Unit 8: 1945-1980Senor Escoba
The USSR in Eastern Europe
• Soviet Union wants a demilitarized Germany• Soviet Union wants a buffer zone to
its West to prevent a future Germany attack• Soviet Union sets up pro-Soviet Union
puppet governments in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania
Growing Mistrust
• Truman wants to halt communism• Stalin declares there can be no lasting
peace between capitalism and communism• George F. Kennan – US diplomat to Russia
that declares that US should have long term firm stance against communism• Containment – policy uniting military,
economic, and diplomatic strategies to stop communist expansion
The Iron Curtain
•March 1946 – Churchill and Truman go to Westminster College in Missouri• Churchill declares that Stalin has open an
“iron curtain” over the Eastern half of Europe
• June 1946 – Truman offers to destroy nuclear weapons if Soviets stop trying to make them• Soviets reject it
• Atomic Energy Commission created to research nuclear energy and weaponry
Truman Doctrine
• US fears Western Europe will call to communism• Disease, famine, & rise of communist
governments• Greece & Turkey given $400 million to
improve to stay out of Soviet Union• Truman Doctrine – aid to those in need
and ultimate holy war against the godless Soviet Union
International InvolvementHarry Truman: International
Man of Mystery•National Security Act of 1947 •Armed forces fall under a single
Department of Defense (DoD)•National Security Council (NSC)•Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)• European Recovery Plan – “Marshall
Plan” – direct financial support Europe•Only Western Europe accepts
German Showdown
• Potsdam Agreement – 1945 – Divides Germany into 4 regions (FR, GB, USA, Soviets)• Berlin Split into 4 as well•Western German regions start to join
together• Stalin stops all rail and road traffic to Berlin
from Western Germany in June 1948• Berlin Airlift• Blockade ends in May 1949
German Showdown
•May 1949 – Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) is created• April 1949 – North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) formed from ten Western Europe with USA & Canada • German Democratic Republic (East
Germany) is created • 1955 – Warsaw Pact formed with a number
of Eastern European countries and Soviet Union
Cold War in Asia
•Gen. MacArthur in charge of post WWII Japan•Occupation of Japan ends in 1952• Truman unable to stop communist
forces in China•Mao Zedong wins•Non communist forces flea to
Taiwan
Communist China
•People’s Republic of China (PRC)•Red China•Americans fear the “fall” of China•Some claim that the US should be more concerned with Europe rather than Asia
Truman on Communism
• Culture at home changed by atomic weapons• Bunkers• “Duck and cover”• Nov. 1952 – Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb)
dropped in Pacific on Bikini Atoll• 1,000 times more powerful than an
atomic weapon• Effort to prove Truman was tough on
communism
Truman on Communism
•National Security Paper 68 – notes Soviet aggressive military intentions•Recommends increase in nuclear
arsenal• Increase CIA activity•Advises Truman to resist communism
anywhere and everywhere
Korean War• Post WWII – Korean peninsula split and half by US &
Soviet Union (North was pro-Soviet)• June 25, 1950 – North Korea attacks South Korea• Truman feels aggression must be stopped to be firm
against communism• UN approves “police action” to preserve South Korean
border• US & South Korean troops pushed back very far in start of
war• US landing by Gen. MacArthur helps push back North
Korea forces• Advances towards Chinese border…• …and China fights back
Korean War
• Friction between Gen. MacArthur & Truman• Truman – negotiate surrender and preserve South
Korea•MacArthur – full blown war against China
• Limited war continues and armistice reached in July 1953• Effects• Increased military spending• Precedent of undeclared war (Truman DID NOT ask
congress)• North & South Korea
Truman Administration at Home (1945-1952)
• Troops from WWII come home • Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – “GI
Bill” • Aimed to prevent post-war recession• Soldiers could get preferred treatment at
jobs, unemployment benefits, and low interest government loans• Government payment for 4 years of college
or job training
Truman Administration at Home (1945-1952)
• Economic boom following WWII• Employment Act of 1946 •Prices increase as demand exceeds
supply (Truman gets rid of OPA regulations)• Taft-Hartley Act -1947 - barred closed
shop practices •Republican controlled congress
Election of 1948
• Southern Democrats become the “Dixiecrats” and form the States Rights Party• Leftwing Democrats and communists
form Progressive Party (the sequel)• Truman wins!
