Jimmy Carter: The Iran Hostage Crisis

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Militant Muslims in Iran resented the United States after they intervened in their government in 1953, by putting the Shah in power. When Carter admitted the Shah into the United States, it intensified their distrust and anger towards the United States’ government. “Resentment among militant Muslims centered on the United States, which they blamed for interfering with Iran's internal politics” (Watts). The Iranian students thought that Jimmy Carter purposely brought the Shah into the United States to restore his power and that it was a lie that he had cancer. Carter did not take this threat seriously. The Carter administration and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism led to the hostage crisis. “[W]hat makes this history of the Iran hostage crisis …show more content…
On April 24th, 1980, he authorized a rescue mission that was unsuccessful. Three of the eight helicopters were damaged and eight people were killed. Upon hearing of the damage, Carter was forced to cancel the operation. (Watts). This disaster intensified the effects of the already dangerous crisis. This failure caused embarrassment for Carter and the United States’ military. President Carter tried diplomacy as a way to negotiate, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Carter had sent an envoy to Khomeini, but he refused to meet with Carter. Carter reacted hastily by declaring a national emergency, imposing a trade embargo, and freezing Iranian assets. “Carter immediately declared a national emergency and imposed a trade embargo and a freeze on Iranian assets in the United States, which totaled $8 billion. Purchase of oil from Iran was blocked, and a suit was brought in the International Court of Justice. Iranian diplomats were expelled, and Iranian students in the United States were required to have their visas checked” (Watts). His attempts to threaten the students and Iran were unsuccessful. The United States returned over three billion dollars of Iranian assets after the crisis ended. Carter’s ineffective decisions prolonged the …show more content…
Carter lost the election and the United States’ trust. Citizens of the United States did not want to vote for Carter, a person who had caused fellow citizens pain. His decisions caused Americans to question if the United States was still powerful, or if the United States was going to be defeated by Iranian students. “Had America really become just a ‘pitiful giant,’first defeated by the ragtag armies of Vietnam and then stymied by a bunch of fanatical student hostage-takers who—with complete impunity—burned the American flag, screamed, ‘Death to America!’ and scorned the American government’s every attempt to negotiate a rational solution?” (Farber 2). Ronald Reagan benefited immensely from Carter’s mistakes and had a major lead in polls. Jimmy Carter was hoping that the hostages would be released during his term, but they were not. The Iranian Hostage Crisis severely impaired Jimmy Carter’s chance of getting a second term. Overall, America was furious at Carter and it was clear that Reagan would win. Reagan is considered to have played a larger role in the crisis, even though he was not the president during the crisis. The coincident that Election Day that year fell on November 4, the anniversary of the embassy takeover highlighted Carter’s ineffective decisions and Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory (Soodalter). The hostages were officially released a few minutes
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