but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. and then you destroy yourself. i must say to you that the state of the union is not good. >> these people somehow translate politics into power and make a government work. >> we are privileged to witness a significant achievement in the cause of peace. >> what was once a distant foreign policy issue has become a domestic issue. >> there is no malaise in the spirit of this country. >> we can turn this country around and we can turn our economy around. and the time to do it is now. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> in just a few moments now, president nixon will be appearing before the people, perhaps for the last time as president of the united states. >> hail to the chief. hail to the chief. >> good evening. i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

[ applause ] >> i'm turning over direction of the government to vice-president ford. i know that the leadership of america will be in good hands. >> in those first few days and weeks when gerald ford ascended to the presidency, you could say, if you were casting someone to play the role of a president to heal a nation, that gerald ford would be that person. >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice-president of the united states and mrs. [ applause ] >> gerald ford was one of the most popular people in congress, conservative, and republican to the core, but always willing to talk, always willing to compromise. >> my fellow americans, our long national nightmare is over. >> part of what gerald ford wanted to do was move beyond watergate. and so to say our long national nightmare is over was to try to

tell the nation, my main job as president will be to heal this country. >> may our former president, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. [ applause ] >> david, what do you think? >> i would guess that in his term, we may see a little of what we had promised in the preamble of the constitution and so seldom see, and that is domestic tranquility. >> when gerald ford became president, he understood the public needed something completely different. he seemed to be the right man for those times. >> change from nixon to ford is likely to give the nation's economy a psychological lift. but it's going to take more than eye new president to cure the economy. >> it was an extremely difficult time. ford inherited the deepest recession since the 1930s, but he was spending 25% of his time on left-over nixon matters.

>> ford's in a brand-new job and faces a really consequential choice. pardon nixon and put watergate behind the country or let the investigation run its course. >> this year, especially the past few months and weeks, have been filled with extraordinary days. today is another one historians will be writing about and thinking about for years to come. >> i gerald r. ford, president of the united states, do grant a full, free and absolute pardon unto richard nixon for all offenses against the united states. >> do you think president's ford action is wrong? >> it's wrong, absolutely wrong. >> ford did the generous thing, and i think the american people must forget about nixon. >> it raises a political issue equal justice under law except for presidents who seem to get special treatment. >> good morning. we are about to see something, which as far as we know, may never have been seen before in american history. a sitting president of the united states testifying before

a congressional committee. >> subcommittee will be in order. >> i had just been out of law school a few years. i was the last person on the subcommittee to ask a question. and i thought for sure somebody on the subcommittee would ask president ford the tough questions about the pardon. nobody asked the questions. >> i would like to point out, mr. president, that the circumstances of the pardon which you issued, the secrecy with which it was issued, made people question whether or not, in fact, it was a deal. >> mrs. holtzman, i repeat with emphasis, that if we had had an indictment, a trial, a conviction, that the attention of the president, the congress and the american people would have been diverted from the problems that we have to solve. >> ford now looks very smart in history for issuing the pardon. it did not look that great at the time. he took a beating for it. >> if we had a trial of nixon,

the country would have been stopped. you have to remember, presidents are there to govern, and we hadn't had much governing. >> wherever you look across the united states, plants are closing, industries are slowing down, businesses are failing. at least 6 million people are out of work and unemployment in the united states is at its highest level in 13 years. >> economically, the country began to pay a very heavy price for the long vietnam war for which tax increases had not been passed to pay for it. >> we have stag-flation. it's a new disease. it's stagnation with inflation. >> the steaks have gone up. they're usually 68 ar pound. they're 94 this week. it's ridiculous and i can't afford it. >> for many pensioners, it's a struggle to find enough to eat, in the garbage if necessary. >> inflation was going through my roof. people would come into my office and crying. >> people were becoming poorer and poorer.

the cost of milk and cheese, something was wrong with the system. >> there was only one point in which all advisors have agreed. we must whip inflation right now. unless every able american pitches in, congress and i cannot do the job. >> gerald ford is a conservative republican, so he's trying to figure out how do you deal with economic problems without strong government? so he puts together this program which relies on voluntary action by americans. >> there was no program. basically the president was saying, buy less. >> the win buttons were part of the propaganda. there were also pamphlets and posters. >> i object to distracting people's attention away from the principal goals, the principal methods of coping with inflation. are you suggesting, sir, that buttons and flags are trivial? >> yes. >> abc news presents live coverage of the president's state of the union message to congress.

