LET'S GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE...TO PRESIDENT CARTER, NOT PRESIDENT REAGAN

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  I am sick and tired of politicians - not to mention other Americans - declaring...as Senator Ted Cruz did...at the Thursday night, March 10th, 2016 CNN Republican Presidential Debate...that President 

Ronald Reagan is responsible for the release - on January 20th, 1981 - of the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for nearly 15 months.  The GOP candidate is so very wrong.  And so was another Republican Presidential candidate,  

Senator Marco Rubio, when - earlier this year - he unjustifiably credited President Reagan for getting the hostages freed.  The fact is that President Jimmy Carter and his Democratic Administration negotiated the release of those 52 brave Americans.

     In a January 17th, 2016 interview on NBC's Meet The Press, Senator Rubio 

told the show's moderator and NBC News political director, Chuck Todd, "When I become President of the United States, our adversaries around the world will know that America is no longer under the command of someone weak like Barack Obama, and it will be like Ronald Reagan, where as soon as he took office, the hostages were released from Iran."

     At the CNN debate, as part of an answer to a question asked by moderator Jake

Tapper, Senator Cruz stated, "We have seen a weak Democratic President undermine the military, weaken our readiness, weaken our respect in the world with Jimmy Carter.  And in 1981, Ronald Reagan came in to office and that can change overnight.  It's worth remembering, Iran released our hostages the day Ronald Reagan was sworn in to office."

     Both Cruz's and Rubio's comments are bogus, inaccurate and historically misleading.  Oh yes, it's true, that the hostages were set free "the day" Ronald Reagan became President.  But I think we all know, by Cruz's tone, what he intended to mean.  Historians, however, have proved and documented that President Carter and his administration laid the groundwork and then negotiated with the Iranians so that the hostages could come home to the United States.  My column today is not designed - in any way - to be a negative reflection on President Reagan.  That is not the reason whatsoever for this commentary.  There can be no negative reflection since Mr. Reagan was not involved.  Instead, my words are being written, to set the record straight and to give credit where credit is due and deserved.  Furthermore, President Obama has not been a weak President...and neither was President Carter.

     For those Republicans - or any other Americans - who have believed differently about how freedom came to the 52 hostages...here are the facts as verified and confirmed by Politifact, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize.  President Carter advised President-elect Reagan at 8:31 A.M. on January 20th, 1981 (Inauguration Day) that the release of the hostages would happen at any moment.  After 444 days in captivity, the hostages were let go shortly after 12:00 Noon EST and they boarded two Boeing 727 airplanes, which took off from Tehran at 12:25 P.M. EST, just as President Reagan was concluding his Inaugural Address on Capitol Hill.  Scholars have authenticated that Ronald Reagan

played no role in freeing the 52 Americans.  Ayatollah Khomeini ordered a delay of the official release until President Jimmy Carter was no longer in office.  It was a "slap in the face" - or more of a "punch in the mouth" - (so to speak)...to President Carter...because Khomeini and the Iranians hated our 39th President.  The truth of the matter is that President Carter and his State Department officials made the deal with the Iranians long before Mr. Reagan became Commander-In-Chief.  Before President Reagan was even elected, the Carter Administration - in September 1980 - began negotiations after being approached by the Iranians with a proposal.  And Khomeini deliberately held the hostages until moments after President Carter's term was over.

     So I really don't want to hear any more lies about which United States President was responsible for the release from Iran of the 52 American hostages in 1981.  It was President Jimmy Carter.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits: cnn.com and m.washingtontimes.com (Senator Ted Cruz), reaganfoundation.org (former President Ronald Reagan), nbc.com and youtube.com (Senator Marco Rubio), cah.utexas.edu and U.S. Center for American History (former President Jimmy Carter #1), nbc.com, usatoday.com and gannett-cdn.com (Chuck Todd), telegraph.co.uk (President Barack Obama), washingtontimes.com (Jake Tapper), bbc.com (Ayatollah Khomeini) and biblegateway.com (former President Jimmy Carter #2)

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