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| Eduard Shevardnadze, Foreign Minister Under Gorbachev, Dies at 86 | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who as Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s foreign minister helped hone the “new thinking,” foreign and domestic, that transformed and ultimately rent the Soviet Union, then led his native Georgia through its turbulent start as an independent state, died on Monday. He was 86. | Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who as Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s foreign minister helped hone the “new thinking,” foreign and domestic, that transformed and ultimately rent the Soviet Union, then led his native Georgia through its turbulent start as an independent state, died on Monday. He was 86. |
| His spokeswoman, Marina Davitashvili, confirmed the death. | His spokeswoman, Marina Davitashvili, confirmed the death. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze was forced from office in 2003 by the Rose Revolution, in which Georgians vented their frustration with the corrupt post-Soviet system that he had presided over. His ouster set in motion a period of government reform that saw Georgia become a darling of the West under his successor, Mikheil Saakashvili. | Mr. Shevardnadze was forced from office in 2003 by the Rose Revolution, in which Georgians vented their frustration with the corrupt post-Soviet system that he had presided over. His ouster set in motion a period of government reform that saw Georgia become a darling of the West under his successor, Mikheil Saakashvili. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze had spent his working life as a Communist official when Mr. Gorbachev called him on June 30, 1985, with a proposition that startled him: Would he manage the foreign policy of one of the two most powerful countries in the world? | Mr. Shevardnadze had spent his working life as a Communist official when Mr. Gorbachev called him on June 30, 1985, with a proposition that startled him: Would he manage the foreign policy of one of the two most powerful countries in the world? |
| As he recounted the call in his memoirs, “The Future Belongs to Freedom” (1991), Mr. Shevardnadze stammered that he had no experience in diplomacy, other than hosting foreign delegations as the top Communist official in the Soviet republic of Georgia. He had visited just nine countries and spoke no foreign languages. And, he asked Mr. Gorbachev, shouldn’t the foreign minister be Russian? | As he recounted the call in his memoirs, “The Future Belongs to Freedom” (1991), Mr. Shevardnadze stammered that he had no experience in diplomacy, other than hosting foreign delegations as the top Communist official in the Soviet republic of Georgia. He had visited just nine countries and spoke no foreign languages. And, he asked Mr. Gorbachev, shouldn’t the foreign minister be Russian? |
| “The issue is already decided,” Mr. Gorbachev answered. Mr. Shevardnadze was to report to work the next day. | “The issue is already decided,” Mr. Gorbachev answered. Mr. Shevardnadze was to report to work the next day. |
| “The decision to make Shevardnadze foreign minister was the first obvious display of Gorbachev’s remarkable political creativity,” Robert G. Kaiser wrote in “Why Gorbachev Happened: His Triumphs, His Failure, and His Fall” (1991). | “The decision to make Shevardnadze foreign minister was the first obvious display of Gorbachev’s remarkable political creativity,” Robert G. Kaiser wrote in “Why Gorbachev Happened: His Triumphs, His Failure, and His Fall” (1991). |
| In his memoirs, Mr. Gorbachev, whose title was general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said that “experienced people” had understood his thinking: He had assured himself “a free hand in foreign policy by bringing in a close friend and associate.” | In his memoirs, Mr. Gorbachev, whose title was general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said that “experienced people” had understood his thinking: He had assured himself “a free hand in foreign policy by bringing in a close friend and associate.” |
| Together, the two men revolutionized Soviet foreign policy. They withdrew troops from Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union had waged a fruitless war; negotiated treaties on medium-range and strategic nuclear arms; took military forces out of Europe and away from the China border; allowed the reunification of Germany; and accepted human rights as part of policy discussions. | Together, the two men revolutionized Soviet foreign policy. They withdrew troops from Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union had waged a fruitless war; negotiated treaties on medium-range and strategic nuclear arms; took military forces out of Europe and away from the China border; allowed the reunification of Germany; and accepted human rights as part of policy discussions. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze was architect, spokesman and negotiator for the new policy, and the white-haired visage that earned him the nickname Silver Fox was nearly ubiquitous on the world stage from 1985 to 1991. The magazine The New Leader said in 2004 that his diplomatic accomplishments had been equal to those of Mr. Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. | Mr. Shevardnadze was architect, spokesman and negotiator for the new policy, and the white-haired visage that earned him the nickname Silver Fox was nearly ubiquitous on the world stage from 1985 to 1991. The magazine The New Leader said in 2004 that his diplomatic accomplishments had been equal to those of Mr. Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. |
