George Shultz was dean of the business school at the University of Chicago and held other Cabinet posts before becoming Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan.

Nicaraguan Contras and Iran hostage situations; Corazon Aquino is elected president in the Philippines following her husband's assassination.

Reagan and Gorbachev meet at a summit in Iceland and negotiate the end of the nuclear age; there is an argument when Shultz realises that Reagan does not want to give up his Star Wars, even if Gorbachev wants to disarm.