Jimmy Carter's Foreign Policy

Even before John Fitzgerald Kennedy began his presidency in 1961, he viewed foreign policy as one of the most important aspects of our lives. In one speech he said, “Foreign policy today, irrespective of what we might wish, in its impact on our daily lives, overshadows everything else. Expenditures, taxation, domestic prosperity, the extent of social sciences — all hinge on the basic issue of war or peace” (JFK Library). As the first president born in the 20th century, the youngest president to be elected to office, and the youngest president to die in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s time in office was brief, but full of difficult challenges in foreign affairs. I feel that he

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, was a very simple and relatable man from Plains, Georgia. His ideals appealed to the Southern democrats. Washington was in chaos after the resignation of Nixon and the citizens of America were tiered of the government’s drama. This is what made Carter so popular in the 1976 election. Carter appealed to America because he was an outsider to Washington. He also wanted to comply with what the people wanted for America; “Carter sought to portray himself as a man of the people” (“Jimmy Carter”, 2009). He used the Watergate scandal to his advantage. He promised America he would always be honest with them: “I’ll never tell a lie”. (“Jimmy Carter”, 2009). This seemed to win over America for the moment because he won

“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This declaration, made by former President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, is part of the Truman Doctrine, and was the basis for U.S. involvement in Western Europe throughout the Cold War. Although the North Atlantic Treaty, and the resulting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was established during the Cold War “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,” NATO has persisted since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. This essay will seek to examine the U.S. decision to create and participate in NATO. It will begin by providing a history of NATO and the U.S. decision to participate in NATO before considering how this decision is both an instance of continuity and change in U.S. foreign policy since former President George Washington’s Farewell Address. The essay will conclude by considering the legacy of this decision and its impact on U.S. foreign policy. While this essay will consider the period of time leading up to the formation of NATO and will briefly touch on the present day, greatest consideration will be paid to the time period immediately preceding and following the formation of NATO in 1949.

The Vietnam War, lasting for approximately 20 years, was the longest and one of the most controversial wars in American history. Not only did the war take a heavy toll on the American troops fighting abroad, but it also led to riots and tension amongst Americans on the homefront. Two presidents devoted to winning the war against the spread of Communism in Vietnam as quickly and effectively as possible were Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Although Johnson was a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, their foreign policies in Vietnam were similar because they both kept secrets about the war from Congress and because both of their foreign policies were disliked by the American public. However, they differed because Johnson escalated the United

Carter took the presidency with several issues that needed resolving, such as rising inflation and unemployment, a country disillusioned with the political system and turbulent foreign relations. To determine the reasons why he was successful in 1976 but not in 1980, it is necessary to look at what his successes and failures were, as well as the different situations in 1976 and 1980.

The United States during the mid to late 70’s was in a constant state of alert; millions of citizens waiting for the piercing sounds of the air raid sirens to slice through the night air. America was in need of a leader, someone who could unify a divided country and save it from crushing economic failure. One man saw his need and stood up to the task, his name is President Ronald Reagan. Reagan rose to power as President during one of the most critical periods in not only American history, but also, World history: The arms standoff of the cold war. His actions as a unifier in the homeland and as a diplomat in foreign halls changed the way Americans and citizens of the world lived their lives.

On the other extreme is Jimmy Carter, president from 1977 to 1981. Ranked last for both his foreign affairs and his overall presidency, Carter left the Oval Office a very unpopular man. Carter’s sole accolade came from the Camp David Accords of 1978-9. Carter invited Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian prime minister Anwar Sadat to Camp David, the presidential retreat, to work out an agreement. Carter played a major role in the negotiations, mediating a dispute that resulted in a peace treaty, that is still intact to this day. Not only did this agreement lay down a long-held peace between two neighboring countries, but it also solidified U.S. ties in the Middle-East. Carter’s other policies and actions are very different, such as the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These treaties between Panama and the U.S. granted Panama control over the Canal as of 1999 for almost nothing in response. The conservatives of Americans felt as though Carter had “given away” the Canal without receiving anything in return, and this made them believe that our nation was becoming weak under his power. The people’s “Crisis of Confidence” clearly and accurately portrays the conservative’s opinions during Carter’s presidency.

Ronald Reagan was born at Tampico Illinois in February 6, 1911. Later in his childhood he lived in a serious of towns around Illinois, but finally settled in Dixon, Illinois in 1920. Mr. Reagan graduated Dixon high school in 1920. During his high schools years he was an athlete, school play performer and was student body president. On his summers he would work as a lifeguard. Next, for his athletic ability, he was enrolled in Eureka College in Illinois and got a scholarship for it. Mr. Reagan also took economics and sociology. In 1937, Mr. Reagan went into acting; he signed a seven-year contract with Warner Bothers movie studios. In the next three years he was in more than 50 films. One of his notorious films was “Kings Row”, it’s about a man whom Mr. Reagan plays a man that gets into an accident and has his leg amputated. Three years after Mr. Reagan got into acting, he got married to June Wyman, whom together had a daughter, then adopted a boy.

