1970s: we didn’t look like winners as we left Vietnam, an energy “crisis” let oil companies hike prices, after “Watergate” Pres Nixon had to resign, “stagflation” [FN1] was our economy & Iran overran the US embassy there & held as hostages US embassy personnel.[FN2] 1/11

1980: Pres Carter sought re-election, but first had to overcome an opponent w/in his own party, Sen Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Only 1 incumbent pres, who actively sought re-election, failed to secure party’s nomination. [FN3] Pres Carter won at convention. 2/11

Kennedy shook hands w/Carter, but refused to raise his hand high w/Carter. [FN4] Kennedy was seen as supporting Pres Carter only in form. [FN5]
GOP nominee Ronald Reagan’s campaign adopted a strategy similar to Nixon’s in 1968. 3/11

Carter administration had attempted to negotiate release of U.S. embassy personnel Iran had held 11/4/79. In September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran. Iran needed weapons. Iranian officials refused to negotiate directly w/the U.S.; Algerian diplomats acted as “middlemen.” [FN6] 4/11

If the hostages were released before election day, Carter’s campaign for re-election would have gotten a boost. Instead, the hostages were released 20 minutes after Reagan’s inaugural address. In May 2023, former Carter administration officials, & others, published an article in 5/11

The New Republic “outlining the various allegations and circumstantial evidence ... that have emerged in the decades following the earlier investigations, declaring” credibility of the theory" that Reagan’s campaign interfered in release of the hostages “all but settled.” [FN7] 6/11

Whether release of the hostages would have given Carter a boost sufficient to win re-election is difficult to assess. Only years later were facts disclosed that Reagan’s campaign interfered w/the hostages’ release. Chaos in the Democratic Party did not help. 7/11

Footnotes:
FN1. Economy characterized by high inflation, low economic growth and high unemployment. Empower, “The Currency,” 11/22/23. 8/11

Footnotes:
FN2. On 11/4/79, 52 Americans were taken from U.S. embassy in Teheran & held as hostages for 444 days. Petersen, Barry and Breen, Kerry, “43 years after the end of the Iran hostage crisis, families of those affected still fight for justice,” CBS News, 1/20/24. 9/11

Footnotes:
FN3. Greenberger, Scott S, “The Unexpected President,” 2017, pp. 226-29.
FN4. Ward, Jon, “The Humiliating Handshake and the Near Fist Fight,” Politico, 1/21/19.
FN5. Id. 10/11

Footnotes:
FN6. Britannica, “Iran Hostage Crisis,” retrieved, 7/9/24.
FN7. Schwarz, Jon, “A Short History of Everyone Who Confirmed Reagan’s October Surprise Before ‘The New York Times,’” The Intercept, 3/24/23. 11/11