Politics, Not Poetry, Animate Economist

Though he has spent the last eight years as a public servant and policymaker, Lawrence H. Summers is a highly regarded academic and has the all-important Harvard connection--a prior affiliation with the University that helped to make him a more appealing candidate and gave him supporters

on the search committee. And with his extensive experience on the national

stage, colleagues have said that Summers is the man with the vision to use Harvard's bully pulpit to its full advantage.

The Teacher

For roughly a decade after completing his formal education, Summers taught undergraduate economics classes at Harvard, advised dissertation students and conducted research in areas involving both applied and theoretical economics. During that time, students and colleagues say, Summers left his mark on the careers of scores of young economists.

"There are almost no distinguished applied economists between the ages of

33 and 43 who didn't have Larry Summers as a mentor in some way," said Professor of Economics Lawrence F. Katz, who did graduate studies under

Summers.

Students who impressed Summers as undergraduates became his dissertation advisees, and many followed him to Washington.

Delong met Summers when a fellow economics student introduced him, and was Summers' first dissertation student and became a close friend.

When Summers went to the capital, Delong said, "I went along as a spear

carrier."

Summers' former chief of staff at the Treasury, Sheryl K. Sandberg '91, also met her future boss at Harvard: she wrote her thesis under his supervision.

One of Sandberg's predecessors at the Treasury, Sylvia M. Mathews '87,

said mentoring is one of Summers' greatest strengths, a valuable asset for

a presidential contender, especially at the College--an area of particular

concern for the search committee.

But Summers' former students remember their relationships with Summers at Harvard for more than the influence he had on their careers. It was at Harvard that many colleagues got their first sense of the breadth of

Summers' intellectual pursuits.

"He was incredibly energetic. You'd run into him in a hallway, and he

would talk and talk," Katz said.

The Political Insider

Summers' interest in the broader aspects of intellectual discourse continued at the World Bank, where he became a vice president and chief

economist in 1991, and then at the Treasury Department.

"I worked very closely with Summers, not only because of his central role in the administration, but because he was the most driving intellectual force in the Clinton administration," said Michael Waldman, a chief Clinton speechwriter.

Summers quickly became an administration insider, the only Cabinet secretary invited to the senior staff meetings every morning.

The Cabinet-level post of treasury secretary sits at the top of a 140,000

person-strong bureaucracy, which includes the Internal Revenue Service

(IRS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Secret

Service and 40 percent of federal law enforcement.

It was in his role as secretary, colleagues say, that Summers gained the

managerial skills they felt would serve him well as Harvard's president.

But Summers has, in the past, been known for having a short temper.

"Summers is respected for his intelligence and economic brilliance, but not for his diplomacy," economist David Jones of the bond house Aubrey G. Lanston and Co. told Reuters.

Yet Summers has overcome this challenge, Delong said.

"He was extremely good at making people who work for him feel valued,"

Delong said. "He could get the most out of them."

Indeed, the political positions held by Summers have provided him with

valuable managerial and policy experience--but in the world of academia, political affiliations are sometimes a liability.

Summers experienced perhaps the largest setback of his career when a memo of his was leaked to the press. In the memo, Summers suggested "encouraging the migration of the dirty [high polluting] industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]."

And crises followed Summers to the position of treasury secretary.

The Asian financial crisis and the Mexican bailout were both high-stakes political controversies that played out during Summers' time as a top policymaker. But Kamarck said none of these controversies hurt him personally. "He took a lot of grief, but no personal hits," she said. "When someone can come through something like the Mexican bailout without permanent scars, it's testament to their ability."

The Leader

Summers' stint away from academics, colleagues with Harvard connections say, is what makes him a good candidate for the Harvard presidency.

They see him as a candidate who combines the intellectual credentials of his career as an economist--he was the first in his profession to win the National Science Foundation's top prize for scientific achievement--with the managerial aptitude he gained in the administration.

Elaine C. Kamarck, senior policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore '69 and a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said that in some ways the structure of the Harvard administration resembles the structure of the Treasury Department.

University President Neil L. Rudenstine is known for spending long hours on meticulous searches. Delong also said that Summers' ability to pick good people is one of his greatest strengths. "For the part of the job that is spent in ad hoc committees making personnel decisions, he's the best you can possibly get--probably one of the best in the world," Delong said.

Equally strong, said Delong, would be his ability to plan for the University's future. Summers, he said, is a central thinker about the emerging New Economy and is deeply interested in the ramifications it will have for the world.

"In planning for the future of the University, Larry would be again among the best of the world. He's someone who can move resources into promising new areas, as opposed to merely following behind," Delong said.

--Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.

--Staff writer Kate L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu.