An Outsider in the White House
Jimmy Carter, His Advisors, and the Making of American Foreign Policy

Betty Glad (Author)

9780801448157

Hardback, published 15 December 2009

414 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm, 0.907 kg

Betty Glad has written a thoroughly researched and richly detailed account of the Carter White House foreign policymaking process. Although there are many worthy previous scholarly works on Jimmy Carter's foreign policy and White House decision-making process, Glad's book brings new insights that she developed from years of careful examination of original documents, personal interviews, and correspondence with key players, among many other valuable sources. Her book is a model of solid academic research and analysis that will stand for years as the definitive work on this topic.

Jimmy Carter entered the White House with a desire for a collegial staff that would aid his foreign-policy decision making. He wound up with a "team of rivals" who contended for influence and who fought over his every move regarding relations with the USSR, the Peoples' Republic of China, arms control, and other crucial foreign-policy issues.In two areas—the Camp David Accords and the return of the Canal to Panama—Carter's successes were attributable to his particular political skills and the assistance of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and other professional diplomats. The ultimate victor in the other battles was Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a motivated tactician. Carter, the outsider who had sought to change the political culture of the executive office, found himself dependent on the very insiders of the political and diplomatic establishment against whom he had campaigned.Based on recently declassified documents in the Carter Library, materials not previously noted in the Vance papers, and a wide variety of interviews, Betty Glad's An Outsider in the White House is a rich and nuanced depiction of the relationship between policy and character. It is also a poignant history of damaged ideals. Carter's absolute commitment to human rights foundered on what were seen as national security interests.New data from the archives reveal how Carter's government sought the aid of Pope John Paul II to undercut the human-rights efforts of the El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero. A moralistic approach toward the Soviet Union undermined Carter's early desire to reduce East-West conflicts and cut nuclear arms. As a result, by 1980 the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) was in limbo, and a nuclear counterforce doctrine had been adopted. Near the end of Carter's single term in office Vance stepped down as secretary of state, in part because Brzezinski's "muscular diplomacy" had come to dominate Carter's foreign policy. When Vance's successor, Edmund Muskie, took over, the State Department was reduced to implementing policies made by Brzezinski and his allies. For Carter, the rivalry for influence in the White House was concluded and the results, as Glad shows, were a mixed record and an uncertain presidential legacy.

IntroductionPart 1: THE PLAYERS
1. High Expectations
2. The Foreign Policy Team
3. The Brzezinski AdvantagePart 2: EARLY COMMITMENTS
4. Early Fumbles
5. Recovery
6. Human Rights and the Soviet Target
7. Competition in the Horn of Africa
8. Negotiations with Panama
9. Dealing with Congress
10. SALT and the SenatePart 3: MIDTERM ACHIEVEMENTS
11. The Tilt toward China
12. Building the Security Relationship
13. The Impact of a Motivated Tactician
14. Maestro of the Camp David Talks
15. Support Teams and the Road AheadPart 4: CRISES AND CONFRONTATIONS
16. Confronting a Regime Change
17. Scrambling for Options
18. The Soviet Brigade "Crisis"
19. Afghanistan: Formulating a Response
20. Exacting a PricePart 5: RENEWAL OF THE COLD WAR
21. MAD and the Pursuit of PD-59
22. Shadowing the Soviets
23. The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend
24. The Death of the ArchbishopPart 6: FINALE
25. Operation Eagle Claw
26. The Final Months
27. Jimmy Carter and the American MissionAppendix. American and Foreign Actors: Specific Issues
Notes
Bibliography
Index