When President Jimmy Carter ran for reelection in 1980, he had to compete against former California Gov. Ronald Reagan.

It was no contest. Reagan took 44 of the 50 states and won the popular vote by more than 8 million.

Why was Carter's reelection effort so disastrous?

Perhaps the most significant reason -- but not the only reason -- was that Iran had taken Americans hostage in 1979 and was still holding them when the 1980 election took place.

In an essay posted on the National Archives website, archives specialist Michael J. Hancock summed up what happened.

"The hostage crisis had grave consequences in President Carter's attempt to win reelection in 1980," he wrote. "Many voters perceived his inability to resolve the crisis as a sign of weakness. To compound this, dealing with the crisis prevented him from campaigning effectively. The country was plagued by many problems -- double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, the crisis in Iran, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

"Americans cast their ballots, and the results was a landslide victory for Ronald Reagan," he wrote.

A summary of the hostage crisis published by the Office of the Historian at the State Department argues that the Soviet Union took advantage of the weakness the Carter administration displayed in dealing with Iran.

"Representing the United States abroad has been a dangerous job........

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