Carter, Biden, Reagan, Trump — and hostages.
The week has started off with this from the Wall Street Journal: “Hamas Releases Last Living U.S. Hostage From Gaza.”
The story reports this, bold print for emphasis supplied: “Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old American-Israeli soldier who was captured while serving near the border with Gaza, is set to be released as part of a deal between the U.S. and Hamas.”
“Alexander’s release has been a priority for the Trump administration, which has placed hostage diplomacy around the world at the forefront of its foreign policy, freeing captive Americans from places such as Russia and Afghanistan. Senior American officials have traveled to Doha in recent months to secure Alexander’s release, according to Arab officials.”
For those around in the day, the fact that Alexander’s release, after 584 days of captivity, is being done simultaneously with the ascension of not just any new president, but with this particular president, reminds me of a decidedly similar situation back there in 1981, as another new president took office. (RELATED: Trump and Reagan: Two Hostage Crises, Two Inaugurations)
For those not around, that hostage affair began in November of 1979 when radicalized Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 53 Americans hostage. The crisis quickly became a central point as Carter tried repeatedly to negotiate their release, and failed. Finally, the president, in the midst of his campaign for re-election, authorized a military rescue. That mission turned into a disaster, with military helicopters crashing in a dust storm and killing 8 of the American soldiers on board. An investigation into the mission attributed the failure to a combination of a lack of military planning, command and control capabilities, and cooperation between the various military services.
The situation became a massive political drag for Carter, contributing to his landslide loss in November to former California Governor Ronald Reagan, the GOP nominee. And then?
And then, decidedly not coincidentally, on the literal day Reagan was sworn in as president — January 20, 1981 — the moment his hand was off the swearing-in bible and the new president was inside the Capitol for the traditional inaugural luncheon hosted by Members of Congress? Then he was handed a note informing him the hostages were now free. (RELATED: Write That Damned Book — Now!)
In short, the Iranians, all too well aware of Reagan’s reputation as a hardliner who was unafraid of using the military and using it well, made a point to simultaneously humiliate Carter and accommodate Reagan.
This bit of history is recalled as Americans were glued to their television sets on Monday as American hostage Edan Alexander, now having had focused demands for his release from the new hardliner American President Trump, was in fact released and handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, then quickly transferred out of Gaza. (RELATED: Israeli Hostages Turn Humiliation into Victory)
In an eerie replay of the 1981 hostage situation, this time the weak American president is yet another Democrat, with Joe Biden playing the role of Jimmy Carter. And the Ronald Reagan role goes to President Donald Trump.
And without doubt, as with the Iranians’ concern about Reagan in 1981, the Hamas leadership, concerned about Trump’s hardliner reputation, has quickly gone out of its way to comply with Trump’s request to free American Alexander.
The obvious point is at hand. Reagan’s operating belief as president was in what he called “peace through strength.” He was unafraid to be tough with America’s adversaries.
Whether it was his massive defense buildup or sending American troops to block a Communist takeover of Grenada or walking out of a summit where Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev insisted on Reagan abandoning his promise to Americans of creating the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), Reagan was unafraid to stand up for American interests. The world took note — and as a result, Reagan, in the words of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, “won the Cold War without firing a shot.”
So now comes President Donald Trump. Trump, too, is the proverbial “hardliner” president. And the bad guys are more than well aware that Trump believes in “peace through strength.”
And this very week, as a direct result of President Trump’s work and reputation, American Edan Alexander is now a free man.
Yet again, history’s teaching of the importance of peace through strength is vindicated.
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