In 1972, Talbott, along with his friends Robert Reich (a fellow Rhodes Scholar) and David E. Kendall, rallied to his friends Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton to help them in their Texas campaign to elect George McGovern president of the United States.
In the 1980s, he was Time's principal correspondent on Soviet-American relations, and his work for the magazine was cited in the three Overseas Press Club Awards won by Time in the 1980s.
Talbott also wrote several books on disarmament.

Following Bill Clinton's election as president, Talbott was invited into government where he served at first managing the consequences of the Soviet breakup as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the New Independent States.
After leaving government, he was for a period Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

Talbott was the sixth president of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2017.
At Brookings, he was responsible for formulating and setting policies, recommending projects, approving publications and selecting staff.
He brings to Brookings the experience of his careers spanning journalism, government service and academe, and his expertise in US foreign policy with specialties on Europe, Russia, South Asia and nuclear arms control.
 On January 31, 2017, Talbott announced his resignation from the Brookings Institution.
The resignation was later retracted, but in October he was succeeded by General John R. Allen.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Talbott currently also sits on the DC non-profit America Abroad Media's advisory board.
In 1972, Talbott, along with his friends Robert Reich (a fellow Rhodes Scholar) and David E. Kendall, rallied to his friends Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton to help them in their Texas campaign to elect George McGovern president of the United States. In the 1980s, he was Time's principal correspondent on Soviet-American relations, and his work for the magazine was cited in the three Overseas Press Club Awards won by Time in the 1980s. Talbott also wrote several books on disarmament.
Following Bill Clinton's election as president, Talbott was invited into government where he served at first managing the consequences of the Soviet breakup as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the New Independent States. After leaving government, he was for a period Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.
Talbott was the sixth president of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2017. At Brookings, he was responsible for formulating and setting policies, recommending projects, approving publications and selecting staff. He brings to Brookings the experience of his careers spanning journalism, government service and academe, and his expertise in US foreign policy with specialties on Europe, Russia, South Asia and nuclear arms control.  On January 31, 2017, Talbott announced his resignation from the Brookings Institution. The resignation was later retracted, but in October he was succeeded by General John R. Allen.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Talbott currently also sits on the DC non-profit America Abroad Media's advisory board.
Strobe Talbott