Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter believed that foreign policy should be an extension of American moral principles. He believed that America should actively promote universal rights and withhold from military intervention. He had traveled to the Middle East as governor, and was interested in establishing peace there. At a town hall meeting, he said that "there has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years." He was the first president to call for a Palestinian "homeland."
"Because of the volatile nature of events in the Middle East, U.S. presidents from Truman through Nixon each had to address a regional crisis sometime during his term of office...each president had to face the possibility of a world war. The cycle of bombings and retaliations, border skirmishes, instability, and general uneasiness could lead to full-scale military confrontation at any time. President Carter wanted to prevent such a crisis instead of reacting to it." |
"He always felt in foreign affairs that if he could only get his adversaries into the room with him, he could win them over."
Carter's humble beginnings and deep-rooted Evangelical Christian values influenced his moralistic foreign policy. The Camp David Accords were a natural extension of Carter's long-standing beliefs.
Carter's religious conviction influenced his presidential decisions: "As a student of the Bible, well-versed in the ancient struggles of this part of the world, Carter approached both leaders with political understanding and a unique sense of purpose. In preparation for the Camp David meetings, Carter studied briefing materials, including detailed maps and complete profiles of Sadat and Begin and their close advisors."
“Our policy is based on an historical vision of America’s role. Our policy is derived from a larger view of global change. Our policy is rooted in our moral values, which never change. Our policy is reinforced by our material wealth and by our military power. Our policy is designed to serve mankind.”
"INTERVIEWER: The Middle East first of all, Mr. Carter. What led you to propose reconvening the Geneva talks? PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: Well, I had an interest in the Middle East from the time I was much younger, and then when I was Governor I went to the Middle East to travel around - that was in 1972. During my campaign for president, I made it clear to the American people, and I guess to the warriors who would listen, that when I became the leader of this country, that I would initiate the strongest possible move to bring peace to the Middle East. As you know, nothing was being done then on the peace front. UN Resolution 242 had been passed, but nothing had happened. So, very early in my term, beginning in January, I began to invite the various leaders to come to Washington and to meet with me: President Rabin, who was Prime Minister of Israel at that time; King Hussein came over; President Sadat came over; later Menachim Begin came over, after he was elected in May, I think. Assad has never yet been to the United States, so I met him in Geneva. During a G7 meeting in London, I went over to Geneva to meet with Assad. So by the time the end of the first five months had passed of my term, I had met with all the key leaders in the Middle East. And I felt, after talking to Sadat in particular, that that was a time to re-initiate a strong move, led by me, for a peace effort. Then it seemed that I should do it completely within the framework of the UN resolutions, Security Council resolutions, and that was my hope. In response to my conversations with him, Sadat first decided that he would invite all the participants to come to Cairo, including all the five nations, the prominent members of the Security Council. I was very averse to bring in France and China, as well as Great Britain and the United States, so I objected to that, and suggested that he have another alternative in mind; and that's when he decided to go directly to Jerusalem. INT: In an important speech that you made early that year, you talked about the necessity to introduce fairness into a settlement in the Middle East. What did you mean by that? JC: Well, this speech got me into a lot of trouble because I talked about a homeland for the Palestinians. Prior to that time, and maybe since then as well, the United States Government policy has been overwhelmingly oriented toward compatibility with the government in Jerusalem, in Israel, and I felt that we couldn't really make progress in bringing about a comprehensive peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors without at least addressing the concerns of the Palestinians, of Egypt and of Jordan in particular. So in that speech that I made, I think in Massachusetts, I thought that it was proper to say that the Palestinians deserved a homeland of their own, and this aroused a furore in some circles in my country; but it was a necessary prerequisite for the further progress that was made between Israel and Egypt." -Jimmy Carter, in CNN Interview
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