Zbig: a bracing life of Carter’s abrasive national security adviser
Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Polish-born rival of Kissinger, is the subject of a highly readable biography by Edward Luce
Double-digit inflation, high unemployment and the Iranian hostage crisis left Jimmy Carter a one-term president. Still, his watch was consequential. The US and China normalized relations, Egypt and Israel made peace and Russia invaded Afghanistan.
Beyond that, the US returned the Panama canal and in Iran the shah fell to the Islamic revolution. After 444 days in captivity, 53 American hostages were freed moments after Ronald Reagan became president.