George Shultz, American statesman, dies at 100

After the Nixon years, Shultz entered the corporate world, becoming an executive of the Bechtel Group, and returned to academia, at Stanford University. When Reagan was elected he installed Alexander Haig as Secretary of State, but after a risky first year Haig stepped down in July 1982 and Reagan immediately chose Shultz to replace him.

According to HW Brands’ “Reagan: The Life”, the president was unwilling to announce Haig’s departure until he had lined up his replacement. Brands wrote that when Reagan contacted him, Shultz realized he needed to respond immediately. “Mr. President, I am on board,” he said.

“He has the potential to be one of the greatest Secretaries of State of all time,” said Illinois Senator Charles Percy as Shultz was confirmed 97-0. From the start, Shultz’s professionalism put the State Department on a different footing, and he loyally supported Reagan.

“Shultz, unlike Haig, was courteous and patient,” Diggins wrote in his 2007 book, “the right qualities for a diplomat who prefers negotiation to escalation.”

Shultz needed these qualities when it came to dealing with fellow Reagan cabinet member, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, a veteran of the Nixon and Bechtel administration confrontation. The Beltway was full of discussions of discord. In December 1984, the New York Times reported that the two “are reported to be in disagreement on virtually all matters of foreign policy, often to the frustration and concern of the White House.” It didn’t help that on some issues Shultz was the most hawkish and on others Weinberger was. Sometimes the issues they fought over seemed trivial, such as the issue of selling computers to Romania.

Shultz, writes The Times, “is by nature and trains a professor, mediator and private man. He prefers conciliation to confrontation. Often impassive – a colleague described him as a “sphinx” – Shultz is a man of great confidence. The same article noted: “He seems happy to stay away from the news.”

His six and a half years as the head of the State Department have left him grappling with situations ranging from the Caribbean to China, but two events stood out. The low point was the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986, which involved the sale of arms to Iran to fund guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua, none of which had been authorized by Congress. Reagan’s efforts to deal with the situation only seemed to make matters worse, and Shultz found himself one of the few voices in the administration pushing for the administration to get back on track. “Reagan thought Shultz was blowing things out of proportion,” according to “Reagan: The Life.”

There were calls for Shultz’s resignation, but, he later wrote, “No successor could function in this job, I felt, unless the terrible situation was corrected.” So Shultz stayed, and some of the rogue political apparatuses would eventually return to his hands. The scandal would make Oliver North a household name and bring down a number of prominent Washington figures, including Weinberger.

Ultimately, Shultz’s greatest influence on Reagan would come on the subject of arms control. In a March 1983 memo, Shultz listed several areas where he believed the discussions could lead to better US-Soviet relations, including arms control. This momentum gathered momentum when Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, which Reagan had dubbed the “evil empire” at one point.

“It always seemed to me that Gorbachev was a real realist,” Shultz wrote in his 2016 book, “Learning by Experience,” noting that Gorbachev had risen through the ranks, unlike previous Soviet leaders.

When Shultz first met Gorbachev, Reagan gave Shultz a chance to offer Gorbachev an opportunity to shake up the Cold War status quo. According to Brands ‘book, Shultz said, “President Reagan told me to look you straight in the eye and say,’ Ronald Reagan thinks this is a very special time in human history. “.”

What followed were multiple summits with Gorbachev, ultimately leading to a sharp reduction in nuclear weapons and the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; these occurred at the same time that Gorbachev was pursuing a path of liberalization not unrelated to the Soviet Union – while indicating to the Warsaw Pact states that they were alone. In 1989, less than a year after Reagan left, the Berlin Wall fell. It was a heady time, marking the end of a Cold War that had lasted for decades and marked many.

In the dying moments of Reagan’s presidency, Shultz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom: “For years of public service and for his vital role in ushering in a new era of hope in foreign policy, his compatriots honor it.

Over the next several decades, Shultz would speak on many international issues behind the scenes and serve as an informal advisor, particularly to George W. Bush. He would be in demand as a speaker and writer, someone who could be relied on to provide a compelling analysis of global crises. Every time he stopped talking for more than a few minutes, it seemed like someone would present him with an honorary award or degree.

Shultz, who also returned to Bechtel and Stanford, has been outspoken about his fears for the world. “For centuries we have managed to separate war from religion, and now it’s back,” he told The Times of Israel in February 2016. “War with a religious base is much more dangerous, for it has a capacity to propagate, which is Doing. “

Shultz has also spoken out on domestic issues, touting, for example, the legalization of recreational drugs and the benefits of driving a Prius. He urged that climate change be addressed.

“I’ve always tried to live in the future,” he told the San Jose Mercury News in 2011, “and I’m thinking about things and how to improve them. If you have great-grandchildren around and their pictures are looking at you, well, that’s the future.

And Shultz – who had published an opinion piece in the Washington Post around the time of his 100th birthday – has never lost his ability to impress others with his ideas.

“I was at a meeting with him about a week ago,” Perry said on Sunday, “where he was the strongest, most provocative person in the room.”

Bryan Bender contributed to this report.