>> the president of the united states. [ applause ] >> when he goes to give the state of the union address, he is under tremendous pressure. i remember being there, and it was palpable, clearly. >> a lot hangs on this, this is his very first state of the union. >> 26 years ago, a freshman congressman who was out to change the world, stood at the back of this great chamber. as president truman said, i am happy to report to the 81st congress that the state of the union is good. today, millions of americans are out of work. recession and inflation are eroding the money of millions more. prices are too high and sales are too slow. and i must say to you that the state of the union is not good. [ holiday music playing ]

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(atlas) with verizon? do humans like overpaying don't they know they can get the 3rd, 4th and 5th lines free with sprint? (paul) yeah that means sprint's unlimited plan gives you 5 lines for just $20 per month, per line. (mom) really? (atlas) yes and you can save more than $1,000 over verizon and at&t with sprint. (mom) no way! (dad) robots don't lie. (atlas) the man in the mom jeans is correct. (avo) switch today and get 5 lines for just $20 per month per line. see how you can save more than for people with hearing loss, $1,000 in the first year with sprint. visit sprintrelay.com former california governor ronald reagan is about to hold a press conference in washington where he is expected to announce he is a candidate for the presidential nomination. >> one of the problems for ford was the fact his party was coming apart at the seams. reagan was able to mount a formidable challenge to ford in the '76 republican nomination

contest. >> i'm running because i have grown increasingly concerned about the course of events in the united states and in the world. >> reagan was the great two-term governor of california, and he goes after gerald ford as being weak. >> i am quite critical of our foreign policy right now. matter of fact, i think that it is almost anchorless and almost aimless. >> he's a good actor, but he also is a formidable challenger. >> ronald reagan was challenging a sitting president in his own party? a relatively conservative president, and he was basically calling him a liberal sell-out. >> in the texas primary, reagan wiped out the president in a stunning victory. >> in august of 1974, this country hit some very difficult and formidable obstacles ahead of us. we blew it in the right direction, young man. [ applause ] >> this was a period of time right in the wake of watergate.

americans were very, very suspicious about government, and about people who had spent too much time in washington, d.c. jimmy carter could run, someone who called himself an outsider is a guy who wasn't tainted by washington, d.c. and its corruption and its culture. >> i remember when i announced for president, it was a major headline in the editorial page of the atlanta constitution. jimmy carter is running for [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> i'm running for president. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy carter. >> jimmy who? >> i don't know who he is. >> you're like one of us. >> jimmy carter grew up in a very small town in the south, plains, georgia. he had grown into a family of farmers. became a peanut farmer himself. and from georgia he basically started his political assent. >> the idea that somebody from that region could aspire to that kind of national office, people didn't even try. >> yesterday, about 50,000

democrats in iowa met in caucuses to choose delegates for their state party convention. former georgia governor jimmy carter did extremely well. >> the iowa caucus was something no one ever paid attention to, but carter and his team said, hey, if we go and which win, the media is going to treat us like a serious political front runner. >> mr. carter is also deeply religious. he praise in publprays in publi speaks openly about his beliefs. >> he would lead some kind of spiritual redemption which at the time we really needed. >> nothing has happened tonight to change the feeling jimmy carter is on his way to a kind of correspond nation in madison square garden. >> the battle for the republican nomination turned out to be really close. it was close enough to make the

ford people's finger nails sweat. by a whisker, gerald ford got the nomination. when ford was nominated, reagan's supporters staged a demonstration on the convention floor, and it went on and on and on and on. >> by the end of that convention, it's clear that although gerald ford may be the nominee, ronald reagan has won the hearts and minds of conservatives. >> reagan did great damage to ford. look at the poll numbers. you'll see that jimmy carter starts surging over 30 points ahead of gerald ford. >> ford had a weak position in the national race, so he challenged jimmy carter to a debate. >> mr. president and i would like to explore a little more deeply our relationship with the russians.

>> max frankel asked whether the united states was accepting of soviet domination of eastern europe. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe, and there never will be under a ford administration. >> i'm sorry, could i just -- did i understand you to say, sir, that the russians are not using eastern europe as their own sphere of influence? >> everybody's jaw just dropped. are you alive? are you aware? >> what he meant to say was, i will not accept any soviet domination of eastern europe. >> governor carter, can we have your response? >> charitably it was a momentary slip. maybe we do need to replace the president. >> ford had never lost an

election in his life. won 15 straight terms in the house, and here all of a sudden he's beaten by this one-term governor of georgia, and he was crushed. >> my voice isn't up to par. i may call on the real spokesman for the family. patty? >> it's been the greatest honor of my husband's life to have served his fellow americans during two of the most difficult years in our history. >> i think the real test comes now. will these people who have taken apart the old system, can somehow translate politics into power and make a government work? that's their relevant test, and we're on the threshold, possibly of the greatest change since the new deal in 1932.

