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In the Nation’s Service: The Life and Times of George P. Shultz 1st Edition

by Philip Taubman (Author)

77 ratings

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The definitive biography of a distinguished public servant, who as US Secretary of Labor, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of State, was pivotal in steering the great powers toward the end of the Cold War.

Deftly solving critical but intractable national and global problems was the leitmotif of George Pratt Shultz's life. No one at the highest levels of the United States government did it better or with greater consequence in the last half of the 20th century, often against withering resistance. His quiet, effective leadership altered the arc of history. While political, social, and cultural dynamics have changed profoundly since Shultz served at the commanding heights of American power in the 1970s and 1980s, his legacy and the lessons of his career have even greater meaning now that the Shultz brand of conservatism has been almost erased in the modern Republican Party.

This book, from longtime New York Times Washington reporter Philip Taubman, restores the modest Shultz to his central place in American history. Taubman reveals Shultz's gift for forging relationships with people and then harnessing the rapport to address national and international challenges, under his motto "trust is the coin of the realm"―as well as his difficulty standing up for his principles, motivated by a powerful sense of loyalty that often trapped him in inaction. Based on exclusive access to Shultz's personal papers, housed in a sealed archive at the Hoover Institution, In the Nation's Service offers a remarkable insider account of the behind-the-scenes struggles of the statesman who played a pivotal role in unwinding the Cold War.

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"This is a masterpiece. Philip Taubman, one of the great reporters and editors from The New York Times, has dug forever and found the real, authentic George Shultz, one of the true peacemakers of the 20th century. Essentially positive but not avoiding some well-documented criticisms, this biography reminds me of David McCullough's classic biographies of Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman―defining and sure-footed in every paragraph."―Bob Woodward, #1 bestselling author of Peril and Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate

"The nuanced diplomacy of George Shultz at the end of the Cold War was a major reason that 45-year conflict ended with a whimper rather than the nuclear bang we had all feared. In his biography about Shultz, Philip Taubman masterfully explains the many keys to Shultz's success, including his giant intellect and understated ability to build personal relationships with his interlocutors in the Soviet Union. In the Nation's Service is a must read for those interested in the life and times of one of our nation's foremost secretaries of state."―James A. Baker, III, 61st U.S. Secretary of State

"Philip Taubman has written an outstanding book about the extraordinary life and public service of Secretary Shultz. As Taubman describes in these pages, Shultz possessed the rare ability to build consensus among people with diverse and sometimes deeply opposing views, exhibiting an agile diplomacy that allowed him to aid in the peaceful end of the Cold War. Taubman's account deftly captures the character of this American icon, the halls of power in which he served the nation, and the consequential one hundred years in which he lived."―Condoleezza Rice, 66th US Secretary of State, Tad and Dianne Taube Director, Hoover Institution

"Taubman makes a persuasive case that Shultz was one of the most distinguished American officials of the last half century."―H.W. Brands, author of The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and the War for America and Reagan: The Life

"Philip Taubman's new biography of Shultz, In the Nation's Service, offers a more complicated assessment of the well-known government official and of the modern history of the GOP. Shultz's saga of triumph and turmoil offers a reminder that the brutal moral conditions Republican administrations impose on those who work in them were not just confined to Trump, but have been manifest all along."―Washington Monthly

"Philip Taubman's In the Nation's Service: The Life and Times of George P. Shultz adds a surprising new dimension to the Reagan saga. Through the eyes of Shultz, the secretary of state, Taubman portrays the Reagan administration as swamped and nearly paralyzed by disorganization and infighting. Cabinet members and White House aides were constantly at each other's throats. This will come as no surprise to students of the Reagan presidency, but Taubman, a longtime reporter and editor at the New York Times, introduces a new and highly credible source. [Taubman's research] provides valuable new insight into the Reagan years, and he gives Shultz credit for holding things together."―David E. Hoffman, The Washington Post

"Taubman's book is remarkable in many ways. [I]t gives Shultz the credit he deserves in guiding Reagan's foreign policy, especially in ending the Soviet empire, that had been reserved for just Reagan, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, President George H.W. Bush, and his top diplomat James Baker."―Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner

"The humanity and human touch of Shultz and his biographer emerge on nearly every page."―Walter Clemens, New York Journal of Books

"Taubman has written an outstanding biography of George Shultz, both comprehensive and consistently engaging. Taubman's biography excels at conveying Shultz's human characteristics―trustworthiness, solidity, fortitude, plain-spoken directness, quick intelligence, ambition―which brought him to the summit of the American political system and made him such an invaluable player in it."―Gabriel Schoenfeld, The American Purpose

