want to read a summary of the research:
http://www
When backed by scientific evidence, and not stereotype-tinged myths and fantasies (e.g., Christina Hoff Summers, Steve Sailor), frank talk is a good thing.
Larry Summers is a backbiting opportunist who has demonstrated his vindictive, self-serving priorities clearly.
What, please, does Larry Summers' opinion of women have to do with the fact that Summers, and Rubin, were not just wrong but calamitously wrong on the economy?
I am a woman. And I could not possibly care less what Summers thinks about women. He's not in the running to replace Oprah.
I care a lot what he has ALREADY done to the economy. Mr. Summers is reputedly in the running for a redo at a job at which he has already failed. His legacy, and that of Robert Rubin, are the economic storm we now confront. This rapidly enfolding global economic disaster was teed off by the Clinton administration's deregulation hawks, Rubin and Summers.
Einstein said the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
Why are we wasting time and wasting time debating about what Larry Summers thinks of women? Can we, please, focus on his record as Treasury Secretary?
I agree completely. We owe it to ourselves and our nation to evaluate Summers' in the context of the post for which he is being considered
We should not however--we OUGHT NOT--revisit these outrageous, trumped-up, ridiculous, hysterical, witch hunt accusations of misogyny. The shameful Harvard incident wherein Summers was sacrificed on the PC ignorance alter is best left as a mere footnote reminder of how even well-meaning progressives can discard any semblance of reason to become a Shelly-like, pick-fork welding mob of blind provincials bent on extracting blood for an invented straw-man caricature.
It serves none to reopen these regrettable self-inflicted wounds.
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