Lessons Learned From Jimmy Carter The Mediator

In Jimmy Carter’s book entitled “A Full Life” he describes the 13-day 1978 Camp David peace negotiations between Egypt and Israel. In his own words, he details some of the more personal relationships that he developed with Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel. As he retells what happened, it is clear that his particular humanistic and compassionate style helped him accomplish success as the mediator for this landmark agreement, ending what had been 30 years of war.

The following excerpts are taken from Chapter 6 directly from his words but summarized and put into 3rd person. His recollections provide some great lessons-learned for mediators who are faced with a challenging assignment and parties that distrust and even hate each other. 

1. Convening and Picking the Right Location. One weekend when his family was enjoying Camp David, Carter’s wife Rosalynn, was the one who suggested that Camp David would be an ideal place for talks. He agreed with her thoughts that the negotiating teams would benefit from the privacy and quiet atmosphere. Carter sent handwritten invitations to Begin and Sadat in August 1978 to join him for comprehensive peace talks at Camp David. They both accepted.
2. Importance of Preparation. Being the detail oriented, nuclear engineer, Carter believed strongly in thorough preparation. He states he practically memorized the voluminous briefing books and the maps of disputed areas prepared by his US intelligence agencies. This included biographies of Begin and Sadat describing their early lives, political careers, and their promises and obligations to powerful political groups. Importantly, the briefing books also provided their psychological analysis, predicting how they would react to pressure while negotiating and also after they returned home. 
3. Setting Parameters and Ground Rules. When Begin arrived at Camp David in September 1978 he made it clear that he had limited goals and was only prepared to outline some general principles. His intention was for all parties then to return home and turn over the responsibilities to their cabinet officers for future detailed negotiations. Carter disagreed with this and stated so. Fortunately, he found that Sadat was willing to support his more ambitious plans for peace talks and that was the direction they all took. Another important ground rule was that no one would share the daily discussions with the outside world. He also did not deny the rumor among the two negotiating teams, that all the outside phone lines were tapped.
4. Deciding to Use Caucusing. Initially Carter thought he could bring both men into a small room in Carter’s cabin and get them to discuss together all the advantages that a peace agreement could bring to their people. He soon discovered this to be impossible because both of them would ignore his proposals. They would quickly revert to vitriolic exchanges about things that happened during the four wars between their countries during the previous 30 years.  On occasion they would even go back to biblical days. Finally, after three days had been wasted in loud arguments, Carter decided that the two men should be kept apart in separate caucuses. They maintained that separation arrangement for the remaining days together.
5. Use of a Single Text Document. Carter had created a single document that outlined his concept of a comprehensive peace agreement. He would take the proposed peace document first to the Israelis and then to the Egyptians, modifying the text only when absolutely necessary. As part of the ground rules, both leaders agreed that if they failed to reach agreement, Carter would make public his final proposal and that each of them would explain why they accepted or rejected it. Progress came slowly-but-surely, paragraph by paragraph.
6. Changing the Landscape – Visiting Gettysburg. Proposed changes became so great that Carter felt they should take a break. Everyone agreed to visit a nearby civil war battlefield at Gettysburg. All military officers trained for military duty, had studied this conflict in detail, including Carter who was a Naval Academy graduate and almost all the top leaders from Israel and Egypt. As the group was guided from one location to another, there were lots of excited comments, except from Begin who had never received military training. Carter noticed this and began to worry about Begin’s relative isolation in the group.  Then they reached a place where Abraham Lincoln made his historic Gettysburg address. Everyone got respectfully quiet to contemplate the scene. After a few moments Begin began to recite Lincoln’s speech, “Four score and seven years ago…” and so forth. This was an emotional experience and for Carter the most memorable event of the day.
7. Avoiding Termination. Late at night on the 9th day Carter became concerned about Sadat’s safety. He was the head of the Egyptian delegation and accommodating Carter’s proposals. Some of the Egyptians were fervent in the hatred and distrust of Israel. His foreign minister had resigned in protest and returned to Egypt and some of their other top officials were on the verge of rebellion because of concessions he had made. Carter had sent word that he wanted to see Sadat that afternoon. Carter was told that uncharacteristically Sadat had already gone to bed and did not wish to be disturbed. He was doubtful about the truthfulness of this response and for one of the few times in his life could not go to sleep. Carter arranged through his National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, to have security arranged outside Sadat’s cabin and was relieved to see Sadat the next morning. 
8. Dealing with Impasse. On the 11th day, Carter was meeting with his Secretary of Defense about some important budget issues when Secretary of State Cyrus Vance burst into the room. Vance said that Sadat had his luggage on the porch of his cabin and had asked for a helicopter to take him back to Washington or return to Egypt. This was described as one of the worst moments of Carter’s life. He knew that Sadat was doubtful about potential success after Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan told Sadat that Israel would make no more concessions. Carter then describes how he went into his bedroom, knelt and prayed for a while. For some reason he didn’t quite understand, Carter decided to replace his normal attire of T-shirt and blue jeans, with a coat and tie for the first time since he arrived. Only then did he go to Sadat’s cabin where the two men had a terrible confrontation. Carter used all the arguments and threats he could muster and eventually Sadat agreed to give him one more chance.
9. Reaching Agreement. By the 13th day there were only a couple of unresolved issues which were of paramount importance to Prime Minister Begin. One concerned the status of Jerusalem and the other the removal of all Israelis from Egyptian territory. Begin would not yield on either point and was very angry with Carter. We all decided that our only option was to return to Washington, acknowledge failure and plan for some possible future efforts. After that decision Carter’s secretary came to him with a request from Begin if he would sign photographs of the three leaders as souvenirs for his eight grandchildren. Without telling Begin, she had called Israel and obtained his grandchildren’s names. Carter signed each photograph “with love” to each child and went to Begin’s cabin. He admitted Carter with a polite but frigid attitude. When Carter gave Begin the photographs, he turned away to examine them and then began to read the names aloud 1 by 1. Begin had a choked voice and tears were running down his cheeks. Carter was also emotional and Begin asked him to have a seat. After a few minutes they agreed to try once more and after some intense discussions were successful. 
   The Peace Agreement followed 30 years of war between Egypt and Israel and has now lasted for over 45 years. Certainly, without the humility, humanity, perseverance and good preparation by Jimmy Carter the Mediator, it is unlikely the efforts at Camp David would have succeeded. He demonstrated so well how a good mediator with the human touch can be a catalyst for reaching agreement.

Christopher Kane

Chris Kane P.E. J.D. is a professional engineer, lawyer and mediator and based in Princeton, New Jersey.  He has over 30 years of experience in the construction and environmental industry and nearly 20 years of experience as a mediator participating in all methods of dispute resolution. Chris is currently Vice… MORE