Fair Deal
•Fair Deal – agenda from 1949 that focused on civil rights, national health-care legislation, and federal aid to education•Funding reliant upon the economy continuing to grow (More people paying taxes)
The Second Red Scare• Democrats are called “soft” on communism• Federal Employee Loyalty Program – people
could be fired if associated in “subversive” organizations • House Un-American Activities Committee –
1947 – held hearings to expose communist influence in average American life• Dennis v. United States, 1951 – Congress
could censor freedom of speech if national security called for it
McCarthyism•Alger Hiss & Whittaker Chambers incident• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg – found guilty
of committing espionage connected to the Manhattan Project• June 1953 – Both executed• Feb. 1950 – Senator Joseph McCarthy
claims to have 200+ communists working in the State Department
McCarthyism•McCarthy would hold hearings and call out
people•McCarthy would get approval from
Republican Party• Democrats too afraid to call out McCarthy
in fear they will look like communists•McCarran Internal Security Act – required
organizations labeled communists by attorney general to register with Dept. of Justice
Election of 1952• Truman becomes too
unpopular for reelection (Korea)• Republicans choose
Dwight D. Eisenhower & Richard Nixon as VP• Democrats choose Gov.
Adlai Stevenson & John Sparkman• Republicans win
presidency and congress
Downfall of Joseph McCarthy
•Pres. Eisenhower hates McCarthy but understands usefulness of anti-communism as a Republican tool• Eisenhower would allow McCarthy to
mess himself up• 1954 –McCarthy accuses the US Army of
harboring communists •Army-McCarthy hearings on television• June 1954 – McCarthy censured
Eisenhower Foreign Policy
• John Foster Dulles – Sec. of State• Promotion of “brinksmanship” – hold out
against communism even if war was possible
• CIA actions to have coup to overthrow Iranian government•Wanted an oil-rich nation ally• Stop possible friendship with Soviet Union• CIA involved in Philippines & Guatemala
Third World Problems
• Pres. Eisenhower supports the French in Vietnam• Suez Crisis • Eisenhower Doctrine – proclamation that the
US would sent military aid and possibly send troops to Middle East nation to stop against “Communist aggression”• 1959 – Fidel Castro overturns dictatorship in
Cuba• Soviets back up Cuba
Third World Problems•Cuba•Nikita Khrushchev threatens use of
atomic weapons if US intervenes in Cuba
•May 1, 1960 – U2 Spy plane shot down over Soviet Union•Pilot Displayed on television• Eisenhower Legacy•Warns of military-industrial complex
Industrial Society•Huge defense spending (Half of federal budget)•Huge military-industry complex •Officials in government want funding to companies in their area•More scientific advancements become government funded
•Electricity and gasoline consumption rapidly increase
Early “Computers”• Early computers were
based around government projects • ENIAC
• Silicon Valley forms around Stanford University in 1950s• Research Triangle
Park in NC
Development of Business
• Consolidation becomes common in big industries•Multinational companies• Conglomerates – merging of companies
that are in unrelated industries• Technology in farming common• 1962 – Silent Spring – Rachel Carson• 1956 – White-collar employees
outnumber blue-collar
Suburban America
• Installment payments common•New models of cars come out on regular
basis•Massed produced Levittowns in several
northeast states• 1950s – 20 million people move to
suburbs from city• Sunbelt – South and West grow in
population and industry rapidly
Suburban America
• Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956•President Eisenhower impressed by
German autobahn•Highways would supply ease of military
and civilian movement• Funding would come from taxes on
gasoline tire, bus, and trucking• Interstates would spur a number of
industries
Baby Boom!
•Baby-Boom Generation – those born between 1946-1964•Return to “normal” after war• Economic prosperity•Advancements in medicine•Women move towards childcare at
home• Education system encouraged this!
Baby-Boom!
Religion in the 50s• Billy Graham – evangelist that promoted
religious salvation•Many religious evangelists also promote
anticommunism sentiment• Church attendance increased between 1945 –
1960• Evangelical fundamentalism• “IN GOD WE TRUST” – 1945• “One nation under God” 1954• http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/
Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx
Television Culture
•1946 – 18,000 households have a television•1960 – Nine of 10 households had at
least one television•3 main radio networks take over
television (ABC, CBS, and NBC)• I Love Lucy – Surprisingly
controversial
Television Culture
• Transition into advertising culture on television• Early television promoted stereotypes
(gender and race)•Revolutionizes the political life of
American people•Millions now hear politicians speak
on television
Other America•¼ Americans lived below the poverty
line in 1950s• “White flight” – whites leave urban
centers and move to the suburbs•Urban slums• Large increase in immigration to US
from Mexico•Native American economic struggles
Early Civil Rights Movement
• Integration of professional baseball with Jackie Robinson in 1947•Violence in South in 1946•President’s Committee on Civil Rights
– Late 1946 – Harry Truman organized the committee• To Secure These Rights
Early Civil Rights Movement• Truman Era• Morgan v. Virginia• Shelley v. Kraemer
• Eisenhower Era• Chief Justice Earl Warren• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka – Separate
but equal is NOT equal• “with all deliberate speed”• Southern Manifesto – signed by Southern
representatives in Congress going against Brown
Little Rock & Civil Rights Act ‘57
• Sept. 1957 – Little Rock Nine Incident• Little Rock school board accepted
desegregation• Arkansas Gov. Orval E. Faubus mobilizes
the state’s National Guard to block action• Pres. Eisenhower uses National guard to
enforce desegregation• Civil Rights Act of 1957 –creates permanent
commission on civil rights •Not much of a force
Montgomery Protests
• Dec. 1, 1955 – Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of the bus, in violation of ordinance• Arrest sparks outrage•Montgomery Improvement Association
choose Martin Luther King as leader of bus boycott• Buses forced to desegregate a year later
Dr. King• Minister• Philosophy of civil
disobedience• Nonviolence• Direct action rather
than legal action• Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC)
New Tactics
• Sit-ins and other tactics used on a regular basis• Greensboro, NC lunch counter•Often faced physical intimidation and
violence• Freedom Riders – Spring 1961•Organized by Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE)• Face violence throughout their trip in the
South
New Tactics
•Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee •Focus on nonviolent civil disobedience•Assist in local government action
Sputnik
•October 4, 1957 – Sputnik becomes first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth• US tries to launch satellite in
December and fails• July 1958 – National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) created•National Defense Education Act – 1958• Direct funding to higher education
Rock-and-Roll Culture
•New generation dressed and acted differently (duh.)•Rhythm and blues meet a heavy beat
and help create rock-and-roll• Elvis Presley – “radical” form of
singing and dancing•American Bandstand
The Beats
•Beats – group of nonconformist writers who went against conformity, religion, and family values
JFK- John F. Kennedy
• John F. Kennedy (JFK) – elected to House of Representatives in 1946• Elected to Senate
in 1952• Reelected to
Senate in 1958
Election of 1960
• Democratic candidate – John F. Kennedy• Youth and confidence• Republican candidate – Richard M. Nixon• Experience and connection to Pres.