| Part of his success was forging relationships with Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III, who became proponents of reconciliation in administrations that were intensely anti-Soviet. Just as difficult, he helped convince Soviet hard-liners that it was time for rapprochement with the United States. | Part of his success was forging relationships with Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III, who became proponents of reconciliation in administrations that were intensely anti-Soviet. Just as difficult, he helped convince Soviet hard-liners that it was time for rapprochement with the United States. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze was actually in the process of renouncing his Communist past. He had come to believe that the ideology was both wrong and doomed. In 1988, he was the first Soviet official to say that the clash with capitalism no longer mattered — an act of “true ‘sedition’ in the eyes of the official ideologues,” Mr. Gorbachev said in his “Memoirs” (1995). | Mr. Shevardnadze was actually in the process of renouncing his Communist past. He had come to believe that the ideology was both wrong and doomed. In 1988, he was the first Soviet official to say that the clash with capitalism no longer mattered — an act of “true ‘sedition’ in the eyes of the official ideologues,” Mr. Gorbachev said in his “Memoirs” (1995). |
| Mr. Shevardnadze’s revisionist thinking outpaced that of Mr. Gorbachev. “He thought he was refining socialism while I was no longer a socialist,” Mr. Shevardnadze told The New York Times Magazine in 1993. | Mr. Shevardnadze’s revisionist thinking outpaced that of Mr. Gorbachev. “He thought he was refining socialism while I was no longer a socialist,” Mr. Shevardnadze told The New York Times Magazine in 1993. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze became worried that Mr. Gorbachev was falling under the influence of the hard-liners. He ultimately shocked his boss by resigning on Dec. 20, 1990, warning, “Dictatorship is coming.” After a botched coup attempt by hard-liners in August 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved itself on Dec. 26, 1991. It was the victim of economic chaos, political opposition from many of the constituent republics and chaos in the Kremlin. | Mr. Shevardnadze became worried that Mr. Gorbachev was falling under the influence of the hard-liners. He ultimately shocked his boss by resigning on Dec. 20, 1990, warning, “Dictatorship is coming.” After a botched coup attempt by hard-liners in August 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved itself on Dec. 26, 1991. It was the victim of economic chaos, political opposition from many of the constituent republics and chaos in the Kremlin. |
| Three months later, Mr. Shevardnadze agreed to head the council governing Georgia after a coup there. He was elected president in 1995 and helped hold his country together, establish democratic reforms and stabilize the economy. | Three months later, Mr. Shevardnadze agreed to head the council governing Georgia after a coup there. He was elected president in 1995 and helped hold his country together, establish democratic reforms and stabilize the economy. |
| But his second term, won in 2000, was a disaster, as armed civil clashes proliferated, the economy deteriorated and cronyism and corruption flourished. He resigned on Nov. 24, 2003, after protesters’ chants of “Get out! Get out! Get out!” | But his second term, won in 2000, was a disaster, as armed civil clashes proliferated, the economy deteriorated and cronyism and corruption flourished. He resigned on Nov. 24, 2003, after protesters’ chants of “Get out! Get out! Get out!” |
| The proximate cause of Mr. Shevardnadze’s fall was his involvement in rigged elections in 2002 and 2003, a violation of the electoral reform laws that he himself had sponsored. His own Supreme Court invalidated the elections. | The proximate cause of Mr. Shevardnadze’s fall was his involvement in rigged elections in 2002 and 2003, a violation of the electoral reform laws that he himself had sponsored. His own Supreme Court invalidated the elections. |
| In a television interview after being driven from office, Mr. Shevardnadze no longer spoke of perestroika or glasnost, the Russian words for rebuilding and openness that Mr. Gorbachev had popularized. | In a television interview after being driven from office, Mr. Shevardnadze no longer spoke of perestroika or glasnost, the Russian words for rebuilding and openness that Mr. Gorbachev had popularized. |
| “It is not good to have too much democracy,” he said. “I think that was a mistake.” | “It is not good to have too much democracy,” he said. “I think that was a mistake.” |
| In a statement on Monday, Mr. Baker, calling him “my friend,” said Mr. Shevardnadze would “have an honored place in history, because he and Mikhail Gorbachev refused to support the use of force to keep the Soviet empire together.” | In a statement on Monday, Mr. Baker, calling him “my friend,” said Mr. Shevardnadze would “have an honored place in history, because he and Mikhail Gorbachev refused to support the use of force to keep the Soviet empire together.” |
