The ultimate success of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), negotiated by 27 nations in 1947, would have been hard to predict at the outset, given its lack of enforcement tools and dependence on the United States for leadership. What explains the GATT's achievements in the areas of tariff reduction and trade expansion, as argued by Donald Beane, is the adoption of a more pragmatic rather than ideological approach to problem-solving, along with a growing reliance on multilateral negotiations as the dominant position of the United States eroded. Lurking behind the scenes was the long-running battle between the U.S. Congress and the president over the role each would play in trade policy.