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Jimmy Carter at 100 – remembering Reagan’s treachery

mjpardus
Oct 1, 20243 min read

It is fitting to celebrate Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday. His service to America is unmatched by any president before or since.

 

Much will be written and share today on his life and legacy, as it should be. But few, if any, will report on Ronald Reagan’s treasonous actions in delaying the release of American hostages during the Iranian hostage crisis until after the 1980 presidential election. The hostages were freed as Reagan was being sworn into office.

 

Confirmation of the details surrounding the “October surprise” that cost Carter the election are no longer up for debate. [1]The New Republic reported that “the evidence [of interference by the Regan campaign] is overwhelming”.[2] 

 

Even the right leaning New York Post reported that the hostage negotiations were “sabotaged.”[3] They were not alone in reaching that conclusion.[4],[5],[6],[7],[8],[9],[10]

 

Some history and context surrounding the “October surprise” provide a stark reminder of the win at any cost mentality that is on full display in the Republican party.

 

In November 1979, fifty-three American diplomatic staff in Tehran were taken hostage by followers of Ruhollah Ayatollah Khomeini. They were detained for 444 days weakening the Carter presidency and costing him a second term.[11],[12]

 

Throughout 1980, President Carter had back-channel negotiations with newly elected Iranian President Bani-Sadr.

 

Bani-Sadr was a moderate and ran on the popular position of the release of the hostages. He wrote “I openly opposed the hostage-taking throughout the election campaign…. [and] won the election with over 76 percent of the vote.”[13]

 

William Casey, Reagan’s campaign director who would later become Director of the CIA, traveled to Madrid and Paris to meet with Iranian officials. Casey reportedly promised that Reagan would unfreeze Iranian funds and help them acquire military equipment and spare parts if release of the hostages was delayed until after the election.[14],[15],[16]

 

In the summer of 1980 Texas Governor John Connally and his political protégé Ben Barnes traveled to the middle east where they met with regional leaders including President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt. Connelly urged them to tell Iran to keep the hostages in Tehran until after the election. [17]

 

In Bani-Sadr’s 1991 memoir, “My Turn to Speak,” he wrote that “[i]n late October 1980, everyone was openly discussing the agreement with the Americans on the Reagan team…. Carter was no longer in control of U.S. foreign policy and had yielded the real power to those who … had negotiated with the mullahs on the hostage affair.”[18]

 

But the smoking gun for “October Surprise” came from none other than Ben Barnes.3,9,16,[19] Barnes was with Connally as he met leaders in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. Barnes confirmed that Connally was there to deliver a message, “[d]on’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.”[3],[18]

 

With that Ronald Reagan was elected president and ushered in a conservative era that remains a model for Republicans today.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

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