Shepard Stone was an American journalist and politician who played a key role in the development of a free democratic press in Germany after World War II. Between the 1930s and the time of his passing in 1990, he spent different stages of his life in Germany. Prior to World War II, he came as a student and a scholar; in the mid 1940s, he was posted here as a member of the U.S. Army; in 1949, he returned in a political capacity; and in 1974, he helped found the Aspen Institute Germany and became its first Executive Director.
His life was also shaped by several important historic events, such as World War II, the Cold War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, to name but a few. These milestones coupled with his own personal experiences rendered him the committed transatlanticist that he was.
He understood that liberty, friendship and trust could not be taken for granted, but that these values had to be fostered and protected. Thus, Shepard Stone made it his mission to further promote the ideals of a free and open society and to strengthen the transatlantic partnership by cultivating mutual exchange and cooperation across the different realms of public life between Germany and the United States.
