[Former President Jimmy Carter did significant political damage to himself with an extraordinary address to the nation on the energy crisis in 1979. In the speech, Carter criticized his own presidency, painting a picture of a listless nation trapped in a moral and spiritual funk. The speech ultimately came back to haunt Carter and made it easy for opponents, particularly Ronald Reagan, to portray him as a pessimistic and uninspiring leader.
In October 1979, the United States allowed the Shah of Iran to enter the country for medical treatment, infuriating Islamic revolutionaries who saw him as an oppressive US puppet. The following month, students who supported the Islamic revolution seized the US Embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage. The 444-day standoff transfixed the nation, souring the national mood day by day as television news bulletins tallied the length of the hostage crisis. Gradually, it dashed Carter’s hopes of a second term.
Carter’s fortunes were also battered by a daring but ultimately disastrous rescue bid in which a US helicopter carrying special forces crashed in the desert, killing eight US servicemen. As the Cold War approached a pivotal point, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 further eroded Carter’s position.
The failure to secure the release of the hostages before the 1980 elections spelled doom for Carter. Reagan berated Carter as an ineffectual leader, claiming that Carter’s presidency was consigning America to perpetual decline. The actor-turned-California governor pulled off a stunning landslide on Election Day, winning 489 electoral votes. In the final humiliation for Carter, Iran released the hostages 20 minutes after Reagan was sworn in as the new president.
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