February 8, 2021 — In early November 1983, President Ronald Reagan was meeting with his entire cabinet, as Secretary of State George Shultz walked him through each step of an upcoming visit to Japan and Korea. I was there as the “plus one” staff aide to Martin Feldstein, Reagan’s top economic adviser.
On the occasion of Shultz’s passing, February 6, at age 100, I offer two remembered anecdotes from this meeting.
Reagan and Whales
Reagan said very little during the lengthy briefing and it wasn’t clear whether he was taking it all in. At one point, Shultz was talking about the disagreement between the US and Japan over whaling.