Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis

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James Earl Carter Jr- better known as our 39th president Jimmy Carter- was born on October 1st, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. He eventually chose a career path of politics although neither of his parents were politicians. His mother Lillian was a nurse, and his father, James Earl Carter Sr., was a businessman and farmer. He attended college in Georgia, and later enrolled in the United States Naval Academy where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree. Carter enlisted in the Navy and was posted on submarines in the Pacific and Atlantic. Eventually Carter studied nuclear physics at Union College to prepare for the Navy’s nuclear submarine program. Carter married Rosalynn Smith in 1946, and took over the family farm after his father’s death; where he became an important figure in the Plains, Georgia community, and decided to run for the state senate. Carter won the 1962 election to the state senate and the 1971 election for governor, taking his first steps into politics. He was nominated as a candidate for president by the 1975 Democratic Convention and was elected on November 2nd (Hochman). Carter did many things during his presidency that helped America along with its diplomatic ties. He returned the Panama Canal back to Panama, created the departments of education and energy, reformed healthcare, took part in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks to help promote peace with Russia, and began diplomacy with China (Macaray). However, Carter enters the history books for his role in rescuing 52 American citizens during the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979.
The political unrest that led to the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979 began the previous year when Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s rule turned into a near dictatorship. He used a se...

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...Apr. 2014. .
"Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. .
Macaray, David. "10 Good Things President Carter Did." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. .
"Video Search." Jimmy Carter Iran Hostage Crisis Speech. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

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