Gerald Ford did help heal this country's wounds—among other things he offered amnesty to those who had fled to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War. But his pardon of Richard Nixon cost him popular support, and he was unable to get elected in his own right. (C04) His successor was James Earl Carter, a peanut farmer who had risen to become Georgia's governor, and who was passionate about freedom and human rights around the world. In his inaugural address he spoke eloquently of these concerns: "The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new spirit there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake, than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane."

Carter worked hard to bring peace to the Middle East, one of the most tumultuous and war-torn areas on earth. The Middle East "peace talks"—as the negotiations between Israel and Egypt were called—resulted in an agreement called the Camp David Accords (after the presidential retreat where they were held). This agreement would be the finest achievement of Carter's presidency and was instrumental in his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

But many in the Muslim world were unhappy with the peace treaty, and angered by America's influence in the region. And in 1979 one of America's strongest Middle East supporters, the Shah of Iran, was driven from power. He was succeeded by Ayatollah Khomeini—a Shiite religious leader who preached hatred of the United States. In November, a group of militant Irani students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and took fifty-two American hostages. State Department employee Robert Ode was among them, and he recorded his experience in a diary:

"We were surrounded by a group of the students who were armed ... and then [we were] marched to the Embassy residence. I was taken upstairs and put alone in a rear bedroom and blindfolded. I strongly protested the violation of my diplomatic immunity, but these protests were ignored."

It was the worst period in Carter's presidency. He later described it as: "a time of great stress for me and that's while the hostages were being held—when I was obsessed with preserving their lives and bringing them back home safely."

But Carter refused to give in to the terrorists' demands. "This nation will never yield to blackmail," he said. "But we will not rest nor deviate from our efforts until all have been freed from their imprisonment and their abuse."

As the months went by, Robert Ode continued to chronicle events in his diary: "Today we begin the tenth month of our captivity—and still there is nothing doing that makes me feel that we will get out of here soon. I just can't understand what our government is doing to obtain our release. It's very, very discouraging!"

The crisis in the Middle East led to an oil shortage in the United States, and to high inflation. And despite his efforts during 443 days, Jimmy Carter was unable to obtain the release of the hostages.

On the 444th day—the very day that Ronald Reagan was inaugurated President, January 20, 1981—the fifty-two hostages were finally released. President Reagan made the exciting announcement. "Some thirty minutes ago, the planes bearing our prisoners left Iranian airspace and are now freed of Iran." Aboard plane, Robert Ode described the feelings of the hostages: "The voice came over the plane's speaker: 'You are now leaving Iranian air space!' What a cheer went up from the American hostages. Now we knew we were really free! We were going home!"

For a brief period it seemed as if anti-Americanism in the Middle East was subsiding. But in 1983, after Reagan sent Marines into Lebanon to help restore order to that war-ravaged country, Muslim radicals responded with a terrifying war tactic. In October, a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into a U.S. Marine barracks, killing 241 Marines. President Reagan soon afterwards addressed the nation: "We have to come to grips with the fact that today's terrorists are better armed and financed and they are more sophisticated. They are possessed of a fanatical intensity, that individuals of a democratic society can only barely comprehend."