Reagan’s Gardener Diplomat

In The 1960s, George Shultz Chaired the task force on unemployment Johnson administration. The Group presented what Shultz thought were good ideas, but the ideas didn’t gain traction. Johnson He drew him aside, explaining why. “George, if you have a good idea, and it’s your idea, it’s not going to go very far. But if it becomes my idea, it just might go somewhere. Do I make myself clear?”

Shultz Never forget the lesson. As Secretary of State Under Ronald ReaganHe was against the Strategic Defense Initiative As technically impossible and as strategically destabilizing So did Richard BurtOne of them is Shultz’s aides. Burt That annoyed me. Shultz didn’t protest more loudly when Reagan SDI was moved forward “Rick, I’ve got to remind you of something you know,” Shultz responded. “We work for the president of the United States. The president of the United States wants to do this. If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to work for the president of the United States. But as long as you are working for the president of the United States, you are going to support this policy. Is that clear?”

Philip Taubman He was a reporter who specialized in national security affairs. Shultz They were secretary-of-state; later they became colleagues. Stanford University. Taubman’s new book is a life-and-times, per the subtitle, yet it focuses on the six-and-a-half years Shultz Spend as head of Reagan’s State Department. And Even within this narrow window, Taubman Prioritizes the changing relationship between the United States The Soviet Union.

Shultz wasn’t Reagan’s first choice for secretary of state. Shultz Having served as secretary to labor and secretary of government, he has a lot of experience in the government sector. Treasury For Richard Nixon. Under Nixon, Shultz Some other tips were also collected about the workings of Washington. “You haven’t been in this town very long, have you, Mr. Secretary,” Senator Russell Long Of Louisiana remarked. “Well, I ought to tell you, there’s two types of people in Washington: the fuckers and the fuckees. And I don’t presume to be the latter.”

Shultz Reputation for reliability. While others—Henry Kissinger, most conspicuously—basked in the auras of their own brilliance, Shultz They avoided the spotlight. “He was a problem solver, not a zealous ideologue,” Taubman writes. “He He combined policy expertise and an instinctively inclusive and efficient feel for managing large organisations; he was unflappable. He also worked with a quiet professionalism