Jimmy Carter in Africa: race and the Cold War

The presidency of Jimmy Carter (1977–81) has frequently been viewed as an intermezzo between the cynical realpolitik of Henry Kissinger under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and the resurgence of the Cold War under Ronald Reagan, a period in which apparent initial idealism—epitomized by the novel, if selective, pursuit of human rights policies—gave way to a hardening of attitudes amid a crescendo of international crises that seemed to overwhelm the administration. Nancy Mitchell's new book, while laying bare the complexity of Carter's character, attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of his administration in the field of foreign affairs; she builds on the case that she previously outlined in her contribution to The Cambridge history of the Cold War (Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd...