“I was simply thinking “Could Summers have succeeded as President of UChicago”, given his temperament. In other words, would his fit have been better at Chicago than at Harvard? or would the outcome have been about the same at Chicago as it was at Harvard?”
OK, @surelyhuman - because you asked:
Given his temperament? The answer: NO. Larry Summers is So Smart . . . (‘How Smart Is He???’) . . that he’s the only non-idiot in a room . . . full of nothing but other Harvard Faculty. That’s the joke.
But this is not a joke: He was asked about the scene linked below and verified that it did, indeed, happen this way. When he was then asked who the source could have been, he replied that he was the source. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3JtmZugzl4
There are lots of other stories from very reliable witnesses to Larry Summer’s treatment of others. IMO, he doesn’t hold a candle in either maturity or talent to his worthy relatives Paul Samuelson and Ken Arrow. Although Uncle Paul was a bit of a jerk as well, I understand.