government about the political implications of this fundamentalist regime.
There was little informed understanding in the U.S. In January 1979, the shah fled into exile, and the theocratic regime of Khomeini took power. The stability of the country, though, was being threatened by a religious fanatic, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who did not like the shah’s efforts to modernize and Westernize a fiercely religious, fundamentalist society. By 1979, however, when Carter had been in office three years, the shah was in trouble, reaping the harvest of years of brutal and unpopular policies, including the use of secret police that controlled dissent with arbitrary arrests and torture.2 It was clear that the shah had lost the support of his people, but the president hoped a coalition of the moderate opponents might be formed. The United States had an enormous stake in keeping it stable and independent. Iran was important because it provided oil to the industrial West and separated the Soviet Union from the Persian Gulf and the oil states. For that long, the United States had provided political support and, more recently, massive military assistance to the government of the shah of Iran. The beginnings of this crisis preceded Jimmy Carter’s term by almost thirty years.
He was close, very close, and as he said, "At stake were the lives of 52 precious human beings who had been imprisoned in Iran for 444 days–and almost 12 billion dollars of Iranian assets." 1
As the clock ticked the time away, Carter tried to resolve a crisis that had almost destroyed his presidency. In just hours this president would leave it for good, and a new leader, Ronald Reagan, would move in. Jimmy Carter would say later, "No matter who was with me, we watched the big grandfather clock by the door." Time was running out, for it was Tuesday, January 20, 1981.
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