George P. Shultz

George Pratt Shultz (1920–2021) was a natural problem solver who was raised to treat people based on their merits, not their race or creed. He had a strong commitment to human liberty and the inalienable rights of all people.

Over the course of the Nixon and Reagan presidential administrations, Shultz’s effective leadership in pursuit of civil rights nationally and human rights globally resulted in some of the finest achievements of his lifetime. They are reflected in the George P. Shultz papers at Hoover, which are filled with the most humanitarian awards of all the collections—a fitting testament to a life lived in service.

George Shultz watched from Chicago as the civil rights movement laid bare the division within America. As a labor economist, he knew the practical advantages to ensuring equal opportunities for all Americans. Morally, he found discrimination repugnant and felt people should be treated on their merits. A 1962 direct encounter with the ugliness of racism left a deep impact on Shultz, who later reflected:

“Intellectualizing about the issue is one thing. Having it happen to you is something else again. You get it in your stomach in a way that is different from getting it in your head.”

Shultz championed civil rights quietly. At the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, he established the Careers for Negroes in Management program in 1964—his proudest achievement as dean. As part of the Nixon administration, Shultz took the lead on restructuring the Job Corps, increasing contracts with minority-owned construction firms, alleviating discrimination in the building trades, implementing court-ordered integration of school systems in the South, and reforming welfare. Critically, he successfully guided federal affirmative action programs through Congress and the courts—something past administrations had failed to achieve.

20th Year Commemoration Award of Appreciation presented to George Shultz by UBM, Inc. and Chicago Building Trades Council, October 23, 1989. George P. Shultz papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

During his time in Chicago, Shultz worked on advocating for equal economic opportunities for all people. He also collaborated with corporations and unions to expand job opportunities for African Americans: for example, working to find systemic solutions for the thousands of employees left behind when the meatpacking industry left the city; and launching a program to increase the number of Black students admitted to the business school.

Secretary Shultz on Desegregation

By 1970, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina continued to defy the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which declared dual school systems unconstitutional. These states were also in defiance of a 1969 Supreme Court decision ordering an end to any further delay.

In March 1970, President Richard Nixon declared Brown to be “right in both constitutional and human terms” and expressed his intention to enforce the law. Secretary of Labor George Shultz described his role as the de facto chairman leading a cabinet committee to manage school desegregation:

“We formed biracial committees in each of the seven states. The first group to come to Washington was from Mississippi and a pattern was repeated when groups from the other states came in:

The discussion was civil, but deep divisions were evident. I let them argue and get it out of their systems. Then it was time to shift gears. By prearrangement, I had Attorney General John Mitchell standing by. He was known throughout the South as the tough guy, and was regarded by the whites as “their man.” I asked Mitchell what he planned to do. “I am attorney general, and I will enforce the law,” he growled in his gruff, pipe-smoking way. He offered no judgments about whether this was good, bad, or indifferent. Then he left. No nonsense.

So I said to the group, “The discussion we’ve had this morning has been intense and revealing, but you can see that it’s not really relevant. The fact is, desegregation is going to happen. You have a great stake in seeing that this effort is managed in a reasonable way, whether you like it or not.”

The Philadelphia Plan Rider

To accomplish their goals on affirmative action, Secretary of Labor Shultz and Assistant Labor Secretary Arthur Fletcher chose to modify the Johnson-era “Philadelphia Plan,” requiring federal contractors to practice nondiscrimination in hiring. They announced that the new plan would set race-based hiring goals and timetables but no hard quotas for integrating the building trades. Shultz saw quotas as inexpedient: “There’s been a quota system in place for a long time, and it’s been very effective. Zero: that’s the quota.” The rider passed, allowing the continued implementation of the plan, which would soon set a precedent for similar initiatives.

President Reagan’s foreign policy during George Shultz’s time leading the State Department wove together the nation’s material and security interests with moral values. Chief among those values was human rights. As the Cold War intensified before flickering out, Secretary Shultz was present not just to discuss arms control, prisoner exchanges, conflict resolution, and economic relations—he was there to seize every opportunity he had to demand basic human rights for the people who needed them.

At each meeting with Soviet counterparts, Shultz would bring this issue to the table and the Soviets would dismiss it as fodder for American propaganda. But as trust grew between Shultz and men such as Andrei Gromyko, Eduard Shevardnadze, and Mikhail Gorbachev, so too did the focus on Soviet refuseniks and their rights. Shultz was determined to convince them that actions on human rights were not a quid pro quo issue for the United States but that their own society would benefit from the better treatment of individuals.

Persons of Special Interest

By 1986, Shultz and Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze had developed an understanding and Shultz began passing on lists of refuseniks, “Persons of Special Interest to the U.S.,” that the United States wanted allowed to emigrate from the USSR. Slowly, the Soviets acquiesced. The Americans carefully avoided publicly taking credit to ensure the easing of emigration restrictions continued.

One name on the lists was Ida Nudel (1931–2021). Having grown discontented with the Soviet treatment of Jews, Nudel requested to emigrate in 1970 but was denied. This launched her activism to support “prisoners of Zion,” among whom she became known as the “Guardian Angel.” She was ostracized by Russian society, lost her job, and was exiled to Siberia—all while being championed abroad by activists for Soviet Jewry.

“On October 15, 1987, I was asked, if at all possible, to be available in the afternoon for a phone call from Jerusalem. At 3:18 pm, the call came through in my office in the State Department. On the other end of the line came, “This is Ida Nuel. I’m in Jerusalem.” She paused, then said, “I’m home.” I could hardly speak for the rush of emotion I felt. This was one of the most moving moments of my years as secretary of state.

Her story was heroic even among the many tales of intrepid Jewish refuseniks. This courageous woman’s name was on the list I had given to Shevardnadze at the time of the Daniloff negotiation, and she had been present at the well-publicized seder I had attended in Moscow early in April. I had always said we would never give up our effort on Ida’s behalf but had never said anything to Ida or her sister that could mislead them. Ida gave Ronald Reagan and me much of the credit for forcing such promising change in human rights in the Soviet Union.”

The Seder of Refuseniks

On the evening of April 13, 1987, Sec. Shultz and his wife joined a small group of Russian Jews assembled for a seder at the American ambassador’s residence, Spaso House. The New York Times reported: “Many who were at the seder had been in prison or Siberian exile for calling on Washington to put pressure on Soviet authorities to relax the emigration restrictions affecting all Soviet citizens. Mr. Shultz, an Episcopalian, wore a white yarmulke as he went to every table, shook every hand and exchanged a few words with practically everyone. He seemed in awe of these tough, cheerful, resolute men and women bearing names familiar to him from the lists he presents at every meeting with high Soviet officials.”