The Carter Presidency: A Re-Evaluation

With its associated images of the Iranian hostage crisis, the presidency of Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981 is often regarded as a nadir in modern American national leadership. In this re-evaluation, John Dumbrell looks at Carter's years in the White House from a post-cold war perspective, and argues that Carter was neither incompetent nor lacking in a compassionate vision. Dumbrell places Carter's human rights policies, defined in domestic and foreign policy terms, at the centre of his argument. He argues that they were a defining feature of Carter's approach to the presidency, and includes detailed sections on women's and black civil rights, as well as on US policy toward the Soviet Union, Northern Ireland, Iran and Nicaragua. Abroad, Carter attempted to adjust American foreign policy to an increasingly interdependent international environment. At home he tried to come to terms with new, post-liberal political and economic circumstances. Though his presidency was blown badly off course, Carter's period in office provides important lessons for contemporary American leaders, who are increasingly criticised for their lack of moral purpose. The book is based on extensive primary research in the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta, Georgia. Examines President Jimmy Carter's human rights policies, both at home and abroad, and tests the record of his presidency against the "competence and compassion" theme sounded by him in the 1976 campaign. Dumbrell argues that Carter was neither incompetent nor lacking in a compassionate vision.