| “Many millions of people in Central and Eastern Europe and around the world owe their freedom to them,” he said. | “Many millions of people in Central and Eastern Europe and around the world owe their freedom to them,” he said. |
| Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze was born in the village of Mamati, Georgia, on Jan. 25, 1928. His father was a Russian language teacher who was arrested in Stalin’s purges but saved by a friend in the secret police. The boy threw himself into Communist youth activities and considered Communism his religion. He joined the party in 1948. | Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze was born in the village of Mamati, Georgia, on Jan. 25, 1928. His father was a Russian language teacher who was arrested in Stalin’s purges but saved by a friend in the secret police. The boy threw himself into Communist youth activities and considered Communism his religion. He joined the party in 1948. |
| Resisting his parents’ wishes that he go to medical school, he became a political instructor for Komsomol, the Communist youth organization. While on vacation in 1951 at a Georgian resort, Mr. Shevardnadze met Nanuli Tsagareyshvili, a counselor at a camp for Pioneers, the Communist youth organization for young teens. He was told by a high-ranking party official that he should not marry her because her father had been arrested as an enemy of the people. The official said that Mr. Shevardnadze would become “a pariah, an outcast, with all the consequences that entailed,” Mr. Shevardnadze wrote in his memoirs. | Resisting his parents’ wishes that he go to medical school, he became a political instructor for Komsomol, the Communist youth organization. While on vacation in 1951 at a Georgian resort, Mr. Shevardnadze met Nanuli Tsagareyshvili, a counselor at a camp for Pioneers, the Communist youth organization for young teens. He was told by a high-ranking party official that he should not marry her because her father had been arrested as an enemy of the people. The official said that Mr. Shevardnadze would become “a pariah, an outcast, with all the consequences that entailed,” Mr. Shevardnadze wrote in his memoirs. |
| They wed nevertheless, in 1951. “Why must I sacrifice my love to hatred?” he wrote. | They wed nevertheless, in 1951. “Why must I sacrifice my love to hatred?” he wrote. |
| She died in 2004. Mr. Shevardnadze is believed to be survived by his son, Pata; his daughter, Monana, and four grandchildren. | She died in 2004. Mr. Shevardnadze is believed to be survived by his son, Pata; his daughter, Monana, and four grandchildren. |
| While working for Komsomol, Mr. Shevardnadze graduated from the Higher Party School of the Communist Party of Georgia, and earned a teaching degree through a correspondence school. He became head of the Georgian Komsomol in 1956. | While working for Komsomol, Mr. Shevardnadze graduated from the Higher Party School of the Communist Party of Georgia, and earned a teaching degree through a correspondence school. He became head of the Georgian Komsomol in 1956. |
| His rise through the party ranks continued in 1965, when he was appointed minister of public order in Georgia, then interior minister, in 1968. Both were police positions under the K.G.B. He developed a reputation for toughness, even cruelty, and was said to torture prisoners. | His rise through the party ranks continued in 1965, when he was appointed minister of public order in Georgia, then interior minister, in 1968. Both were police positions under the K.G.B. He developed a reputation for toughness, even cruelty, and was said to torture prisoners. |
| He was also a renowned foe of Georgia’s rampant corruption. On his first day as minister of public order, according to a story circulating at the time, he asked senior officials for a show of hands. He then ordered everyone displaying an expensive black-market watch to take it off and turn it in. | He was also a renowned foe of Georgia’s rampant corruption. On his first day as minister of public order, according to a story circulating at the time, he asked senior officials for a show of hands. He then ordered everyone displaying an expensive black-market watch to take it off and turn it in. |
| In 1972, Mr. Shevardnadze flew to Moscow with a suitcase full of evidence of the corruption of Georgian leadership to show the Soviet leader, Leonid I. Brezhnev. He was rewarded with the job of first secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia. In 1976, he was named to the central committee of the national Communist Party, and two years later became a nonvoting member of the ruling politburo. | In 1972, Mr. Shevardnadze flew to Moscow with a suitcase full of evidence of the corruption of Georgian leadership to show the Soviet leader, Leonid I. Brezhnev. He was rewarded with the job of first secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia. In 1976, he was named to the central committee of the national Communist Party, and two years later became a nonvoting member of the ruling politburo. |
