Coming into the 1980 election, one reason many Americans were frustrated with President Carter’s administration was

The Iranian hostage crisis began in 1979, when militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage. Many Americans were frustrated by the prolonged crisis and Carter’s administration’s inability to secure their release before the 1980 election. The other choices do not fit: Carter was criticized for economic problems and inflation, not for threatening an otherwise strong economy or being overly combative.

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