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"John Engler was a victim of John Engler."
That poignant and spot-on quote is from the former governor's strongest critic on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, which just engineered the end of the former interim university president's run.
Brian Masollom had nothing personally against Mr. Engler, but he and other board members thought his treatment of Larry Nassar survivors left something to be desired. He also called the former governor's tenure a "reign of terror."
Mr. Engler was hired to clean up the post-Nassar mess at MSU, but instead, his critics contend, he added to it with a steady drip-drip-drip of comments that survivors thought were insensitive, lacking empathy, offensive --and maybe even abusive.
When the dripping commenced, it was thought that he would learn from those early miscues, but, instead of getting better, it got worse. It reached critical mass recently when he told a newspaper editorial board that some of the Nassar survivors enjoyed being in the "spotlight."
Taken alone, you wouldn't fire anyone for that, but it was not an isolated comment, and the Democrats and Republicans on the board were up to here. Board chair Dianne Byrum did what Mr. Engler used to do in the Legislature -- i.e., round up votes to bounce him.
Once she got to the magic number of five votes, she got on the horn to him with an offer he couldn't refuse. He could be fired by the board or he could resign and avoid a public embarrassment of being fired a la Donald Trump.
He thought about it and drafted an 11-page resignation letter outlining all of his accomplishments during his tumultuous 11-month stay, while blaming the Democrats for showing him the door.
The letter did not include an apology for his controversial remarks and behavior.
In another private email to the "Leaders of MSU," he tells his former team, "don't worry about us … Michelle and I are happy" and looking forward to life in Texas, where they are building a new home.
And, in vintage Engler form, he took what many felt was a parting shot at Mr. Mosallom, referring to him as "Trustee BM." Make of that what you wish.
The political coroner's report on his death notice will be listed as a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease.
Dr. Satdish Upda, who was picked by the board to replace Mr. Engler, will not have the same disease. Asked if his rhetoric would be different and whether he has learned from the mistakes of the past, he observed, "I hope so."
He is clearly a kinder and gentler soul.
"I don't want to point fingers. I want to move forward," he told the gaggle of 16 TV cameras surrounding him for his first remarks to the media.
And, when asked what was the right thing to do for the survivors, he did not have to think.
"These are our children, and we can't call them anything else," he relaunched the healing movement that the anti-Engler crowd accused him of derailing.
The MSU Board got what it wanted from Mr. Engler. He get rid of, perhaps, the criminal dead wood left behind when the former president he replaced, Dr. Lou Anna K. Simon, was also fired by the trustees. He cobbled together a $500 million, out-of-court settlement with over 200 Nassar survivors and proudly reported he saved the university a boat-load of money in doing so.
But he just couldn't stop being the confrontational John Engler. Some believed he felt those survivors were advisors and not family and he treated those women accordingly in this toxic social media environment. It appears he never figured out that you could get away with that in the Legislature, where lawmakers could not fire him. But, on the university campus, which doesn't much admire a bull-in-the-china-shop attitude, it was only a matter of time before it did him in.
And Trustee Mosollom got it right. Mr. Engler became a victim of being John Engler.