The Foreign Service Journal, April 2021

58 APRIL 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Stephan Kieninger wrote for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University as part of the celebration of Shultz’s 100th birthday in December. Those talks eventually led to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned land-launched nuclear weapons capable of reaching targets between 310 and 3,400 miles away. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the agreement in 1987. By June 1991, the two countries had destroyed 2,692 ballistic and cruise missiles. There is no dispute that, as Stanford’s Hoover Institution said in announcing his death, “Shultz was a key player, along- side President Ronald Reagan, in changing the direction of history by using the tools of diplomacy to bring the Cold War to an end.” He was able to “not only imagine things thought impossible but also to bring them to fruition, and forever change the course of human events.” As Secretary of State Antony Blinken observed in his own tribute on Feb. 7, his predecessor “not only negotiated landmark arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, but after leaving office he continued to fight for a world free of nuclear weapons. He also urged serious action on the climate crisis at a time when too few leaders took that position. He was a visionary.” After State Returning to private life in January 1989, Shultz rejoined Stanford University as the Jack Steele Parker Professor of International Economics at the Graduate School of Business. He was also the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil- ian honor, on Jan. 19, 1989, he also received the Seoul Peace Prize (1992), the Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Ser- vice (2001), the Reagan Distinguished American Award (2002) and the American Foreign Service Association’s Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award (2003). Secretary Shultz published several books and countless mono- graphs, articles and op-eds between 1953 and 2020, including a best-selling memoir of his time in Foggy Bottom: Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (Scribner’s, 1993). In November 2020, The Foreign Service Journal ’s cover story was an essay by Secretary Shultz titled “On Trust, ” later excerpted in The Washington Post , The New York Times and elsewhere. And in December, for his 100th birthday, the Hoover Institution published a related monograph by Shultz, “Life and Learning after One Hundred Years—Trust Is the Coin of the Realm: Reflections on Trust and Effective Relationships across a New Hinge of History.” In the monograph, the former Secretary of State summa- rizes the philosophy that animated his approach to interna- tional relations, both at State and beyond: “Genuine empathy helps to create sound relationships across countries, even when cultures seem far apart and when times are tough. Our country will face fresh challenges in an emerging new world: new pandemics, new technologies, new weapons, environ- mental change, demographic change, and the ever-renewing charge to effectively govern over diversity. A shared under- standing, and a human connection, will help us navigate these unsettled waters.” On Feb. 10, Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), co-chairs of the Senate Foreign Service Caucus, introduced a resolution honoring Shultz’s life, achievements and legacy. “Statesmanship and service above self consistently characterized the remarkable life of George P. Shultz,” said the senators. “Throughout his distinguished career, Secretary Shultz championed American diplomacy and strengthened its home institution—the Department of State—all in pursuit of a more peaceful, prosperous and cooperative world order. Secretary Shultz’s example as a patriot and public servant will undoubtedly serve to inspire and guide future generations of American leaders.” n George P. Shultz was a key player, alongside President Ronald Reagan, in changing the direction of history by using the tools of diplomacy to bring the ColdWar to an end. —The Hoover Institution, Feb. 7, 2021. In honor of George P. Shultz, The Foreign Service Journal invited members of the Foreign Service who knew and worked with the former Secretary of State to send us their remembrances. This living memorial is on the AFSA website at afsa.org/remembering-george- shultz. For more articles on George P. Shultz from the FSJ Archive, please visit our special collections page at afsa.org/fsj-special-collections.