George Shultz.Photo: Susan Walsh/AP/Shutterstock
George Shultz — a former secretary of state underRonald Reagan, who also worked forRichard Nixonand Dwight D. Eisenhower; in the process becoming one of the few Cabinet secretaries under multiple presidents — has died. He was 100.
Stanford University confirmed the news on Sunday, announcing that Shultz died Saturday at his home on the college’s campus.
Theschool described Shultz asa “Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor emeritus at Stanford Graduate School of Business who served three American presidents and played a pivotal role in shaping economic and foreign policy in the late 20th century.”
Aside from serving as Reagan’s secretary of state, Shultz held three integral roles under Nixon:secretary of the treasury, director of the office of management and budget (the first ever) and secretary of labor.
Before his work with Nixon and Reagan, Shultz also worked on Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1955, as a senior staff economist.
Shultz served at theHoover Institutionfor more than 30 years before his death and, according to Stanford, kept working at the school — which he joined in 1968 — “nearly every day until his passing.”
In more recent years, Shultz also served on the board of directors for Elizabeth Holmes' disgraced healthcare company Theranos and his grandson was a key whistleblower against the company, notably detailed in the documentaryThe Inventorand other reports.
(Holmes, who will go on trial later this year, has pleaded not guilty to the accusations against her.)
Ina statementafter Holmes' downfall, Shultz praised his grandson, Tyler, saying, “He did not shrink from what he saw as his responsibility to the truth and patient safety, even when he felt personally threatened and believed that I had placed allegiance to the company over allegiance to higher values and our family. … Tyler navigated a very complex situation in ways that made me proud.”
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George Shultz in 1968.Benjamin E. ‘Gene’ Forte/CNP/Getty
George Shultz in 1983.Getty
His fellow former Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice(who now serves as director of the Hoover Institution) tweeted on Sunday that he “was a great American statesman and truepatriot in every sense of the word. Now, we must carry on the work that he challenged us to do — to love freedom and opportunity and to never lose a thirst for learning. May he rest in peace.”
Both PresidentJoe Bidenand former PresidentGeorge W. Bushissued statements upon the news of Shultz’s death,with the latter saying, “America has lost one of its finest statesmen.”
“He was a person of deep intellect, talent and patriotism,” added Bush, 74. “He took on a wide range of important jobs and did them all well. George Shultz was a great public servant, and America is better because of that service.Laura [Bush]and I send our sympathies to Charlotte, his five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
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Biden, 78, called the late Shultz"a gentleman of honor and ideas, dedicated to public service and respectful debate, even into his 100th year on Earth," adding that he “regret(s) that, as president, I will not be able to benefit from his wisdom, as have so many of my predecessors.”
The newly inaugurated 46th president went on to credit Shultz as being “the driving force behind the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty,” saying he drove home “the critical concept that we should work to negotiate with our adversaries where possible in order to make life better and safer for our people.”
“He was a man of incredible courage,” Biden said. “Whether it was donning the uniformof the United States Marines todefend the cause of liberty in World War II or speaking out directly to the President of the United States when he disagreed with a policy, George Shultz knew when to stand and fight.”
He concluded, “[First LadyJill Biden] and I send our deepest condolences to the entire Shultz family — his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our nation mourns his loss along with you even as we honor his lifetime of patriotic service.”
source: people.com
