Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States in November 1976. A few months
earlier, the Italian elections marked an extraordinary result for the Italian Communist Party
(Pci) and some of its members obtained institutional roles. During the election campaign,
members of Carter’s entourage released declarations that seemed to prelude to the abandon
of the anticommunist veto posed by precedent governments. Fora year since the inauguration,
the administration maintained an ambiguous position. Nonetheless, on January 12, 1978, the
United States reiterated their opposition to any forms of participation of communists into the
Italian government. Drawing on a varied set of sources and analyzing the role of non-state
actors, including think tanks and university centers, this essay aims at analyzing the debate
on the Italian “communist question” within the Carter administration and its advisers. Such
discussion will be placed within a wider one that crossed the American liberal culture.