| Meanwhile, Mr. Shevardnadze built a network of connections, cultivating top party officials vacationing in Georgia. He became a protégé of Yuri Andropov, the longest-serving head of the K.G.B., who succeeded Mr. Brezhnev as the Soviet leader. | Meanwhile, Mr. Shevardnadze built a network of connections, cultivating top party officials vacationing in Georgia. He became a protégé of Yuri Andropov, the longest-serving head of the K.G.B., who succeeded Mr. Brezhnev as the Soviet leader. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze met Mr. Gorbachev while the two were Komsomol officials in the mid-1960s. They immediately liked each other and began meeting regularly in Moscow, Georgia and in the Stavropol region, where Mr. Gorbachev led a Komsomol branch. | Mr. Shevardnadze met Mr. Gorbachev while the two were Komsomol officials in the mid-1960s. They immediately liked each other and began meeting regularly in Moscow, Georgia and in the Stavropol region, where Mr. Gorbachev led a Komsomol branch. |
| “Gradually, unnoticed to ourselves, we opened up to each other, beginning to confide our secret thoughts,” Mr. Shevardnadze wrote. In 1979, after both men learned about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from newspapers, they privately agreed that it was “a fatal error,” in Mr. Shevardnadze’s words. | “Gradually, unnoticed to ourselves, we opened up to each other, beginning to confide our secret thoughts,” Mr. Shevardnadze wrote. In 1979, after both men learned about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from newspapers, they privately agreed that it was “a fatal error,” in Mr. Shevardnadze’s words. |
| As foreign minister, Mr. Shevardnadze succeeded Andrei A. Gromyko, who in holding the post for a generation had exemplified the dour image of Soviet diplomats. He also took the job with Mr. Gromyko’s approval, which Mr. Gorbachev had won through flattery and a promise to appoint Mr. Gromyko to the ceremonial position of head of state. | As foreign minister, Mr. Shevardnadze succeeded Andrei A. Gromyko, who in holding the post for a generation had exemplified the dour image of Soviet diplomats. He also took the job with Mr. Gromyko’s approval, which Mr. Gorbachev had won through flattery and a promise to appoint Mr. Gromyko to the ceremonial position of head of state. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze quickly showed diplomatic aplomb. On his first day, he told his deputies: “Who am I compared to Gromyko, the battleship of world foreign policy? I am just a rowboat. But with a motor.” | Mr. Shevardnadze quickly showed diplomatic aplomb. On his first day, he told his deputies: “Who am I compared to Gromyko, the battleship of world foreign policy? I am just a rowboat. But with a motor.” |
| One of his last acts in the job was to persuade Russia’s leadership to support a United Nations resolution on Nov. 29, 1990, giving the United States and its allies the green light to eject Iraq from Kuwait. Hard-liners were offended, blaming Mr. Shevardnadze’s close relationship with Secretary of State Baker. (Mr. Baker once sang “Georgia on My Mind” to his friend “Shevy” in a meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyo.) | One of his last acts in the job was to persuade Russia’s leadership to support a United Nations resolution on Nov. 29, 1990, giving the United States and its allies the green light to eject Iraq from Kuwait. Hard-liners were offended, blaming Mr. Shevardnadze’s close relationship with Secretary of State Baker. (Mr. Baker once sang “Georgia on My Mind” to his friend “Shevy” in a meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyo.) |
| After Mr. Shevardnadze resigned, in 1990, Mr. Gorbachev tried several times to persuade him to return as foreign minister. He finally did, in November 1991, for what turned out to be the final month of the Soviet Union’s existence. | After Mr. Shevardnadze resigned, in 1990, Mr. Gorbachev tried several times to persuade him to return as foreign minister. He finally did, in November 1991, for what turned out to be the final month of the Soviet Union’s existence. |
| In March 1992, Mr. Shevardnadze was summoned by Georgia’s ruling council to try to bring order to the country after a coup had removed President Zviad K. Gamsakhurdia. He told The Times Magazine that he had known he “was jumping into a cauldron” when he accepted the post of chairman of the State Council of Georgia. | In March 1992, Mr. Shevardnadze was summoned by Georgia’s ruling council to try to bring order to the country after a coup had removed President Zviad K. Gamsakhurdia. He told The Times Magazine that he had known he “was jumping into a cauldron” when he accepted the post of chairman of the State Council of Georgia. |
| Mr. Shevardnadze remained in Georgia after his resignation as president, and commented on Georgian and global affairs as an elder statesman. | Mr. Shevardnadze remained in Georgia after his resignation as president, and commented on Georgian and global affairs as an elder statesman. |
| “Picasso had his different periods, and other artists, too,” he told The Times in 1992, before his second career as president of the new Georgia. | “Picasso had his different periods, and other artists, too,” he told The Times in 1992, before his second career as president of the new Georgia. |
| “I made mistakes, I was sometimes unfair, but what was one supposed to do — stick with one position to the end? To the death? We have all changed.” | “I made mistakes, I was sometimes unfair, but what was one supposed to do — stick with one position to the end? To the death? We have all changed.” |