Turmoil and Triumph
George Shultz has written a personal account of his years (1982-89) as secretary of state under Pres. Ronald Reagan. Not since Dean Acheson or Henry Kissinger has a former secretary of state written so articulately about the forging of foreign policy for America. When he joined the Reagan cabinet, Lebanon was at war, the arms race was escalating, terrorism was at fever pitch. Yet his determination. his use of strength in tandem with diplomacy, led to initiatives in the Middle East, transformative strategies for peace with the Soviets & increased influence in Asia, Central & S. America. There are behind-the-scenes talks with the Palestinians & Israelis, critical meetings with the Soviets, & frank discussions with the Japanese & Chinese. There's also a close-up look at the power struggle of the State Department with the staffs of the Nat'l Security Council, the White House & CIA, climaxing in the Iran-Contra affair. The events of Iran-Contra set out here are astounding. It's the first assembling of the facts from Shultz's vantage point & will provoke a reassessment of the period. He paints vivid portraits of the major players during his term in office. On the world scene: Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Deng Xiaoping, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein & Hosni Mubarak--& on the domestic scene: Cap Weinberger, Bill Casey, George Bush, Don Regan, Ed Meese & Jim Baker. The most stunning portrayal is of Ronald Reagan. His assessment of Reagan is as revealing as it's startling. Turmoil & Triumph documents it all so it reads like high drama & living history. No other book by a member of the Reagan administration has this depth of purpose, this scope, this degree of revelation or makes contributions of such significance.
