Todd Brewster & Peter Jennings by The Century for Young People: 1961-1999: Changing America Page A

lieutenant colonel named Dave Roeder. He was a man who knew how to survive. He taught me to get up and exercise and to meet each day with purpose. We learned to make small things beautiful. For example, for whatever weird reason, the Iranians gave me the classifieds from the
Washington Post
boat section. Not great reading, but something. Dave actually knew something about boats, so he would describe the different types, and we would both lie down on the floor and we would take a trip on the Chesapeake Bay. Just escaping in our imaginations like that made life worthwhile.
    One morning in January a guard came in and said, “Pack your bags. You’re leaving.” Just like that. Once again we were bound and blindfolded and then marched to a bus.We traveled on the bus for what seemed like an interminable amount of time. When it finally stopped, they ripped off my blindfold and pushed me out of the bus. I stumbled past this long line of Iranian guards who spat on me. I was just soaking wet from spit. But I saw this light and an arm waving toward me. It turned out to be the entrance of an Air Algiers plane, so I ran toward it. It seemed so unreal. It was as if we were in another world altogether—very blurred, but once we realized we were free, also very beautiful.
    Back in the United States we were greeted as heroes. We were so isolated that we didn’t realize that we had become the center of the American news, that we had been their purpose for the last 444 days. In some ways, I think the people were celebrating what they believed was American power. But I honestly think that both countries lost. There was a lot of hate on both sides that didn’t need to happen. I don’t believe we were winners. I believe it was a period of great sadness.
    The hostage crisis continued through the 1980 presidential campaign. Americans were exhausted by disappointment, turmoil, and embarrassment. They wanted to feel good about themselves again. And they elected as president a man who promised to letthem do that and to bring the country back to a golden age. That man was Ronald Reagan. In his inaugural address in 1981 Reagan asked Americans to believe once again in their capacity for greatness. And as he spoke the weary hostages were being dragged into the night and pushed aboard an airplane bound for home. The long national nightmare was over.

CHAPTER 3
New Morning
1981–1989
    Americans entered the 1980s worn by the events of the previous decade. They longed for a fresh start, and they found it in a new, conservative approach to government. The leader of this conservative “revolution” was the new president, Ronald Reagan.
    Ronald Reagan was the most influential president in forty years. Anger over high inflation and the Iranian hostage crisis had pushed Americans to vote President Carter out of office. Reagan, a former actor and governor of California, rallied the nation with nostalgic images of less complicated times. He called upon Americans to return to the values of hard work and self-reliance that had made their country great. To some, Reagan’s foreign policyideas sounded simplistic and extreme, and his economic policies seemed to blame the poor for their own problems. But his message of good feeling and self-confidence seemed to invigorate the nation.
    Richard Viguerie, born in 1933, shared the enthusiasm many Americans felt about President Reagan.
    R onald Reagan was the epitome of America. He was an optimist and a “can-do” type of leader. He believed that today is great, but tomorrow’s going to be better. In times of crisis, Reagan was able to reach out to the American people and put his arms around us and bring us together. He was always recognized as the “Great Communicator.” The reason Ronald Reagan was such an effective speaker was because he had a message that resonated with America.
    It was no accident that, literally a few minutes after Reagan became president, the