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History of the Treasury
Secretaries of the Treasury
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George P. Shultz
(1972 - 1974)
 Having served as Secretary of Labor in 1968 and head
of the Office of Management and Budget in 1970, George P. Shultz (b.1920)
was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Nixon in 1973. During
his tenure, Shultz was concerned with two major issues: the continuing domestic
administration of Nixon's "New Economic Policy," begun under Secretary John
B. Conally, and a renewed dollar crisis that broke out in February 1973.
Domestically Shultz enacted the next phase of the
NEP, which involved a lifting of price controls begun in 1971. This phase
was a failure, resulting in high inflation, and price freezes were reestablished
five months later. Meanwhile Shultz's attention was increasingly diverted
from the domestic economy to the international arena. He participated
in an international monetary conference in Paris in 1973, which grew out
of the 1971 decision to close the gold window. The conference formally
abolished the fixed rate exchange system, actually eliminated in 1971,
and caused all currencies to float. Shultz resigned shortly before Nixon
to return to private life. He returned to the cabinet in 1982 as President
Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State.
About the Artist
Everett Raymond Kinstler began his career as an illustrator
and cartoonist, working on such classics as "Flash Gordon" and "Doc Savage"
before turning increasingly to portrait painting in the late 1950's. An
established portrait painter in New York, he has had his studio at the
National Arts Club since 1949. He is also a member of the National Academy
of Design and teaches at the Art Students League. Kinstler is represented
in the Treasury collection by portraits of secretaries Kennedy, Connally,
Simon, Blumenthal, and Miller, in addition to Secretary Shultz. The portrait
of Shultz, with his pipe and official Treasury necktie, was executed in
Kinstler's New York studio in 1975.
Office of the Curator
All rights reserved. 2001
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