Jimmy Carter’s Policy Toward the El Salvador Civil War: The Demise of Human Rights as a Priority

Abstract

This thesis investigates the roots of Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy towards El Salvador and how it changed throughout his presidency. In his candidacy for the president in 1976, Carter stated his commitment to leading a foreign policy that stood up to dictatorships that routinely violated their people’s human rights. It was a message that resonated deeply with the American public, and it helped propel him to victory over Gerald Ford. But by the end of his presidency, Carter was presiding over a foreign policy establishment that was sending weapons and money to the military dictatorship of El Salvador, which was brutally suppressing any opposition to its policies. What caused this shift, and why was Carter unable to fulfill his promises? Research in internal memos, newspapers and periodicals, and memoirs shows an administration beset by conflicting perspectives on how to implement this policy, and continual conflict over which aspects of foreign policy should take precedence in El Salvador. As a result, events on the ground in El Salvador often moved independently of attempts to shape them by US officials. More importantly, the “loss” of Nicaragua to Communism put pressure on the Carter administration to prevent further Communist-led coups, and El Salvador was the next likely location for an uprising. In the run up to the 1980 election, Republican opponents of Carter like George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan attacked the Administration for allowing a Communist government to establish itself on the American mainland. As a result, the Carter Administration felt the need to stabilize the military government of El Salvador, who were engaged in suppressing both Communists, as well as anyone who was opposed to their policies.