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people looked at that and said, this is what we need, a real person as president. >> carter was a man of the people. glamor was not what we were in the market for. we were looking for a redeemer. >> let me take a look around. i know i've seen it. we'll have a meeting with some of the cabinet officers in a few minutes. >> have you gone upstairs and taken a look at the quarters? >> for the first time. >> he had to do a few things that were important. fix the economy, fix peace in the middle east, fix energy and some other things. >> with will have available for public scrutiny and for congressional action by april the 20th, a comprehensive long-range energy policy. >> the winter of 1977 is one of the worst that the country had experienced, and this comes at a time the economy is still doing poorly. >> the severe weather has already led to a serious shortage of natural gas. >> federal power commission

estimates at least 200,000 layoffs due to industrial gas curtailments so far. >> in the day tton area -- >> the president is about to speak to the country on energy. >> tonight i want to have an unpleasant talk with you. the energy crisis has not overwhelmed us, but it will if we don't act quickly. we need to shift to plentiful coal while taking care of the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy. this difficult effort will be the moral equivalent of war. >> the policies that he rolls out around the speech really don't go anywhere. one of the key reasons for this is that jimmy carter really had poor relations with congress. >> for the producing states, i think it would be a catastrophic, cataclysmic calamity. >> what he's trying do is prepare the public mind to

accept the carter proposal and nothing else. >> carter alienated the powers that be in congress, so when jimmy carter began to falter, he didn't have friends coming out and speaking for him. in fact, i was getting calls from democrats criticizing him. >> i've always heard about the advise and consent role of the congress. so far they've been a little strong on the advice than they have the consent. >> carter inherits a financial miss. he needs a big feather in his cab. >> the president is in trouble at home. his counselors advise a trip abroad. >> the president is on the road, his first long trip to the middle east and western europe. the president met with not only anwar sa dat of egypt, but king hussein of jordan, and the shaw of iran. >> united states had always backed the shah of iran. that goes back to 1953 when

america essentially put him in power. >> in one of the more troubled areas of the world. >> even though the western governments loved the shah, they weren't paying attention to the facts on the ground and there were many people who were discontented with the shah, in part because of his extremely oppressive policies. >> iran was seen as important for its oil resources, but also because the shah was an ally when it came to regional goals. this was a natural alliance for the united states. >> the president and the shah of iran spent a long time talking about the middle east, and it was brought up by other leaders in other countries. >> jimmy carter saw the middle east and the settlement of the conflict between israelis and arabs as central to any kind of stability for the next generation. >> hopes for middle east peace settlement were mefr higher than

they were last november when sadat met began. the enthusiasm began to fall off. they went to bickering and negotiations broke down. >> jimmy carter took advantage of the situation to talk to the israelis. i think he thought he could do something that his predecessors couldn't. it was a huge gamble. >> good afternoon. the stage is set and the participants are now beginning to arrive here in the washington area. president carter, egyptian president anwar sadsd and gbega will sit down together and attempt to work out a peace settlement for the middle east. >> failure would increase what is reflected in the public polls. he is a nice man, but an inept president. >> they are interviewing each other. whether the talks are friendly or intense, we just don't know

because of the unprecedented secrecy. a by the end of the second difficult, roselyn said you could hear them screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. carter had to physically separate them. he had to block them from leaving. >> the middle east summit at camp david is in the middle of the week. no official word how the talks are going or when they might end, but their length already has given rise to reports of a stalemate. >> carter had a photograph made of the three men, and had made up copies for began's nine grandchildren and had signed each of them. love, jimmy carter. very reluctantly, carter went back to see began. carter handed him the photographs and said, i had hoped to write that this is where your grandfather and i made peace and began began to weep. he went back to his cabin to tell sadat it was off. it was began saying he would

sign. >> we are privileged to witness tonight a significant achievement in the cause of peace, an achievement none thought possible a year ago. >> the peace treaty changed the tenor of politics across the region. an arab country which accounted for a quarter of the arab world population recognized israel's right to exist. and it changed the dynamics of the middle east. [ applause ] >> what a picture, what a picture. the room, of course, is erupted in cheering, applause, as began said peace now celebrates a great victory. do you like payg for things you don't need? no. and do you want to get things you love for free? who wouldn't? exactly! right. dad, apple music. he gets it. this guy gets it. (vo) get six months free apple music,

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the camp david accord was carter's crowning achievement, but it was very shortly thereafter diminished by the crisis with iran. >> ayatollah khomeini now exiled in paris called for his people -- >> they called for the islamic state not dependent on the west.

