Determination and Adroit Maneuvers

By Hugh Sidey

Jimmy Carter has been his own calamity for so long that it is hard to get out of the habit of living with disappointment and near disaster. But last week, when the President stepped down from Air Force One at the end of his European voyage, he had not only staved off a further collapse of American leadership in the world but had also shored up for a time the cause of the democracies.

An avalanche of mismanagement still follows on Carter's heels and could engulf us any moment. But his eight-day display of determination and adroit maneuver has added a lustrous footnote to the pages of his thin volume of leadership success. Nothing more, or less.

His stubborn effort to unite the allies against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan gave Carter a direction and force heretofore lacking. Then he used the new political unity to ease the way for a truly remarkable economic and energy agenda for the future. Meetings do not make the world, but they help a little.

A couple of years back, when the summiteers met in Bonn, Jimmy Carter smiled. Little else. Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt sat down the table from the U.S. President and swirled Coca-Cola around in his wine glass and looked with contempt along his tilted nose at Carter. Schmidt dominated the personalities, France's Valery Giscard d'Estaing was clearly second, and Carter was down there some place with Britain's jolly James Callaghan, who did not survive Margaret Thatcher's political assault, who did not survive Margaret Thatcher's political assault.

The rankings changed this time. Carter had what for him was fire in his eye. Strategy had been carefully crafted for six months. He held to it like a bulldog. And when the seven leaders gathered around the head table in Venice for their final declarations, Jimmy Carter was first among the equals. The real bulldog, Mrs. Thatcher, was next in line. Giscard, still elegant, but surprised, and Schmidt, more than a bit tarnished by being a bit too Germanic, were tied for third.

There may be several good lessons in all this. Having a clearly defined goal is shown again to be the core of successful statecraft. Being consistent is another vital ingredient. Having help from home does wonders too. The news that the U.S. had made more progress in oil conservation than any of the other nations deepened the impact of Carter's words on everyone. There is little question that at last the President moved with some confidence and understanding among the other leaders.

Whether he can sustain his skill remains to be seen. Carter was profoundly impressed with the Roman Colosseum and Forum, which he had never seen before. Venice fascinated him by being so much different from anything he had known or expected. But as he sped toward home, the images of imperial grandeur faded. The President still seems to yearn for self-denial and simplicity, which are terribly hard to come by in the crowd with which he travels.

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