And on the domestic scene: Cap Weinberger, Bill Casey, George Bush, Don Regan, Ed Meese, and Jim Baker. On the world scene: Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Deng Xiaoping, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein, and Hosni Mubarak. George Shultz paints vivid portraits of the major players during his term in office. It is the first complete assembling of the facts from Secretary Shultz's vantage point and is destined to provoke a reassessment of this period in our history. The events of Iran-Contra set out here can only be described as astounding. There is also a surprisingly close-up look at the power struggle of the State Department with the staffs of the National Security Council and the White House and with the CIA, climaxing in the Iran-Contra affair. There are behind-the-scenes talks with the Palestinians and Israelis, critical meetings with the Soviets, and frank discussions with the Japanese and Chinese. Yet his relentless determination - his use of strength in tandem with diplomacy - led to bold initiatives in the Middle East, new strategies for peace with the Soviets that transformed the superpower relationship, a strengthening of our hand in Asia and in Central and South America, and the forward march of democracy. When Secretary Shultz joined the Reagan cabinet, war raged in Lebanon, the Soviets were escalating the arms race, terrorism was at fever pitch. Not since Dean Acheson or Henry Kissinger has a former secretary of state written so deftly and articulately about the forging of a new, stronger foreign policy for America.
Shultz has written a towering book, a brilliant personal account of his years (1982-1989) as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.
Xiii, 1184 pages, 48 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm
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