January 1981
In early July, Richard Queen, one of the hostages who had developed multiple sclerosis, was released back to the United States. As the election drew near, the fact that “Carter had not been tough enough in foreign policy” was working against him according to Peter Bourne. That September, Khomeini’s government decided to end this conflict, since there was nothing more to be gained. Many rumors circulated that Carter might be able to bring the hostages home before the election, but this was not the case and Ronald Reagan won with an overwhelming amount of votes. Iran released the 52 hostages minutes after Reagan was inaugurated, 444 days after the initial attack.