page_title: Jimmy Carter
section_title: Iran hostage crisis
hierarchical_section_title: Jimmy Carter / Presidency, 1977–81 / Foreign policies / Iran hostage crisis
caption_attribution_description: President Jimmy Carter announces new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for taking U.S. hostages
context_page_description: James Earl Carter Jr. is an American politician and philanthropist. He was the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and the 76th Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
  Born and raised in Plains, Georgia, Carter graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and joined the United States Navy. In 1953, Carter left his naval career and returned home to Georgia to take charge of the family's peanut-growing business. Carter was politically motivated to protest against racial segregation and support the growing civil rights movement. He became an activist within the Democratic Party. From 1963 to 1967, Carter was in the Georgia State Senate, and in 1970, he was elected as Governor of Georgia, beating former Governor Carl Sanders in the Democratic primary. Carter remained as governor until 1975.
  At first, he was seen as a dark-horse candidate since not many people knew him outside of Georgia at the start of the presidential campaign, Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination.
context_section_description: On November 15, 1977, Carter said that his administration would continue positive relations between the United States and Iran, calling the country  "strong, stable and progressive".
  On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the United States Embassy in Tehran. The students were in support of the Iranian Revolution. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days until they were finally freed immediately after Ronald Reagan replaced Carter as President on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days. A month into the affair, Carter stated his plans to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed". On April 7, 1980, Carter issued Executive Order 12205, adding economic sanctions against Iran and announced more measures by members of his cabinet and the American government that he saw necessary to make sure a safe release. On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and causing the destruction of two aircraft.
caption: Carter during a press conference talking about the Iran hostage crisis, September 1980
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