Taken Hostage Analysis

The political scene of the 1970’s was set for something drastic to occur on the front of foreign policy. Time and time again, clumsy dealings with foreign policy set America up for mishap. The government created a standard of disappointment and the lack of trust people felt for the government was astonishing. Broken promises became a theme, and ineffective administration became an expectation. Taken Hostage by David Farber plays through the set up of the Iranian-Hostage Crisis and the many governmental failings that lead to it. The reactions of the American public make it apparent that the actions of the United States government, through its many economic, domestic, and foreign policies, majorly lead to the crisis and perhaps even exacerbated …show more content…
In the wake of Watergate and the Vietnam War, Americans felt like there was no one in government they could give their confidence to. The nation was suffered a painful blow to its pride with the unsatisfying involvement in Vietnam and another to its integrity when the most respected position in government, the presidency, blatantly lied to the public with Watergate. “[Americans] were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were always just, only to suffer the agony of Vietnam. We respected the Presidency as a place of honor, until the shock of Watergate,” and this undermining of the government shook American’s down to their patriotic core (32). After facing such hardships, it was easy for the citizens to be skeptical of the government’s ability to handle its affairs, especially one as delicate as the Iranian-Hostage Crisis. The blame was easy to place on the government, “for most Americans, the hostages were a simple way of thinking about the state of their nation and the men who were supposed to lead it” (141). Americans felt as though their government had failed them in one of the most fundamental concerns of a nation, protecting its …show more content…
Iranian resentment collected with every political blunder and a multitude of ignored requests for help and ultimately reached its breaking point with the takeover of the embassy. Economic troubles and discomfort in the Middle East kept Americans in an uneasy state throughout the 1970’s and Iranian Hostage Crisis seemed to prove that America was not the super power it purported to be and instead was at the mercy of foreign interests who were working to actively undermine our way of life. The anger of the people of the United States in reaction to the hostage crisis is a direct result of domestic unrest and perceived impotence in the executive