Which president ordered a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics?

• A. Ronald Reagan
• B. Jimmy Carter
• C. George H. W. Bush
• D. Jimmy Carter

Answer: (D)

The important idea here is recognizing how a president can use an international event as a political tool. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the Summer Games held in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This move was meant to pressure the Soviet Union by taking away the global platform of the Olympics and to rally allies to join the stance, showing that the U.S. would not participate in Moscow’s Games as long as the invasion continued. Carter’s goal was to apply diplomatic and symbolic pressure rather than escalate to military action, tying foreign policy to a high-profile international event. Reagan later became president and dealt with the Soviet Union in different ways, including broad pressure during the 1980s, and the 1984 Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union in response, but the 1980 boycott itself was Carter’s decision.