Eisenhower• First televised debate between candidates• Television viewers – generally agree Kennedy
won• Radio listeners – generally agree it was a draw
Kennedy’s Domestic Policy
• “New Frontier” campaign• Often blocked by Republicans and Southern
Democrats• Kennedy calls for increase defense spending• Claims Eisenhower relied on nuclear
weapons too much• Forms Special Forces (Green Berets)
• Space Race funding• Cuts in corporate taxes• 1963 – Clean Air Act
Cold War Kennedy
•April 1961 – Bay of Pigs incident•Attempt to start revolution to
overthrow Castro•Kennedy DOES NOT provide air
cover• Invasion unsuccessful •August 1961 – Berlin wall goes up
Cuban Missiles Crisis• October 1962 – Soviet Union built bases for
intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs)• US “quarantine” on Cuba• Attempt to stop delivery of more missiles• US military build up in Florida
• Oct. 25, 2014 – Khruschev promises to move missiles as long as US pledges to never invade Cuba• Later deal includes US removal from
missiles in Turkey
Kennedy Assassination
•Nov. 22, 1963 – JFK assassinated in Dallas Texas• Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as
President• Lee Harvey Oswald arrested• Lee Harvey Oswald later assassinated
by Jack Ruby
Kennedy Legacy
•Many point out a mixed record with JFK• Expansion of presidential powers•Questions in regards to• List of accomplishments• Space Race spending NOT welfare
spending•US involvement in Vietnam
Civil Rights Movement - Birmingham
• 1963 – Dr. King notes that the racial struggle needs to be shown to the American public as a whole• Dr. King leads nonviolent marches, sit-
ins, and pray-ins in Birmingham Alabama• Conflict with “Bull” Connor and
Birmingham Police• Dr. King arrested and writes “Letter
from Birmingham Jail”
Civil Rights Movement - Birmingham
• May 1963 – “Bull” Connor uses violence against protestors in Birmingham• Kennedy holds his ground
against Gov. Wallace and forces desegregation at Univ. of Alabama• Sept 1963 – Ku Klux Klan
bombing of Birmingham church kills 4 girls
March on Washington, DC - 1963
•250,000 + march in DC for Civil Rights Movement•Martin Luther
King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 – banned racial discrimination and segregation in public accommodations• Banned bias in federal funded programs• Federal government gets power to end
segregation in schools• Created Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) to stop job discrimination
• Voting was NOT addressed
Civil Rights Movement – Voting Rights
• African Americans pushed the national Democratic party establishment• Civil Rights marches in Selma, Alabama
attacked • Public outrage in support of voting rights bill• Voting Rights Act of 1965 – banned all tests
or device used to deny a person to vote based on race• Poll taxes, literacy tests, etc.
Civil Rights Reaction
•Racial rights acknowledged by government•Racial equality didn’t necessarily happen•Rioting occurs in various areas of the US• Los Angeles, CA•Detriot, MI•MLK assassinated in 1968
Black Power
• Growing sense that equality should be reached through coercion• Malcolm X • “If ballots won’t work, bullets will.”
• Nation of Islam / Black Muslim faith – self-discipline, self-respect, BUT rejection of integration• Called for separation from white race
• Cassius Clay converts and becomes Muhammad Ali• Malcolm X assassinated
Black Power
•Black Panther Party of Self-Defense founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale• Sponsored community centers and
school breakfast •Paramilitary style and actions
Expansion of Equality
• Native American Activism • Great poverty in and out of reservations• American Indian Movement – founded in 1968
• Hispanic Americans• Immigration Act of 1965 – Abolished the
national-origins quotas 1920s• Cesar Estrada Chavez• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 –
outlawed hiring of undocumented immigrants AND legal status to aliens who had lived in US for 5 years
Expansion of Equality
•Asian American Political Alliance
Kennedy to LBJ
Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)
•Great Society - “Abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice”•War on Poverty
Election of 1964
• LBJ – Democrat – Great Society Plan• Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona•Goes against government
intervention•Claimed no win situation in Cold
War• Landslide LBJ victory
Election of 1964
Great Society 2: Electric Boogaloo
•Medicare – Provide health insurance for the aged under social security •Medicaid – health plan for the poor and less fortunate•Aid for Appalachia to help improve living conditions