Democrats are recognized for their Christian ideas for the better of society and since Carter was a born-again Christian, he is said to be a liberal politician. After graduating from the US Naval Academy and working a nuclear engineer, Cater returned to his home in Georgia where he was a peanut farmer. This is the time when he focused his life on his faith. His dedication to his religion caused Carter to run for president and use his faith to guide his decisions for the country. His meekness and honesty were two of his political strengths that caught the attention of many voters but the Americans also found that he was uncomfortable when dealing with foreign affairs and in time of crisis. Despite his flaws, Carter and his administration successfully dealt with international policies with Panama, China, and the Middle East. Throughout both of his presidential terms, Carter stressed the importance of peace with blacks, the organization of labor, help the poor, improve education, and provide jobs. He also promised to maintain an honest, fair, and compassionate government for the people. He made huge improvements in energy policies as well as changing the environmental ones but he vowed to fix the budget before performing any major reforms. As a result, Carter successfully controlled the budget, conserved energy, and reduced unemployment which is why he was one of the

Ronald Reagan served from January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 as President of the United States he is remembered as one of the best Presidents that the United States has ever had, He is vastly recognized because he served as president at the end of the Cold War, he was known as the president that “ended it”(the cold war). Though, the question remains in how? How was Reagan able to accomplish the ending of something that had lasted so long (the Cold war)? Thus was a task only accomplished by him because; he had a strong perseverance, intellectuality and held a strong desire for the destruction of all nuclear weapons. All of these elements combined took him to the decision and policy’s implemented during his terms as president. Reagan Started by taking a “Defense Policy” and his creation of SDI (The Strategic Defense Initiative) was all a part of a plan to disregard the MDA (Mutual Assured Destruction). Reagan came to these plans in despair to prevent any future nuclear wars with the SU (Soviet Union), “According to Weinberger, the idea that one was safe from nuclear attack only if vulnerable to it ‘repelled’ Reagan. Meese told the author that Reagan felt that MAD was politically and diplomatically, militarily, and morally flawed.’ ”( Steinberg, 39). Whit that being said Weinberger lets us know how Reagan felt about MAD.

Initially Reagan chose to go into the acting career and had starred in over 50 movies. While in Hollywood he was the president of the screen actor’s guild. There he met his future wife Nancy Davis Reagan. Later he became the governor of California. He was a liberal Democrat, but when Reagan ran for president he ran as a Republican and won two presidential terms beginning in 1980, becoming a conservative icon over the next few decades. In Reagan’s later years he developed Alzheimer’s disease and passed away on June, 5, 2004.

The year is 1976, and the republican party is broken and in shambles. Post Richard Nixon era has left the nation distrusting of republicans. The election has two candidates in the running: Jimmy Carter, governor of Georgia and former peanut farmer, and Gerald ford, who was not elected, but appointed after president Nixon and his vice president resigned in disgrace. Of course, Carter would be a shoe-in for the presidency because of the nation’s lack of respect for republicans. Carter ends up winning with 297 electoral votes. The American people were hoping for change. Inflation was high and post-Vietnam war had the American people feeling weak and discouraged. President Carter, although he’ll try, will make a series of poor choices that will

http://www.jstor.org.mines.idm.oclc.org/stable/20202726. Aronoff’s journal article examines how Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy changed throughout his time in office. It focuses what factors caused this political transformation. Carter’s religious involvement and influence is explicitly mentioned throughout this paper. This article will be used as a source to supplement the findings section of my paper since it has information on how Carter’s religion affected his presidential career.

Some may say, President Ronald Reagan was defined by his foreign policy. Some may also consider that he made difficult decisions during his presidency in America. Unfortunately, he also made many mistakes as a president. Some think that his foreign policy is one of the errors that he made. Even though he was an important factor in ending the Cold War, people on his foreign policy team ended up killing American soldiers. Historically, many considered that a person either liked Reagan or they were against him. Reagan 's stance on foreign policy was for everyone to be at peace through America’s strength.

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America from 1981 to 1989, promising a new morning in America when he came to power (Richards). The 80s was the tail end of the Cold War.Which was a clash of two titans the Capitalist U.S and the Communist U.S.S.R.The Cold war era saw a rise in popular culture, Especially in Film, The two sought ideological and strategic influence throughout the world. Rocky 4 directed by Sylvester Stallone is one such film that highlights the difficulties of an exhausting Cold War and the possibility of peace between the two archrivals.