Jimmy Carter on Foreign Policy President of the U.S., 1977-1981

Be flexible with North Korean leader on nuclear deal

Carter is the only former president Trump has sought advice from while in office. One quiet night in April 2019, a call came from a White House operator announcing that Trump wanted to talk to Carter about China and trade. Carter was able to ask about the status of talks with North Korea, and he advised the president to "be flexible" with the North Korean leader.

Later, when it was clear that Trump would not be sending him to broker any deal with the North Koreans--or anyone else--Carter didn't pull any punches. "I think he's a disaster," he said unequivocally. At a Carter Center event in June 2019, he went further, saying that a full investigation "would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He was put into office because the Russians interfered."

Boycotted 1980 Olympics in response to USSR Afghan invasion

Israel's 14 Road Map reservations eliminate its contents

1976: first support of Ireland in Democratic platform

In 1976, I worked to address the issue of Northern Ireland for the first time in the Democratic platform. Although I did not have a strong personal relationship with Jimmy Carter, we were able to work with his staff, with his knowledge, to include the following language: "The voice of the United States should be heard in Northern Ireland against violence and terror, against the discrimination, repression and deprivation which brought about that civil strife, and for the efforts of the parties toward a peaceful resolution of the future of Northern Ireland."

1977: lectured Senators on minutiae about Africa

You would mill around, and you'd go through the buffet line. And then for the next three hours Jimmy Carter would conduct a seminar: on Africa, for instance. He would let you know that he knew every country in Africa and the name of every president of every country in Africa. He could count on about a third of the Senate in the room every time, and about thirty members of the House.

I will not deny that it was well worth attending these events. They were informational--you coul say they were nothing if NOT informational. But they were personal tours de force, and every one of my colleagues recognized them as such, designed to impress us that the president knew so much about the minutiae.

We have neglected alliances and international organizations

Fortunately, these national policies and this disharmony have not yet become permanent.

Got Chinese leader to allow Bibles and religious freedom

Deng pointed out that religious activities of that kind had been terminated when the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Under the Communist regime, in fact, the official government policy was atheism, and worship services and the distribution of Bibles and other holy books were prohibited. I asked if it might be possible to change these policies, and he asked for specific suggestions. I made three requests: guarantee freedom of worship, permit the distribution of Bibles, and reopen the door to missionaries. [Deng promised] to provide for religious freedom and that Bibles would be authorized [but not missionaries].

Cuban embargo only punishes suffering Cuban people

There was a justified concern, during a brief period more than 4 decades ago, when President John Kennedy was informed that Soviet missiles were being sent to Cuba, and the "Cuban missile crisis" was properly named. Since then, the continued fixation on Cuba has become ludicrous and counterproductive. A punitive embargo has been imposed on the already suffering Cuban people, the freedom of our own citizens to visit and trade with Cuba has been curtailed, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation has been outlawed. The only tangible results of this policy have been to hurt the people of Cuba and turn them against the US.

With the missile crisis resolved, in 1977 I removed all travel restraints.

Religious Right wants Mideast war to hasten The Rapture

These believers are convinced that they have a personal responsibility to hasten this coming of the "rapture" in order to fulfill biblical prophecy. Their agenda calls for a war in the Middle East against Islam (Iraq?) and the taking of the entire Holy Land by Jews (occupation of the West Bank?), with the total expulsion of all gentiles. This is to be followed by infidels (antichrists) conquering the area, and a final triumph of the Messiah.

Based on these premises, some top Christian leaders have been in the forefront of promoting the Iraqi war, and make frequent trips to Israel, to support it with funding, and lobby in Washington for the colonization of Palestinian territory. Strong pressure from the religious right has been a major factor in America's quiescent acceptance of the massive building of Israeli settlements.

People believe foreign aid is 15% but it's actually under 1%

When confronted with these embarrassing facts, many well-informed Americans reply that we are quite generous in responding to catastrophes, such as the recent tsunami damage in Asia. This is true, and an admirable characteristic of our citizens, but most people do not realize that dealing with persistent suffering is equally important.

1986 Iran-Contra paid ransom for kidnapped hostages

Severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan & recognized PRC

Jimmy Carter, however, severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan, terminated the security treaty, and recognized the People's Republic as the sole legitimate government of China. A firestorm ensued. Reagan reaffirmed the Shanghai Communique.

Radical policies have cost the country a lot

Unilateral acts and demands isolated the US from the world

We cannot lead the world if our leaders mislead

1994: Negotiated last-minute deal to avoid Haiti invasion

For different reasons, they all disagreed with my determination to use force to restore Aristide. Though the Carter Center had monitored Aristide's overwhelming election victory, Pres.Carter had developed a relationship with Cedras and was skeptical of Aristide's commitment to democracy. Powell thought only the military and the police could govern Haiti, and that they would never work with Aristide.

As the deadline for our attack approached, President Carter called me pleading for more time to persuade Cedras to leave. Carter desperately wanted to avoid a forced invasion. So did I.

Cedras promised to cooperate and to leave power by Oct.15, as soon as the general amnesty law required by the UN agreement was passed.

1980: Broke promise of no more refugees to Fort Chaffee

Bill sent state troopers. Bill wanted federal assistance to contain the detainees, but the White House message seemed to be: "Don't complain, just handle the mess we gave you." Bill had done just that, but there was a big political price to pay for supporting his President.

