George P. Shultz, who died on Feb. 6 at the age of 100, was a great man, a great patriot and a great U.S. secretary of state. He quite possibly was the most underrated secretary in our history.
Michael A. Butler column: A tribute to George P. Shultz
Shultz held four cabinet offices during his long career of public service, including two of the original, most senior cabinet positions. As secretary of state and secretary of the treasury, Shultz was a worthy successor to Jefferson and Hamilton.
Shultz took on those responsibilities at moments of political chaos, moving to the Treasury Department during the economic crisis of the mid-1970s and replacing a flailing Alexander Haig at the State Department at a moment when American national interests were under severe challenges in Europe, Asia and our own hemisphere.
