Charlotte Mailliard Shultz ( Smith; September 26, 1933 – December 3, 2021) was a
socialite
A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...
and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
. She was the
Chief of Protocol for the state of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, and the Chief of Protocol for the
City and County of San Francisco.
She was married to former
United States Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State.
The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
George P. Shultz,
from 1997 until his death in 2021.
Mailliard Shultz was President of the board of the
War Memorial Performing Arts Center and a member of the boards of the
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...
,
Grace Cathedral, the
Commonwealth Club of California
The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to ...
, and the
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...
. A native
Texan, Mailliard Shultz often quipped about San Francisco, "... if I don't pay my dues, they may send me back to Texas!"
Early life and education
Born Charlotte Smith on September 26, 1933, in
Borger, Texas, the daughter of Martha Morgan and Charles Samuel Smith, Jr., who ran the local
general store
A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...
.
She graduated from the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...
with a degree in
fashion design
Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...
,
marketing
Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce.
Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
, and
merchandising
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
.
Career
In her role as Chief of Protocol for San Francisco, Mailliard oversaw the
San Francisco Office of Protocol. Mailliard had been called the "city's premier party-giver" by the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
''. Her role as Chief of Protocol began as a volunteer for then-San Francisco mayor
Jack Shelley and spanned seven mayoral administrations until mayor
Frank Jordan's term. Jordan chose Richard Goldman as his Chief of Protocol. Mayor
Willie Brown re-appointed Mailliard to the post in 1996. In total, she served as Chief of Protocol for eight mayoral administrations and during that time brought back the city's ''Black and White Ball'', organized the 50th anniversary of the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
with the Golden Gate Bridge Walk (where one million pedestrians walked across the bridge), and welcomed
British royalty and
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
on their visits to the city.
In 2003, in San Francisco, a surprise party was held to honor her work on behalf of the city.
Baseball legend Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...
, incoming and outgoing mayors Willie Brown and
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
, and Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
and his then-wife
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver ( ; born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the prominent Shriver and Kennedy families, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's M ...
were in attendance. It was announced that the staircase of
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...
would be known as the ''Charlotte Mailliard Shultz Staircase''.
In 2004,
Governor Schwarzenegger appointed her as Chief of Protocol for the State of California.
Personal life
After moving to San Francisco, Mailliard met her first husband, John Ward Mailliard III, who died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
in 1986. In 1988, she married
Melvin Swig, owner of the
Fairmont Hotel. As a couple, the Swigs donated and raised numerous funds for building the new
San Francisco Public Library. Melvin Swig died in 1993.
Mailliard's marriage, at age 63, to former
Secretary of State George Shultz
George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...
, a widower, at
Grace Cathedral in 1997, was considered San Francisco's "social event of the year".
He gave her a
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
,
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
and
ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
engagement ring.
[Shultz and socialite wed in San Francisco](_blank)
, deseretnews.com; accessed August 26, 2015. (caption only) The cost of the reception at the Sheraton Palace Hotel was over $4,000,000 and featured entertainment from singer Billy Joel. Guests included
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was born in ...
, California governor
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...
, and
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
.
The couple continued to be actively involved in San Francisco social events, such as hosting receptions at their
Russian Hill penthouse on top of
The Summit for a group of U.S. and foreign diplomats in 2015.
Mailliard Shultz died from cancer at her home in
Stanford, California
Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...
, on December 3, 2021, at the age of 88.
Her husband, George, had died 10 months earlier at the age of 100. She was remembered by the ''
San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863.
Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...
'' as someone who, "reigned as San Francisco’s chief of protocol for more than half a century."
Honors
In 2007, she was named Honorary Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...
(CVO) by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
.
[Caroline Bigelo]
SWELLS
, May 13, 2007.
References
External links
*
Weddings, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''; accessed 5 December 2021.
"The High Priestess of Partydom / Charlotte Mailliard Swig, San Francisco's once and future chief of protocol, is back on top as the city's arbiter of style" sfgate.com, February 4, 1996; accessed 5 December 2021.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shultz, Charlotte Mailliard
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American women
21st-century American philanthropists
American diplomats
American socialites
American women diplomats
Deaths from cancer in California
Honorary commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
People from Borger, Texas
People from Stanford, California
Philanthropists from San Francisco
Swig family
University of Arkansas alumni
American philanthropists
21st-century American women philanthropists