Former US Secretary of State George Shultz, a titan of American academia, business, and diplomacy who spent most of the 1980s trying to improve Cold War relations with the Soviet Union and forging peace in the Middle East, died Saturday at his home on the campus of Stanford University. He was 100.
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A lifelong Republican, Shultz held three major cabinet positions under Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Shultz had been the oldest surviving former cabinet member of any administration. He was awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1989.
"He was a gentleman of honor and ideas, dedicated to public service and respectful debate, even into his 100th year on Earth," US President Joe Biden said in a statement. "I regret that, as president, I will not be able to benefit from his wisdom, as have so many of my predecessors," he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Shultz "was a legend" and "an ardent champion of diplomacy. [He] was a towering figure in the history of the State Department. The work we do now is shaped by his legacy."
