But there’s reason to think the human rights era may be over. The Trump administration has already moved to eliminate one of Carter’s practical legacies, the undersecretary position overseeing human rights, while pushing the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to a lesser and subordinate place in the State Department’s organizational chart as a minor office for “democracy, human rights, and religious freedom.” Even after Trump departs, it’s hardly obvious that the U.S. commitment to universal human rights can ever recover the policy consensus it enjoyed.

In historical perspective, it is a new thing for U.S. presidents to say they are shaping foreign policy with human rights in mind. Jimmy Carter redefined the presidency in this way only a half century ago. And in the subsequent era, human rights exerted gravitation powerful enough that no presidents escaped it—including Donald Trump in his first term.

In historical perspective, it is a new thing for U.S. presidents to say they are shaping foreign policy with human rights in mind. Jimmy Carter redefined the presidency in this way only a half century ago. And in the subsequent era, human rights exerted gravitation powerful enough that no presidents escaped it—including Donald Trump in his first term.

But there’s reason to think the human rights era may be over. The Trump administration has already moved to eliminate one of Carter’s practical legacies, the undersecretary position overseeing human rights, while pushing the Bureau of Democr