Customer Reviews

Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy (Miller Center Series on the American Presidency)

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Typically, Jimmy Carter is considered to be one of the worst Presidents in recent American history - in large part due to his alleged indecisiveness and tendancy to vacillate when confronted with tough decisions.

Robert Strong has delved into Carter's Presidency, utilizing good primary source material from the Carter library in Atlanta and interviews with members of the administration (including President Carter himself), to develop a book of case studies that is designed to explain Carter's efforts to make American foreign policy.

Most of the case studies Strong selects do a good job of explaining how Carter was a take-charge, decisive President that had the ability to get things done & wasn't afraid to make the tough decisions. One of the studies, however, describes this popular image of an indecisive man, which weakens the argument of the book quite significantly.

Had Strong not included the chapter on the Neutron Bomb controversy, this would probably be a five star book - he accomplished the goal of proving that Carter was a man that could make the tough decisions and not question those choices later. He also showed, through the case studies, that Carter was willing to admit when he made a wrong choice or one that led to negative publicity for him and/or his administration (i.e. the failed rescue mission in Iran).

Overall, the case studies developed by Strong are very good and reflective of the different facets of Presidential duties in the foreign policy arena. I believe that this a good, though not great, book that will continue the current historiographical trend of revitalizing Carter's image as President, though this rehabilitation will unlikely lead to him being considered as a "top ten" President because of the domestic troubles America encountered in the period 1977-1981.