A SHORT HISTORY OF RIGHT WING DESTRUCTION PART 29

The Iranian hostage crisis, a failed rescue attempt, and high oil prices made Jimmy Carter's re-election problematic.  He also ran against a professional snake oil salesman in Ronald Reagan.

Reagan, who built his career as a "B" movie actor, took his acting skills, such as they were, and adapted them for politics.  Politics is frequently more fantasy than reality.  People want to believe in magic solutions to their problems and Ronald Reagan came along with promises of tax cuts and a strong military that would show the Soviet Union who was boss.  Many Americans felt  the Iranian militants had kicked the proverbial sand in our faces and they wanted a tough, no nonsense leader.

George H. W. Bush, who ran with Reagan as his running mate, called Reagan's economics "voodoo economics" during the campaign, but conveniently forgot his criticism when he ran for vice-president.

There is strong evidence that Reagan's campaign sabotaged the negotiations to free the American hostages in Iran.  It's difficult to say if an earlier release would have resulted in Carter's re-election, but the failure to gain their release certainly sped Reagan on the way to the White House.

More to come