How the GOP Sabotaged Jimmy Carter’s Reelection
Former Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes, forced by the announcement of President Jimmy Carter’s entry into palliative care, has told the New York Times that there was, in fact, a secret GOP effort in 1980 to prevent Iran from releasing 53 American hostages until after the presidential election of that year.
Barnes said that in the summer of 1980 he accompanied former Texas Governor John Connally on a trip to the Middle East during which Connally called on Arab leaders to let Iranian officials know that they shouldn’t free the hostages until Election Day, because if they waited, Ronald Reagan would give them a better deal.
