"This is a whale of a book by a fine writer with an eye for social and psychological detail and an encyclopedia knowledge of everything that was thought and said and written by everyone involved in foreign policy formulation during every hour of the Carter administration."—American Spectator
"Betty Glad has written a thoroughly researched and richly detailed account of the Carter White House foreign policymaking process. Although there are many worthy previous scholarly works on Jimmy Carter's foreign policy and White House decision-making process, Glad's book brings new insights that she developed from years of careful examination of original documents, personal interviews, and correspondence with key players, among many other valuable sources. Her book is a model of solid academic research and analysis that will stand for years as the definitive work on this topic."—Political Science Quarterly
"An Outsider in the White House is a deeply insightful analysis of U.S. foreign policy during the Carter years. Betty Glad, the dean of Carter studies, brilliantly uses new archival material to shed important new light on everything from Camp David to the Panama Canal to America-China policy and everything—in between. Highly recommended!"—Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
"In a fascinating study of the interaction between Jimmy Carter and his advisors, Betty Glad has enriched our understanding of the the individuals, the processes, and the substance of American foreign policy. Based on archival research and deep knowledge, this book is essential reading for all those interested in the Carter administration."—Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Affairs, Columbia University
"An Outsider in the White House contributes significantly to presidential studies, diplomatic history, the study of the dynamics of policymaking, and international relations theory, especially as it bears on realism and idealism in foreign policy. Betty Glad's impressively documented and vividly written book is full of fascinating anecdotes. A compelling read."—Fred I. Greenstein, Princeton University, author of The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to George W. Bush
"Betty Glad provides a sophisticated and nuanced analysis of conflict among Carter's foreign policy advisors and the gradual triumph of Brzezinski and his views regarding the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Glad's comprehensive book provides balanced coverage of the foreign policy highlights of the Carter years."—Robert A. Strong, William Lyne Wilson Professor of Politics, Washington and Lee University, author of Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy
"Exhaustively researched and persuasively analyzed, Betty Glad's definitive account of how Zbigniew Brzezinski outmaneuvered Cyrus Vance in the battle to influence Jimmy Carter's foreign policy is an astute blend of history and political science. It will command a wide readership."—J. Garry Clifford, University of Connecticut and coauthor of American Foreign Relations: A History, Seventh Edition
"An Outsider in the White House is an eminently readable account of Jimmy Carter, his foreign policies, and the political-bureaucratic context in which they were made and implemented. Betty Glad's assessment of the president—and of the ideological and cognitive limitations of his principal advisors—will stand the test of time."—Richard Ned Lebow, James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, and Centennial Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science
Glad (political science, emerita, Univ. of South Carolina; Jimmy Carter: In Search of the Great White House) bases her study of President Carter's foreign policy on extensive primary research as well as interviews with principals including Zbigniew Brzezinski, Hamilton Jordan, and Carter himself, among many others. She is as concerned with how Carter arrived at decisions as with the consequences, closely examining his record on relations with the USSR, the Middle East, East Africa, China, and Latin America. Glad concludes that as an "outsider" Carter was forced against his early wishes to rely (not always wisely) on more experienced "insiders," notably Brzezinski, and that while a moralistic bent hindered his ambitions in arms control with the Soviets, his fervor gave him the tenacity to achieve successes such as the Camp David Accord. VERDICT General readers interested in this important topic may think of Carter's campaign motto, "Why not the best?" and put the book down in favor of one with an accessible narrative. Glad's focus on scholarly findings may interest some specialists, but they are likely to prefer Robert A. Strong's Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy and Scott Kaufman's Plans Unraveled: The Foreign Policy of the Carter Administration.—Bob Nardini, Nashville