>> i don't think the united states as a secular country understood that islam, a religion, could oust a monarchy that prevailed as a system of government for 2 1/2 millennia. >> we support the shah, but we don't try to interfere in the internal affairs of iran. >> we put the shah in, but we can't keep him in. >> i think that's a decision to be made by the people of that country. >> good evening. the shah of iran is in egypt tonight. his country are deliriously rejoicing at his departure, and all around the world government leaders are trying to come to grips with the fall of the man known as the king of kings. >> the old chant of death to the skr shah was chanted a new one, death to carter. >> we want freedom. we don't want his human life any more. >> obviously the source of energy for the 1970s was a core question. the iranian revolution was drying up our energy supply. we're literally running out of

gas. >> can i have your a extension, please. there has been a state of emergency declared on three mile island. >> in a nuclear power plant near harrisburg, pennsylvania, the cooling system broke down this morning. some radioactive steam escaped into the air. radiation passed through the four-foot concrete walls and was detected a mile away from the plant. >> this was the first big nuclear disaster at a time when the country was increasingly reliant on nuclear power. and the federal government and the state government couldn't do much about it. it was scary. >> it's the beginning of mistrust of nuclear power as the magic salve to the energy problem. >> the president said today he believes this incident will make it necessary to reassess the country's present nuclear safety regulations. that comes from a president who has been claiming that more nuclear reactors are needed to offset the demand for foreign oil. >> the energy crisis which had been going on all decade only

gets worse with middle eastern turmoil. >> californians sat fuming in their cars, waiting patiently in long lines wondering who and what had put them there. somehow there wasn't enough gasoline to go around. prices rose elsewhere and lines began forming and americans began realizing california was not unique. california was first. >> people in this country always worry about the price of gas, but this was worried about the availability of gas. >> while the oil producers were getting ready for another price increase, the oil consumers were beginning to meet in japan. president carter's state visit began today. >> is there anything in the immediate you can do to reduce the gas lines in the united states? >> my information is that in the next few weeks hopefully sooner, there will be an increase in supply of gasoline to the affected areas. >> i think it's phony. i think they're trying to get the prices jacked up. that's my personal opinion. >> what was once a distant foreign policy issue has become a domestic issue. >> a truck strike has driven

food prices upward, slowed industry and resulted in violence. the bloodiest episode in levity town, pennsylvania, 32 people were injured when motorists joined the truckers in protesting the fuel shortage. >> the crowd of 2000, mostly teenagers packed the intersection and then it turned violent. >> this is levity town, pennsylvania. quintessential middle america. and middle america is in torment about the gas crisis. >> sunday, july 1st, because of the gas lines, president carter flies straight home from the tokyo economic summit and announces a television speech to the nation thursday. then to camp david by helicopter, presumably to work on that energy speech. but then a sudden change. the energy speech is canceled, with no explanation. critics speak of indecision. >> carter decides that he wants to meet with advisors from all walks of life. >> the latest group shuttled to camp david includes energy secretary schlesinger, several

nonoil government experts, and now three governors. >> he's been up there eight days and there is still no word on what the camp david domestic summit will end and when the president will come down from the mountain. >> one almost expects the president to a light from his chopper carrying two tablets of stone. >> some say mr. carter will address what he calls a malaise affecting the nation. >> this is an abc news special report. >> 15 seconds. stand by. >> good evening. i want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. it is a crisis of confidence. for the first time in the history of our country, a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption, human identity is

