Former US Secretary of State George Shultz (100) has died. In the 1980s he was deeply involved in improving relations with the Soviet Union and slowing the arms race in the Cold War.
Before the Republican Shultz focused on international politics, he was already Minister of Labor and later of Finance under President Nixon. He then became Secretary of State under President Reagan for six years, the longest in this post since World War II.
Middle East and Nuclear Weapons
Among other things, he was committed to peace in the Middle East. He made an effort to end the civil war in Lebanon and the military conflict between Israel and Lebanon. He also tried to get Israel and the PLO to negotiate a peace agreement.
Shultz received most recognition for his role in concluding the first treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987 to limit the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. Even after his political career, he continued to fight against nuclear weapons. “Now that we know so much about these weapons and their power, they are actually weapons we wouldn’t use anyway. So I think we’re better off without it,” he said in an interview in 2008.
Distance from Trump
In December, Shultz made himself heard in an article in The Washington Post calling for decency and respect for other opinions. The piece on the occasion of his centenary was seen by many as an attack on President Trump’s style of government.
Shultz died yesterday in his home on the Stanford University campus, where he was, among other things, emeritus professor. He was also an honorary member of a think tank at this University in California.
Condoleezza Rice, herself Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009, calls her predecessor and fellow party member “a great American statesman”. “He will be remembered as a man who made the world a better place,” she wrote in a statement.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also praises Shultz as a great man:
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