"Mr. Taubman has given us a distinctly American story: A young man from a middle-income family in New Jersey, refined by education at Princeton and early service in uniform, comes to help guide U.S. foreign affairs through a perilous world moment. Shultz's spirit of service and loyalty is regrettably no longer dominant in American diplomacy or bureaucracy."―Kate Bachelder Odell, Wall Street Journal

"As capably captured by Philip Taubman in his official biography of the 60th secretary of state, In the Nation's Service, Shultz had a front-row view of both the Reagan administration and the end of the Cold War. Indeed, he was an active player in it, instrumental in directing Reagan's more cooperative approach to the Soviet Union and helped along by a willing partner in Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev."―Samuel Sweeney, Foreign Policy

"Taubman's excellent biography deserves great praise for highlighting the enormous debt of gratitude the country owes to George Shultz, not only for his herculean efforts to bring an end to the Cold War but also his many other achievements 'In the Nation's Service.'"―Ambassador Gary Grappo, The Cipher Brief

About the Author

Philip Taubman is a lecturer at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. Before joining CISAC, Mr. Taubman worked at The New York Times as a reporter and editor for nearly 30 years, specializing in national security issues, including intelligence and defense policies and operations. He is author of The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb (2012) and Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage (2003).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stanford University Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 10, 2023
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 504 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1503631125
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1503631120
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #504,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #333 in United States National Government
- #1,062 in History (Books)
- #1,200 in Political Leader Biographies
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Philip Taubman worked for The New York Times for thirty years as a reporter and editor, including stints as chief of both the Washington and Moscow bureaus, and deputy editorial page editor. He has also worked at Esquire and Time magazines. He was twice awarded the George Polk Award—for National Reporting in 1981 and for Foreign Affairs Reporting in 1983. Since retiring from the Times in 2008, he has been a consulting professor at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. His first book, Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America’s Space Espionage, was published in 2004.

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Kat
Compelling biography
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2024
Format: Hardcover

Great book about Nixon and Reagan era politics through the vantage point a longtime presidential advisor; George P Schultz served under Nixon and Reagan in various cabinet posts in addition to being a tenured academic at U Chicago. His crucial career contributions however are arguably his work in the Reagan admin as Secretary of State, guiding Cold War policy and working on advancing dialogue between the Us and USSR particularly on the topic of reducing nuclear weapons. While his long career in Dc is not without controversy, his contributions to economics, foreign policy and domestic policy are undeniable. An expansive and fascinating read about late20th century US history

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M. Skousen
Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2023
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
The book is beautifully done, with lots of great pictures, especially the one of George Shultz as a football player. Tall and rugged looking. Wow, he had quite a life, not only as a Princeton football player, Marine, economics professor at MIT and Chicago, but on the Council of Economic Advisors under Eisenhower, Secretary of Labor and Treasury under Nixon, and Secretary of State under Reagan, plus the first director of the Office of Management and Budget, running the business school at Chicago and executive at Bechtel Corp. Whew!

I was especially interested in his life at the University of Chicago with Milton Friedman and George Stigler -- I would have liked more on that in the book. It seemed that the author, a New York Times reporter, was more interested in foreign policy.

Oddly enough, the author leaves out one of George Shultz's famous stories, the time in September 1971 when he and Milton Friedman spent a couple of hours in the Oval Office with President Nixon talking about wage-price controls. George Shultz was director of the Office of Management and Budget, the wage-price control board. Friedman writes about it in "Two Lucky People," p. 387:

"In September 1971, after Nixon had imposed wage and price controls, George Shultz and I discussed a range of issues with him. As I was getting ready to leave, Nixon said something about wage and price controls being a monstrosity that they would get rid of as soon as they could, and then went on to say, "Don't blame George [then serving as administrator of price and wage controls] for this monstrosity." As I remember it, I replied something like, "I don't blame George. I blame you, Mr. President."

That's Milton, always frank and honest.

Here at Chapman U. we have a bronze bust of George Shultz along with Milton Friedman and a few other greats. It was a gift of Ginny and Peter Ueberroth, the former baseball commissioner (dedicated in 2010). I'll bet we are probably the only college campus to have a bust of George Shultz. I like the quote, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a willingness to act in his defense."

I met George once or twice out at the Mont Pelerin Society meetings several years ago. I know he was known best for his work in foreign policy, but I remember him as an economist at U of Chicago.

I did notice that he and his wife did something that is seldom done any more in college life -- he invited students on the dean's list to his home at the end of each quarter for some home-cooking by his wife O'Bie.

I did like how George Shultz stood up to the White House's demand that the IRS audit Nixon's enemies list. Good for him!