no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. >> so, the president has concluded his speech and what a remarkable speech it was. it was almost a sermon. >> afterwards, he gets a bump in the polls. people are like, hey, this is good. but then the op-eds begin to drip in. >> i think the president and his advisors are making a mistake if they think out there in the country the people feels there is a crisis of confidence in themselves. they feel there is a crisis of confidence in the president. >> it was analysis of the speech that really began to turn things for him. and right after the speech he then basically fired his cabinet. >> when members of the cabinet gathered at the white house this morning for a two-hour meeting with the president, they seemed to be in good spirits. but by the time they left, things had changed, along with the senior white house staff, their resignations were requested. >> don't you think someone should come out and assure the country we don't have -- >> i think that -- i don't think there is a crisis. >> the american people have the

right to know who is running the government. >> they do have a right to know. they do know who is running the government. the american public isn't confused about who is running the government. the president is running it. >> sometimes perception is more important than reality, and the perception became that jimmy carter made one big mistake after another. ( ♪ ) dealing with psoriatic arthritis pain was so frustrating. my skin... it was embarrassing. my joints... they hurt. the pain and swelling. the tenderness.

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zantac. eat your way. treat your way.™ the shah of iran is in a new york city hospital tonight. an american government source in washington says the deposed iranian monarch is suffering from cancer and a blocked bile duct. >> the shah was admitted to this country that he not engage in any political activity while here. he they were assured of that. measures have been put into effect in tehran against possible actions by anti-shah fanatics. >> carter agreed to allow the shah to come to the united states for medical treatment. and at that point, it was the match that lit this c conflagration. >> spurred on by a speech, they stormed the embassy, fought the

marine guards for three hours, overpowered them and took dozens of american hostages. >> the iranians burned the united states flag and announced the u.s. government saying they would stay until the u.s. sends the deposed shah back to iran. >> what i remember, and this was the second day, was that the provisional government of the prime minister, which was essentially the people we dealt with, had resigned. at that point i remember thing, we are definitely in the soup because there was no one to talk to. there was no government for our government to talk to. >> in tehran, it is tuesday morning. the hostages at the american embassy, more than 60 of them, have spent another night, their 9th, as prisoners of the eyian captors. president carter made his first public response to their ordeal. >> i amrd 0 ordering we

discontinue purchasing oil from iran to this country. >> through today's a action, they have removed a bargaining tool that can no longer be used in dealing with the hostages. other officials say candidly today's announcement was intended to dampen the outrage and expression of americans over the country's seeming helplessness. >> how they treated our diplomats was humiliating. that put extraordinary pressure on jimmy carter. >> the meetings are on, but there is nothing to suggest that those meetings have produced any new ways of solving the crisis. >> any encouraging news for iran, mr. president? >> no. >> the first sign of hope in two weeks from the american embassy in tehran. the students holding the hostages there promised to obey an order today from the ayatollah khomeini to free all women and blacks. the ayatollah explained, quote, islam has a special respect for women and the blacks who have spent ages under american pressure and tierney.

>> as he departed for thanksgiving week in nearby camp david, the president was apparently confident that at least some of those hostages will soon be free. we are thankful, said his statement, the ordeal may be over for them and that they may be soon reunited with their families. but it went on to urge that the authorities in iran now move to secure the safe release of all those still being held. >> what can you do? you bring pressure, you can bring sanctions, you can go to the united nations, you can send emissaries, but america can't do a dam thing. >> ted koppel on abc news, walter cronkite, america 15, day 100, day 200, it started wearing on people. and carter started becoming the symbol of lost american prestige. >> ronald reagan is running officially. he got in the race tonight in new york city at a fund-raising dinner and he taped a speech yesterday for showing tonight on abo about 90 independent television

stations. >> i'm here tonight to announce my nomination to seek the president of the united states. the crisis we face not the american spirit, it's the failure of our leaders. >> the country is looking for optimism, they're looking for a new dawn, new beginnings. and ronald reagan epitomizes all of those things. >> reagan is building a coalition, bringing in cristian fundamentalists and law and order nixonian people. to sell conservatism, you have to do it with a smile and a way that makes people feel good, not scold them. >> we can turn this country around and we can turn our economy around. and the time to do it is now. >> we want ted. >> there were many democrats worried carter wasn't going to win. ted kennedy, senator from massachusetts, decides to take

him on. >> today i formally announce that i am a candidate for president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] >> many democrats believed carter moved too far to the center and that he abandoned the traditional ideas of the party. >> jimmy carter and kennedy became the polar opposites within the party, and jimmy carter on top of that had a feeling that the kennedys felt they were above we southerners. >> it's a nasty contest. when someone asked jimmy carter in passing, what do you think about being challenged by ted kennedy? jimmy carter says, i'll whip his as. >> this is a special report from cbs news. >> the 174th day of the iran crisis has brought a startling and tragic turn of events. the united states mounted a military operation into iran last night to rescue the american hostages, but it failed. >> eight helicopters took off from the aircraft carrier nimitz. they had a staging area 200

miles southeast of iran. >> two of the helicopters experienced problems on route. >> but once on the ground, yet another helicopter malfunctioned, leaving only five for the mission. at that moment, the president scrubbed the mission. >> in the rush to pull out, one of the helicopters alright, i brought in ensure max protein...

