Conclusion: Reconciling the Irreconcilable?

Abstract

In August 1980, National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski sent President Carter a memo on how to use his stewardship of US foreign policy to his advantage in the final stages of his campaign against Republican candidate Ronald Reagan. In summarizing the themes of the presidency, Brzezinski wrote that “in time it will become clear that [the Carter administration offered] the proper course for the nation at this time: a building presidency, not a flamboyant, ‘fire-fighting’ one.” ¹ It was a far cry from Brzezinski’s ambitious early advice, which spoke of initiating “a new phase in U.S. foreign policy.” A unique constellation of factors, foreign and domestic, had come together to undermine the Carter administration’s global agenda.