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M. Skousen

Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2023
The book is beautifully done, with lots of great pictures, especially the one of George Shultz as a football player. Tall and rugged looking. Wow, he had quite a life, not only as a Princeton football player, Marine, economics professor at MIT and Chicago, but on the Council of Economic Advisors under Eisenhower, Secretary of Labor and Treasury under Nixon, and Secretary of State under Reagan, plus the first director of the Office of Management and Budget, running the business school at Chicago and executive at Bechtel Corp. Whew!

I was especially interested in his life at the University of Chicago with Milton Friedman and George Stigler -- I would have liked more on that in the book. It seemed that the author, a New York Times reporter, was more interested in foreign policy.

Oddly enough, the author leaves out one of George Shultz's famous stories, the time in September 1971 when he and Milton Friedman spent a couple of hours in the Oval Office with President Nixon talking about wage-price controls. George Shultz was director of the Office of Management and Budget, the wage-price control board. Friedman writes about it in "Two Lucky People," p. 387:

"In September 1971, after Nixon had imposed wage and price controls, George Shultz and I discussed a range of issues with him. As I was getting ready to leave, Nixon said something about wage and price controls being a monstrosity that they would get rid of as soon as they could, and then went on to say, "Don't blame George [then serving as administrator of price and wage controls] for this monstrosity." As I remember it, I replied something like, "I don't blame George. I blame you, Mr. President."

That's Milton, always frank and honest.

Here at Chapman U. we have a bronze bust of George Shultz along with Milton Friedman and a few other greats. It was a gift of Ginny and Peter Ueberroth, the former baseball commissioner (dedicated in 2010). I'll bet we are probably the only college campus to have a bust of George Shultz. I like the quote, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a willingness to act in his defense."

I met George once or twice out at the Mont Pelerin Society meetings several years ago. I know he was known best for his work in foreign policy, but I remember him as an economist at U of Chicago.

I did notice that he and his wife did something that is seldom done any more in college life -- he invited students on the dean's list to his home at the end of each quarter for some home-cooking by his wife O'Bie.

I did like how George Shultz stood up to the White House's demand that the IRS audit Nixon's enemies list. Good for him!

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Christian Schlect
GPS
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2023
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
The sort of biography of George Shultz one would expect from a retired New York Times reporter who was stationed during his decades-long newspaper career both in Moscow and Washington, D.C.

Philip Taubman's book is largely focused on what he was most interested in; that is, the political behind-the-scenes scabbles within the Reagan Administration over foreign policy, mainly as it was directed toward the USSR. And, as with many foreign policy reporters at national papers, he heavily favors the career professionals at the State Department over other competing actors on the foreign policy stage, such as Defense, CIA, and the White House's own national security operation. He definitely is ill-disposed toward hard line Cold War conservatives ranging from Jeane Kilpatrick to Richard Perle to Casper Weinberger.

Little analysis (or ink) is spent on George Shultz's actual policy work at Labor, OMB, or Treasury.

Sometimes reading this book I thought I was just reading the New York Times, with news articles and opinion pieces from that publication written in the 1980s repeatedly quoted. Other chapters seemed sourced from just one source; for example, chapter twelve citing Raymond Seitz's journal almost exclusively.

To me, this author shoehorned a mostly favorable account of George Shultz's life into an insider's account of the Reagan/Gorbachev relationship (one carefully nurtured by Secretary Shultz) that led to the end of the Cold War.

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13 people found this helpful

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Michael J. Williams
Light review of a virtuous American
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2023
Format: Hardcover
The author had access to Shultz’ personal records and goes into details not available to anyone else. Two complaints. I wish the author had described Shultz’ background as a PhD in economics. What is a labor economist anyway and how did Shultz’ background as a labor economist prepare him for his career in pubic service.
Second, the author relies almost only on the New York Times and Washington Post to establish the context in which Shultz was acting. Understandably the former NYT reporter cites the Times on every third page; however, as a historical tool it would have been good to broaden his reference to other sources.

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Danny Cote
When the Department of State was run by competent professionals.
Reviewed in France on June 14, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase

Reading this book brings a breath of fresh air compared to the current state of affairs in the US administration. When the Department of State was run by competent professionals. Truly enjoyable.

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Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics

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5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling biography

4.0 out of 5 stars Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics

Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics

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3.0 out of 5 stars GPS

4.0 out of 5 stars Light review of a virtuous American

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars When the Department of State was run by competent professionals.

Compelling biography

Author favors foreign policy, gives short shrift to Shultz's economics

GPS

Light review of a virtuous American

When the Department of State was run by competent professionals.