The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War

by Fred Kaplan

Carter arrived in Seoul on June 13, crossed the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea soon after, and spent the next three days locked in conversation with Pyongyang’s leaders, including Chairman Kim Il-sung, eighty-two years old but still alert. As it turned out, both sides in the White House debate over whether Carter should make the trip had been right. After the long hours of meetings, meals, and a ride on Kim’s yacht, the North Korean leader backed down from his threats. And Carter went way beyond his instructions, negotiating the outlines of a twelve-point treaty without any authorization from—in fact, against the express directives of—the Clinton administration. Not only that, but as his trip was wrapping up, Carter called Gallucci, who happened to be at an NSC meeting in the White House Cabinet Room, to tell him that he’d reached an accord with Kim and would be announcing some of its terms in five minutes on CNN. (This was another surprise to Clinton’s people: Carter had brought along a camera crew from the cable news network.)