George p schultz biography

Influence on American Diplomacy

As Secretary of State, Shultz played a crucial role in guiding U.S.

diplomacy during his lengthy six and a half year tenure in office. Upon his confirmation, he inherited a number of foreign policy challenges, including war in Lebanon, delicate negotiations with the People’s Republic of China and the Government on Taiwan, and a ratcheting up of Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union.

Over the next several years, Shultz focused U.S. diplomatic efforts on resolving the conflict in the Middle East, defusing trade disputes with Japan, managing increasingly tense relationships with several Latin American nations, and crafting U.S.

responses to the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and the new Soviet policies of perestroika and opening to the West.

In part due to his collegial relationships with President Reagan and other members of the Administration, Shultz was able to exert conside