After the June riots, President Carter had promised Bill that no more Cubans would be sent to Arkansas. In August, the White House broke that promise, closing sites in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and sending more refugees to Fort Chaffee. That reversal further undermined support for Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter in Arkansas.

Gap between rich & poor is widening globally

We discussed what we might say onstage. I knew that he was going to speak about the widening global gap between the rich and poor, how stingy America is in giving foreign aid, and how Africa in general receives too little attention. I would talk about being young, a member of my generation. I tried to explain why we often don't vote or seem to care about world issues. I told him we were alienated from the world's debate over "major issues" because we did not see how those issues affected us. We could not muster the energy to march for small changes in the tax laws on international capital mobility. We needed some new rallying cries, something to latch onto as a cause.

Cuban embargo helps Castro but doesn't harm Cubans

The effect of the Cuban embargo, the standard line here, which was repeated by former President Carter a couple of weeks ago, is that the embargo helps Castro and, of course, doesn't harm the Cubans. The only people who are harmed by it are the North Americans like farmers and agro-business who want to export there, but it has no effect on Cuba except to help Castro.

A detailed study in March 1997 concluded that the embargo had dramatically harmed health and nutrition in Cuba, and caused a significant rise in suffering and death. It would have been a humanitarian catastrophe, they said, which is quite astonishing, though it did direct resources in the health system away from other needs, with the obvious consequences.

Establish human rights as a tenet of American policy

1994: Dealt with Haiti's Cedras to assist Clinton's solution

There certainly are those who will claim that Clinton's approach to Haiti eventually worked, since Cedras was ousted and Aristide returned to power.

But political observers were not particularly impressed with the manner in which Clinton and Carter arrived at the agreement with Cedras. [Despite the criticism], Clinton would have considered Haiti a foreign policy victory.

1977: Ended 20 years of secret CIA bribes to Jordanian king

"This has been in existence for 20 years," he said of the Hussein payments by the CIA. "It's against my policy. But I can't undo the past or be responsible for all the past." But there is an additional factor: Hussein was a moderate and a key to a Middle East peace settlement. He needed Hussein. Carter drove to his main point. He had just ordered the payments stopped, he said. "I want to assure you of that."

We asked gently if the payments weren't, when you got down to it, bribes? "I can't dispute that," Carter said.

Carter 1977: Focus on human rights; give back Panama Canal

Use the weapon of human rights in peaceful struggle

It will always be impossible to measure how much was accomplished by our nation's policy when the units of measurement are not inches or dollars. The lifting of the human spirit, the revival of hope, the absence of fear, the release from prison, the end of torture, the reunion of a family, the newfound sense of human dignity-- these are difficult to quantify, but I am certain that many people were able to experience them because the USA let it be known that we stood for freedom & justice for all people.

Abuse of human rights still serious problem in many lands

The abuse of human rights is still a serious problem in too many lands. The world cannot be improved by one dramatic act or by one nation's transient policy. However, I know that the suffering of some people was eased and that others were given new hope. The world was reminded by salvaged lives that America cares about freedom & justice, a sufficient accomplishment to justify all our efforts

Push USSR to allow reunification of Jewish emigre families

However, if we now gave the Chinese these superior trade opportunities, there would be an imbalance in our relationship with the two major communist countries.

Efforts while I was President to families elsewhere had met with enough success that I personally preferred to grant most-favored-nation status to both countries.

Move toward normalization with China, slowly & incrementally

The Chinese could cooperate either by silence (regarding US-Taiwan trade), by interpreting the same language somewhat differently (concerning a peaceful settlement of China-Taiwan disputes), or by acknowledging an unresolved difference (such as our sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan). I decided that we should proceed slowly, presenting our proposals to the Chinese incrementally. This was a tedious and time consuming process, but it minimized the likelihood of a total impasse.

Panama: New treaty on canal was needed

After the election, it seemed clear that the eventual agreement would have to include a phasing out of our absolute control of the Canal, as well as the acknowledgment of Panamanian sovereignty.

Nevertheless, I believed that a new treaty was absolutely necessary. I was convinced that we needed to correct an injustice. Our failure to take action after years of promises under 5 previous Presidents had created something of a diplomatic cancer which was poisoning our relations with Panama.

Our military leaders testified that the Canal could not be defended permanently unless we were able to maintain a working partnership and good relations with Panama

Deal with Taiwan, China & USSR separately, despite pressure

We had to improve our relationship with China without reneging on our commitments to the well-being of Taiwan and without further affecting our already strained relations with the Soviet Union. However, I believed that too many of our international concerns were being defined almost exclusively by the chronic US-Soviet confrontation mentality. The US was stalemated both ways: in our attempts to move forward with acknowledging that the government in Peking was the government of China and in our efforts to complete the strategic arms limitation talks with the Soviet Union. I wanted to reverse this state of affairs as rapidly as possible.

Treat Arab oil embargo like declaring economic war

US needs to regain respect in UN and with our allies

Supports complete moratorium on nuclear weapon testing

End CIA lies; dedicate US to basic human rights & integrity

I was familiar with the widely accepted arguments that we had to choose between idealism and realism; but I rejected those claims. To me, the demonstration of American idealism was a practical and realistic approach to foreign affairs. I was determined to combine support for our more authoritarian allies and friends with the effective promotion of human rights within their countries.

Established relations with China; cut ties to Taiwan