Liberalism Warren Court
•Miranda v. Arizona – police must advise suspects of their right to remain silence
Early Vietnam Involvement• Truman – increased assistance for
French army fighting the Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh•Domino Theory – theory that if Vietnam
fell to communism then all of Asia would• June 1954 – CIA puts Catholic Ngo Dinh
Diem as anticommunist leader of South Vietnam•National Liberation Front - Vietcong
Kennedy & Vietnam• Kennedy would increase involvement in
the Vietnam •US forces used napalm bomb would burn
anything needed •Move poor farmers out of areas•Move Vietcong out of hiding areas• JFK – Could have choose to increase US
combat involvement• JFK – Withdraw and seek negotiated
settlement
LBJ in Vietnam• President Johnson escalated war• Vietcong attempt to outlast the US rather
than simply wipeout the US• 1964 – Johnson authorizes Pentagon to
prepare air strikes into North Vietnam• August 1964 – Gulf of Tonkin incident • LBJ does not admit US Navy involved in
covert raids• Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution
LBJ in Vietnam• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution changes the
war completely• “Blank check”• 1964 – LBJ states that he would not send
troops into Vietnam or bomb Vietnam (For his election)• Early 1965 – “Operation Rolling Thunder” • Bombing into North Vietnam•No negotiation from North Vietnam
LBJ in Vietnam
•Bombing not effective in forcing a truce• LBJ changes strategy in an attempt to
maximize communist casualties• Feeling that superiority in weapons
and numbers would mean victory• Troop increase would match that of
US
Homefront• TV coverage•War demonstrations • ‘67 – Sen. Robert Kennedy and Martin
Luther King support antiwar protests• College deferments• 80% of those who fought in Vietnam
came from poor or working-class family• “Hawks” – “Hell No, We Won’t Go”• “Doves” – “America, Love It or Leave It”
Tet Offensive•Tet Offensive – Jan. 31 of 1968 (First day of Vietnamese New Year) Major attacks on US and South Vietnamese forces•Military victory – South Vietnam does NOT fall•Public defeat – media reports initially report success of offensive
Post-Tet Offensive Politics
• LBJ gets pressure from Democratic party from Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy•March 31, 1968 – Johnson announces
that he will NOT seek reelection• Seeks peace negotiations• LBJ died day of signing of Paris Peace
Accords to end war in Jan 1973
Nixon’s War
•Richard Nixon (Rep.) elected Pres. In 1968•Detente – Reduced tensions between US and USSR (Soviet Union)•Largely based on ending the Vietnam War
The Atrocities of War•March 1968 – My Lai massacre of a village
of women in children in Vietnam• “Fragging” and drug use reported by
American soldiers•Nixon: “Peace with honor”• 1. Vietnamization – replacing US troops
with South Vietnamese troops• 2. Secret negotiations directly with North
Vietnam• 3. Forced compromise with communists
End Game•Bombing raids into Cambodia and Laos
towards “Ho Chi Minh’s Trail”•1970 & 1971 – US goes into Laos and
Cambodia•Paris Peace Accords – Jan 1973• Ends fighting but doesn’t provide
protection for South Vietnam• Spring 1975 – Saigon (capital) and South
Vietnam fall to communism
New Left Protest & Resistance
• “New Left” Movement – supported by Students for a Democratic Society• Port Huron Statement• “participatory democracy”• Berkeley Free Speech Movement – sought
to have a voice on college campuses• Escalation of war and Jan. 1966 end of
college deferments of Vietnam increase protests
Protest & Resistance
•April 1968 – SDS students forcefully take control of multiple university buildings at Columbia University•Violently retaken by police•Nov. 1969 -300,000 protest and
March in Washington DC
Kent State & Jackson State
• Antiwar protests burn ROTC building at Kent State University in Ohio• National Guardsmen
called into University• Guardsmen Kill 4 and
wound 11• Similar situation at
Jackson State in Mississippi
Countercultural Rebellion• “Hippies”• Drug use increases• Marijuana• LSD
• Musical Revolution• Early 1960s – Revival
of folk music• 1964 – Beatles-mania
• Rhythm-and-blues
• Rolling Stones• “British Invasion”
• Woodstock Festival• Aug. 1969 in the
Catskill Mountains of NY
• Haight District of San Francisco & NYC’s East Village• Advertisers target
the youth
Sexual Revolution•Female oral contraceptive became available in 1960•More open views of sexuality•Roe v. Wade -1973 – Women could have an abortion in the first trimester (3 months) of pregnancy
Rise of Feminism (Again.)
