ABSTRACT
President Reagan’s first major foreign policy decision was to concur in a tentative decision by President Carter to sell a package of advanced arms to Saudi Arabia. The issue intruded itself on a White House that was organized to deal with domestic issues. The president had not recognized the inherent conflicts between his publicly expressed strategic reliance upon Israel and the practical imperatives that flowed from commitments to curb Soviet expansionism and guarantee access to Gulf oil. Reagan ultimately was able to avoid a congressional veto of the proposed sale. However, his inability to explain policy choices in terms of his proclaimed beliefs, exacerbated by disorder in his national security team, meant that Reagan had to rely heavily upon arguments centered on the need to avoid damage to presidential authority.
