WisPolitics Budget Blog

Does the person, or events, win the White House?

25 years ago today, the failure of Operation Eagle Claw may be among the biggest events to propel a divorced, aging, movie actor and two-time loser for the presidential nomination, into the Presidency and into the history books.

444 days; 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran. 444 days; President Jimmy Carter stumbled and bumbled. 444 days; America was held hostage.

Every night, like a drippy faucet, network news aired images of our flag being burned and trampled, of blindfolded Americans, of a lost US State Department, and of an impotent United Nations.

Then, finally, Commander-In-Chief Jimmy Carter ordered a rescue mission. The mission was aborted, but not until 8 soldiers died.

Another 6 months ticked-by before the hostages were released – on the day Ronald Reagan took the oath of office.

America had rejected Jimmy Carter.

But what if? What if the rescue mission had succeeded, and all 52 hostages made their way to the C-130 cargo planes and landed at Andrews Air Force Base to be welcomed by President Jimmy Carter’s toothy smile?

Couldn’t happen.

Decisions that define a person are not made in a single moment, but rather, our character is built over the course of time. For the very reason Jimmy Carter defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976, Carter’s southern demeanor and meek disposition could not concieve a military doctrine designed to prevent radical extremists from attacking our embassies.

In this absense, why would anyone think Carter could order the U.S. military to plot a bold and aggressive strategy to rescue our embassy?

Every Presidential campaign can be Monday-morning quarterbacked; What if Woodrow Wilson had lost the close election of 1916? Would the U.S. have entered World War I?

The mainstream media will focus on headlines and current events as the dominant factor that brings people to the Presidency. However, as Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan said best, character matters.