Nation: A Circle of Six on Mahogany Row

In revitalizing the State Department's neglected bureaucracy, Cyrus Vance has delegated considerable authority to his top-ranking deputies. But he has also established around him a select circle of six, whose help he especially seeks, regardless of their official titles:

Marshall Shulman, 62. Sporting an old-fashioned green eyeshade and cultivating the air of an absent-minded professor baffled by governmental bureaucracy, the longtime director of Columbia University's Russian Institute has become Vance's closest adviser and a key influence on Soviet-American policy. He and Vance often lunch on sandwiches in the Secretary's private hideaway office. At...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!