The Iranian Hostage Crisis in Changed Lives for Iranians and Americans Alike
On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of young Islamic revolutionaries overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 Americans hostage. "From the moment the hostages were seized until they were released minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as president 444 days later," wrote historian Gaddis Smith, "the crisis absorbed more concentrated effort by American officials and had more extensive coverage on television and in the press than any other event since World War II."
The hostage crisis was the most dramatic in a series of problems facing Americans at home and abroad in the last year of the Carter presidency. Was Carter to blame for allowing it to happen? It's hard to say, since the hostage crisis was merely the latest event in the long and complex relationship between the United States and Iran.
The United States implemented many changes in the Iranian government since the 1950s; often illegally and by force. The decisions to do these things to the Iranian government changed the lives for many Iranians for the worse and jeopardized the relationship between the Iranian people and the United States for generations to follow. These decisions, made by well respected and honored American presidents, compromised the United States integrity as a nation and the lives of many Americans.
The hostage crisis was the most dramatic in a series of problems facing Americans at home and abroad in the last year of the Carter presidency. Was Carter to blame for allowing it to happen? It's hard to say, since the hostage crisis was merely the latest event in the long and complex relationship between the United States and Iran.
The United States implemented many changes in the Iranian government since the 1950s; often illegally and by force. The decisions to do these things to the Iranian government changed the lives for many Iranians for the worse and jeopardized the relationship between the Iranian people and the United States for generations to follow. These decisions, made by well respected and honored American presidents, compromised the United States integrity as a nation and the lives of many Americans.