Carter's Foreign Policy

The Iran Contra affair is historically defined as the “Reagan administration scandal that involved the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for its efforts to secure the release of hostages in Lebanon and the redirection of the proceeds of those sales to the Nicaraguan Contras.” As the Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries, known as the Contras, began their efforts to retaliate against the Socialist Sandinista Regime, American government forces stepped in to support the Contra cause in a hope to support the world-wide elimination of Communism. To understand the entire history of the scandal, many individuals, groups, policies, and deals must be researched and put together to tell the complete history of the Iran Contra affair.

Throughout the mid to late twentieth century the United States was extremely concerned with their foreign policy due to mishaps that surfaced as a result of lazy administration when dealing with communism. As an example, one mishap was how the Truman Administration dealt with China after the KMT surfaced following WWII. Instead of immediately defending the People’s Republic of China, the United States stayed mostly secluded and independent and let China slip into the favor of the KMT. This was an example of the United States’ being too moderate in their foreign policy. However, on the other hand, there were examples where the United States was too aggressive in their foreign policy. An example of this was how the US chose to dealt with North

United States foreign policy, since the Cold War, has been driven by ideology: good versus evil, capitalism versus communism, and democracy versus totalitarianism. America’s foreign policy objective from 1945 to 1991 was to contain communism, prompting Cold War calculus – the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The United States, following Cold War calculus, allied with unscrupulous leaders opposed to communism, like the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua, the Reza Shahs in Iran, the dictator Franco in Spain, and the elite in El Salvador. Reagan’s belief that the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire committed him to support the brutal military regime in El Salvador,

To begin, Congress, by fair vote, decided in the 1980s that the United States should not assist the contras fighting the socialist Sandinista government of Nicaragua (Corn 2006). Yet, the Reagan White House concocted several imaginative ways to pull an end-run around democracy (Corn 2006). Reagan’s decisions such as selling weapons to Iran were made with the knowledge that he would not suffer a decline in presidential approval. Thus, Reagan took various steps that were violations of law that not only involved himself, but members of the CIA. By 1986, two big revelations happened that caused this scandal to abrupt publically. The first was the shoot-down of a cargo plane over Nicaragua and the admission by the sole survivor that the plane had been delivering arms to the Contras against congressional restrictions (Kornbluh 2011). The second, revelation was the news story of Lebanon that stated

Perhaps the number one event, that will cost Jimmy Carter his reelection for president was the Iranian Hostage Crisis that went on for approximately 444 days and held 52 American diplomat citizens hostage in Iran. Several Iranian students, stormed the American embassy on November 4, 1979. This had all occurred because the former, exiled, Shah of Iran had been permitted entry into the United States to receive medical treatment for cancer. In the 1950’s the Shah of Iran was appointed by the United States. He was a dictator, who ruled with violence and cruelty. The people of Iran, are traditionally Shiite Muslims and the Shah was taking Iran towards a more progressive society. This further upset the people of Iran who did not want their conservative

that (arguably) flowed from the U.S. stand in Southeast Asia: the failure of the attempted communist

President Jimmy Carter was put in a difficult situation and his decisions only made United States and Iran relations worse. The revolution in Iran had become a reality when uprisings started. President Jimmy Carter had a choice to support either the Shah or the rising revolutionaries in Iran. There was no response from President Carter to the revolution, and it cost him. The cost came shortly after the Shah was exiled from Iran. The Shah sought refuge in the United States after his exile, and Carter had to choose whether he would interfere with the prosecution of the Shah. In the beginning, Carter refused to accept the Shah because of the anticipated reaction of the Iranian people. When President Carter discovered the Shah 's positive testing to cancer, the Shah requested treatment in the United States and thickened the dilemma. After much consideration and hesitation, Carter granted refuge to the Shah for treatment of his cancer. President Carter had imagined the possible consequences, but he was stunned on November 4th, 1979. The crisis had

In his 1979 state of the Union Address, President Jimmy Carter stated “We have no desire to be the world's policeman. But America does want to be the world's peacemaker.” However, nearing the end of Carter’s presidency the peace within the American Embassy located in Tehran, Iran was broken. 53 Americans were taken hostage by Iranian militants on November 4th 1979. The Iranian Hostage Crisis caused a loss of American confidence, caused Americans to view middle easterners differently forever, and also cost Jimmy Carter the chance of a second term.

