Jimmy Carter and the Iran

Jimmy Carter and the Iran Hostage Crisis

The period leading up to the Iran hostage crisis was not an easy one for the United States. The Iranian hostage crisis lasted from November 4, 1979 until January 20, 1981 and was a difficult and emotional time for the nation but it was particularly so when the situation is examined against the background when it occurred. In retrospect, the Iran hostage crisis may have actually had less an impact on American society than the other factors and events that occurred before and after the crisis. In the years and months leading up to the Iran hostage crisis America had suffered through a major energy crisis, double digit inflation, a major recession, industrial flight to off shore locations, and an unprecedented presidential scandal and a resulting resignation. Any one of these events would have been difficult to absorb but taken together it is difficult to understand how the nation was able to adjust to the series of events.

In his book, Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First Encounter with Radical Islam

, historian David Farber reviews the hostage crisis and attempts to explain how said crisis fits into the America's overall War on Terrorism. What makes Farber's examination of the crisis unique is his willingness to not only review the circumstances surrounding the actual event but also the wide variety of circumstances that led up to the hostage taking.

For 444 days a group of Iranian students held a group of 51 Americans imprisoned within the confines of the American embassy in Teheran. The circumstances giving rise to the hostage situation was America's long lasting support of Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. By the time of the hostage taking, the Shah had been deposed and replaced by a new ruler, Ayatollah Khomeini, but when the United States agreed to provide the former Shah with assistance in obtaining cancer treatment in the U.S. Iranian militants reacted violently and the hostage crisis resulted. Interestingly, as the book details, the Iranian students involved in the hostage taking actually acted impulsively and were ill-prepared for the long siege that developed. They had only a three-day supply of food as they had originally only planned for the siege to be symbolic. The radical students and most of the rest of the world expected that Iran's government led by the Khomeini would quickly step in and rescue the American captives but the Khomeini publicly endorsed the students' action and, thereby, set the stage for the long siege that ensued. A siege that Farber describes as being life altering for the actual hostages but also served to further radicalize Iran, outrage the American public in their attitudes toward Iran and Muslims, bring down the Carter presidency, and leave a legacy of U.S.-Iranian bitterness that has not softened over the years.

The author's ability to describe the public mood of America in the years leading up to the hostage crisis is probably the strongest aspect of the book. America was not a happy place in the 70s and large segments of society were beginning to question the validity of the American dream. As Farber writes, "almost every certainty Americans brought to their everyday lives was up for grabs. . . . America's global role was under fire. Culture wars were breaking out at school board meetings and around dining room tables. The president committed felonies, children smoked marijuana, men wore gaudy jewelry around their necks, and communist Chinese pandas were the star attraction at the National Zoo.

" Against this background a frustrated American public could not understand how a nation that had been successfully fighting the Cold War against a world power such as the Soviet Union could be made to suffer the indignity of being held hostage by a small band of Iranian students.

For whatever reason the American public latched onto their concern for the Iran hostages and to some degree put aside their other concerns. For reasons unexplained, the American public displayed an interest in the Iran hostages that surpassed what would ordinarily be expected. For nearly every one of the 444 days that the hostages remained in captivity they remained the top or near the top of every news broadcast and the source of related stories where letters, prayer vigils, yellow ribbons tied around trees kept the fate of the hostages front and center in the minds of the American public. The entire public reaction to the hostage situation seemed to be a way for a badly divided American citizenry to feel united. It was a way for a nation that was suffering in so many ways to have a central purpose. Unfortunately, this same unified spirit, in Farber opinion, also led to Americans developing an attitude toward Iranians that viewed them as being vicious and irrational. This is an attitude that became pervasive and unchanging. Farber points out that this development has made any political relationship between the two nations particularly difficult.

Farber also analyzed the effect that the hostage crisis had on the Iranian people. Farber was careful not to be critical of the Iranians who took the Americans hostage. He understood the nature of the Iranian hostility against the United States arising from the U.S. government's relationship with the Shah but he does subtlety suggest that the Iranian's distrust and hatred toward the United States was as irrationally based as the American public's attitude toward Iranians

Other than the actual hostages no one was more affected by the Iran hostage crisis than President Jimmy Carter. Carter referred to the crisis as "a crisis of confidence… that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will

" and, at least for Carter, it certainly was exactly that: a crisis of confidence. At the time of the hostage situation Carter was engaged in a close political battle with Republican candidate Ronald Reagan and, as matters turned out, the Iran hostage matter contributed significantly to Reagan's ultimate election. Hindsight reveals that Carter misread the intent of Khomeini and the radical students and that this misreading contributed significantly to how his administration attempted to negotiate with both entities. Carter and his advisors viewed Khomeini as crazy and irrational and they negotiated with him from the position that wiser, saner, and more rationally individuals would eventually take over Iran. Carter's view unfortunately was conveyed to the American public and made the situation seem more dangerous and urgent than it actually was. The reality was that the hostage takers were apparently much more rational and reasonable than the Carter administration believed and the hostages were treated reasonably well throughout their period of captivity. If the Carter administration had successfully relayed this to the American public the furor that developed over the hostage crisis could have likely been obviated and the negotiating position of the United States would have been greatly enhanced. As it happened, the American people lost confidence in the abilities of President Carter and his administration and when Ronald Reagan came along promoting the American spirit and national unity the die was cast and Carter's re-election hopes were erased. Adding insult to injury, the hostages were released the day after Reagan's inauguration.

Although President Reagan was successful in bringing the hostages home his administration's basic handling of the overall situation in Iran was no major improvement over that of the Carter administration. The American political machine failed to recognize that the militant Muslim movement was a legitimate threat in the Middle East and not simply a radical religious uprising. The American government could not understand why the Khomeini led Iran government looked upon the United States as a threat. The U.S. kept waiting for Iran to recognize that the Soviet Union was the true threat to the region. This was a major mistake in foreign policy by the United States and this mistake was made by both the Carter and the Reagan administration.