• National Organization for Women (NOW) – 1966 – group that would lobby against gender discrimination and sexism• Sought full participation in American society• Feminine Mystique (1963) – voiced the
opinion that women should establish their own personal identities as individuals
Women’s Liberation Movement
• “Women-garbage” thrown out• Female publications• Education Amendments Act -1972 – Title IX-
education institutions that received federal money could not discriminate based on sex• Equal Rights Amendment• NOT passed • Phyllis Schlafly• Colleges become coeducational
Gay Liberation & Environmentalism
•Gay Liberation Movement• Stonewall Incident•Pride Parades• Environmental Activism• Silent Spring – 1962•Anti-nuclear Movement• Three Mile Island Incident
•Also know yuppies and “Me Decade”
Conservative Resurgence
•Election of 1968 •Republican – Richard Nixon (winner)• “Silent Majority”
•Democrat – Hubert Humphrey•American Independent – George
Wallace • Against upper-class and hippie
movement
Richard Nixon• Previous VP under
Eisenhower• Republican• Suspicious of
Democratic Party and…many other things…• Works with Dem. Party• Creates Occupational
Safety & Health Admin (OSHA)• Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Apollo 11
• July 1969 – Apollo 11 lands on moon•Watched on tv by
many• Take that Soviets!• BOOM. America!
Economic Struggles
• Loss of manufacturing – Jobs going overseas• Inflation + Recession = “Stagflation”•Nixon inconsistent on economic policy•Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) raises the price of crude oil• Slows American economy
Nixon’s Plumbers• Nixon uses IRS and other Federal programs to
take on his enemies• FBI & CIA do various illegal activities• FBI eventually tells Nixon NO when he wants
to use electronic surveillance, break-ins, and plant evidence
• “The Plumbers” – Nixon’s close men to stop government leaks• Pentagon Papers- Expose lies about Vietnam
War• Also know: Nixon’s Southern Strategy
Detente• Nixon goes to Henry
Kissinger as advisor• Détente – reduced tensions• Nixon visits China• HUGE – US had not
previously recognized China
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) – 5 year limitation of nuclear weapons
Nixon Diplomacy
• Nixon uses Kissinger to negotiate temporary peace after Yom Kippur War• Soviet Union not involved• Nixon approves money to governments
that were NOT communist• Even if they were horrible (South Africa,
Argentina, & Brazil)•Nixon uses CIA to take down Salvador
Allende (Marxist President of Chile)
Election of 1972• Rep. – Nixon• Dem. – George McGovern• Perceptions of being too radical•Nixon creates Committee to Re-Elect the
President (CREEP)• Secret unit that Nixon uses to commit
espionage against Dems• CREEP members arrested at Watergate
facility in June 1972•Nixon easily wins reelection
Watergate
• “Deep Throat” provides two Washington Post reporters with information on CREEP & Watergate• Cover up!
• Special Committee On Presidential Campaign Activities investigates Nixon• Nixon orders Attorney General to fire
invesigator• They refuse!• Nixon fires them “Saturday Night Massacre”
Watergate
•VP Agnew left office in Oct. 1973•New VP is Gerald Ford (House Minority
Leader)•United States vs. Nixon – 1974 – Nixon
forced to give tapes to investigation•BUSTED!•Nixon Resigns•Gerald Ford becomes President
Economic Woes & Presidential Foes
•OPEC raises crude oil prices•Manufacturing jobs decrease •Overseas influence•President Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon•Pres. Ford – Whip Inflation Now (WIN) – voluntary price controls
Jimmy Carter
• Jimmy Carter elected as Dem. In 1976• “Washington outsider”•Peanut farmer and former Governor
of Georgia•Viewed as a liberal Democrat but
somewhat moderate in reforms•Alaska Lands Act
Carter Foreign Policy
•Camp David Accords – Peace agreement between Israel and Egypt•Rejected by other Arab countries• SALT II Treaty – limiting nuclear
arsenal•Dec. 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by
Soviets•Boycott of 1980 Olympics
Carter Foreign Policy
• Iran• Islamic militant supporters of Ayatollah
Khomeini storm US embassy in Tehran- Nov. 1979• April 1980 – Failed raid to rescue hostages• 52 Americans captive for 444 days• Released on Jan. 20, 1981 – Day Ronald
Reagan becomes President• Carter leaves with incredibly low approval
rating