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why do you want to be president? >> well, i'm -- >> kennedy should have been prepared to answer that question. in some ways, he'd been preparing to answer that question his entire life. instead, he gave a stammering, halting answer that instantly told people this guy does not know why he wants the job. >> there's more natural resources than any nation of the world. >> the interesting thing is that after it became clear that kennedy couldn't win, he became

a great candidate. >> there is no malaise in the spirit of this country. >> kennedy's primary challenge has a big effect because many democrats are not that enthused about their candidate once the convention takes place. >> live from new york city, the 1980 democratic national convention. >> the democrats have had their first day of the convention. senator kennedy lost the first and decisive fight. jimmy carter is the nominee of this party. >> i congratulate president carter on his victory here. i am confident that the democratic party will reunite on the basis of democratic principles and that together we will march towards a democratic victory in 1980. >> people are cheering kennedy on. the enthusiasm for what he has to say is much more than the response that carter gets. >> in good times and bad, in the

valleys and on the peaks, we've told people the truth. >> carter then wants kennedy to come on stage and they can hold up their hands together and show people that this party is unified. but when kennedy comes up, he doesn't really do that. >> there will be no pictures in tomorrow's paper and none for prosperity of jimmy carter holding senator kennedy's hand aloft. >> kennedy did not win. could not win. and, yet, he had ripped the party apart when what they needed to win that election was full democratic unity. >> this country needs a new administration with a renewed dedication to the dream of an american, an administration that will give that dream new life and make america great again. >> ronald reagan will call

carter out for this whole idea that we live in an age of limits and say, no, america's future is just as expansive as it always was. >> next tuesday, you will go to the polls. i think when you make that decision, it might be well if if you ask yourself are you better off than you were four years ago? >> this is continuing abc news election night coverage. >> it is beginning to look like, well, the word is landslide for ronald reagan tonight. if they're not breaking out the champagne at the reagan headquarters now, it's only because, well, they can't find an opener. >> jimmy carter, though beaten at the polls, did not act like a beaten man. he said that he didn't feel people had turned against him personally but had voted over america's lost dominance in world affairs. mr. carter showed a flash of anguish only once when he said his wife had seen a majority of preachers the morning to put a

true christian in the oval office. >> we knew that reagan had won the election. the iranians told us that. a certain gloating feeling that they were responsible for jimmy carter's defeat. >> mr. carter is back in his office burning the midnight oil. and perhaps that's characteristic of the jimmy carter presidency. he's doing it here on his last night in washington. >> up until the last moment, right before he actually has to shake ronald reagan's hand during reagan's inauguration, jimmy carter is doing everything he can do get those hostages home. >> jimmy carter is seen as the ultimate ally of the shah. they didn't want to give any rewards to jimmy carter. we had to wait until ronald reagan had taken the oath of office before the plane was

allowed to fly out of teheran to >> everything was delayed by agreement to make sure that jimmy carter didn't get nip credit for the freedom of the hostages. >> it was a bittersweet moment as jimmy carter left the andrews air force base to go home to georgia. >> luck is a big factor in a presidency. and jimmy carter had some very bad luck. >> because of the blow back from vietnam, it will be recognized that jimmy carter inherited a national situation that was almost completely unimaginable. >> a few moments ago on air force one, i had received word officially for the first time that the aircraft carrying the 52 american hostages had cleared iranian air space on the first leg of the journey home and that every one of the 52 hostages was alive, was well, and free.

this is happening now, if you can possibly believe that. >> the terrorists are saying they'll blow up the school, killing all the children inside. >> the german police have been waging a relentless war against the terrorists, capturing some, killing some. >> no one, even the most powerful, has immunity from these urban guerillas. >> there are 298 people held hostage. >> those people, they have good ideals, they're just going about them the wrong way. >> we are ready to go on into martyrdom. >> the communique ended with the appeal, revolutionaries of the world, unite. terrorist attacks where