Prior to Communism in China, it was known to be a chaotic country on the brink of self-destruction. With the emergence of the party leader Mao Zedong, came a new hope, which filled its inhabitants with the belief that China would return to its former historical greatness. American and Chinese relations before 1971 were in simple terms described as “uneasy”, due to the American, Soviet Cold War. It was not until President Richard Nixon visited China and realized the high value of having China as a ally that relations between the two powers began to become positive. Unknown at the time, it is assumed in the book Chinese Lessons written by John Pomfret, that the relationships he formed with the people he met in China would change his outlook on life and Communist China forever.

This essay will focus on the Reagan Administration which spanned from January 1981 to January 1989. When Reagan became President, he had only one clear, defined foreign policy goal – containment of the Soviet Union, or the “evil empire” as he referred to it. He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. In the past, American presidents had used a theory called the “Domino Theory” to justify the need for intervention around

During the historic years of 1981 to 1989, Ronald W. Reagan, actor and politician, was elected and ran as President of the United States of America. All was well with his presidency, until his second term, in the fateful year of 1985, when Iranian terrorists captured seven hostages and held them as collateral against the United States. Unbeknownst to the American people, this situation would set in motion an incredible string of events that would create turmoil within the country in two years time. President Reagan authorized the negotiations with Iran in trading these Americans for thirty million dollars and 2,000 assorted missiles to aid in the ongoing war with Iraq. With the money received from the Iranians in the exchange of weapons for

While the Cold War does not mark a significant distinction from US involvement in Latin America pre-Cold War, the inclusion of ideology in US foreign policy decisions did mark a change in attitudes and focus. While US policy can be described as rational to a certain point, the Cuban dilemma caused an irrational fear in US foreign policy makers to avoid a second-Cuba. The fear of a “second Cuba” can be seen in the various interventions by the US in Latin America during this period.

As much as the United States might like to dismiss it, other nations do exist. Since our founding as a nation, we have struggled with foreign policy initiatives. George Washington, our first president, decided that isolationism would protect America. And while Americans followed Washington’s philosophy for decades, foreign policy still leaked through the cracks. The Monroe doctrine radically shifted America isolationism from complete dissociation to selective dissociation. Overall, America’s foreign goals have shifted further outward as the years went on. Although many presidents boast adroit foreign policies, Richard Nixon’s foreign policy deserves a larger spotlight. Although he mired his career in a lackluster domestic policy and the

A solution to the Nicaraguan problem seemed more difficult to solve, Reagan wanted desperately to help the “contras” but was mandated by congress to stay out of the affair. His advisors secretly proposed a way to kill two birds with one stone, a decision that came to be referred to as Ronald Reagan’s black mark on his almost spotless record on foreign policy. The U.S would sale weapons to Iran in return for hostages taken by Muslim Jihadist in Lebanon, and with the money Iran paid those weapons with the U.S would direct that money to the contras fighting the Sandinistas. While the reasons for the trade were honorable and the president was following the American policy of communist containment at the time, it was still nonetheless illegal and badly battered Reagan’s reputation.

On April 1, 1979 the Iranian Islamic Revolution ended and the US, under the administration of President Jimmy Carter, begin to reach out to the new effective government in as effort to establish a new relationship with Iran and as an offer of good will President Carter continued to provide military support in the hopes that Khomeini and Islamic Iran would reduce their feeling against America. The gestures did not stop Khomeini from appointing an anti-western Islamic theocracy or reducing the impact of the historical impact the US an UK have had intervening in Iran’s internal affairs. After fleeing Iran, the former Shah traveled extensively looking for political refuge and medical treatment for the cancer that had progressed severely. While in Mexico, unable to seek treatment by his physicians in France, due to the unwelcoming stance of their government, the Shah insisted that he be treated in the US (NY Times, 1981). The Iranian sentiment for the US was still quite tense and bathed in suspension, but even after the diplomatic mission in Tehran warned Carter several times not to allow the Shah entry in to the US, the president hesitantly decide to allow the Shah to be treated in the US and was admitted on October 22, 1979. Surprisingly the US intelligence was not aware of the Shah’s cancer and could not brief the specialist at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center where the Shah would be diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. The reception of the Shah incenses the people of