Simpson, Maria. “Does She or Doesn’t She? Re-
visited: The Calvin Klein Jeans Ad.”Etc.: A Review
of General Semantics38 (Winter, 1981): 390-400.
Susan E. Thomas
See also Advertising; Film in the United States;
Teen films.
Shultz, George P.
Identification U.S. secretary of state from 1982 to
1989
Born December 13, 1920; New York, New York
Although Shultz was a staunch anticommunist, he opposed
the Reagan administration covert operations that led to the
Iran-Contra affair.
On July 16, 1982, President Ronald Reagan ap-
pointed George P. Shultz to replace Alexander Haig
as U.S. secretary of state. Shultz had a distinguished
academic career as a professor and dean of the well-
known University of Chicago Graduate School of
Business, which included on its staff many illustrious
conservative economists. He also had an impres-
sive background in government, having served on
the Council of Economic Advisors
of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1953-1961) and as secretary of la-
bor (1969-1970), Office of Manage-
ment and Budget director (1970-
1972), and secretary of the Treasury
(1972-1974) under President Rich-
ard M. Nixon.
This distinguished record served
Reagan’s need to find someone with
impeccable credentials to replace
Haig, but there was nonetheless
some feeling that Shultz was more
dovish than the rest of the Reagan
cabinet. He had a long record as
an anticommunist, helped develop
the Reagan Doctrine, supported the
Grenada invasion, opposed negoti-
ations with Daniel Ortega’s Sandi-
nista government, and even advo-
cated invading Nicaragua to get rid
of Ortega. Still, he sparred with Cas-
par Weinberger, the secretary of de-
fense, over the prodigious growth of
defense spending, which he saw as reckless. He was
also at odds with John Poindexter, the national secu-
rity adviser, and Oliver North, one of Poindexter’s
staffers, over various proposed arms deals in the
Middle East, especially with Iran.
These deals involved the covert sale of arms to
Iran, which just a few years earlier had held Ameri-
can hostages for more than a year, causing a national
and international crisis. North and Poindexter used
the proceeds from these sales illegally to fund the
Contras, a rebel army in Nicaragua to which Con-
gress had banned military aid. When these events
became public, Shultz was untouched by the ensu-
ing Iran-Contra scandal, because it was clear that he
was opposed to selling weapons to Iran. During the
first intifada in Palestine, Shultz attempted without
success to convene an international conference to
achieve a cease-fire and the creation of an autono-
mous region in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.Impact In addition to pursuing policies that ended
the Soviet Union, Shultz was significant in his resis-
tance to the illegal activities of some of his colleagues
in the Reagan administration. He left office on Janu-
ary 20, 1989, but continued to be a strategist for the
Republican Party.The Eighties in America Shultz, George P. 873
Secretary of State George P. Shultz, right, reads a statement to the press regarding U.S.
policy toward Central America in November, 1987. The statement represents a compro-
mise with House Speaker Jim Wright, center.(AP/Wide World Photos)