Joe Moody’s Web Adventures

American presidential elections: a bloodless revolution every four years. The incumbent Jimmy Carter is challenged by a seemingly doomed Independent candidate John Anderson and Republican Ronald Reagan.

There was a debate for the candidates, but for some reason Carter didn’t show, so it was just Reagan verses Anderson.

The usual topics of the day are covered: nuclear annihilation, middle east unrest, the economy. But something magic happens at the end of the debate. Reagan delivers some sort of new American manifesto of self-confidence:

“I’ve always believed that this land was placed here between the two great oceans by some divine plan,” says Reagan.

He’s starting a narrative, and we’re the main characters.

“We came from 100 different corners of the earth. We spoke a multitude of tongues. We landed on this Eastern shore and then went out over the mountains and the prairies and the deserts and the far western mountains to the Pacific, building cities and towns and farms, and schools and churches. If wind, water or fire destroyed them, we built them again. And in so doing, at the same time, we built a new breed of human called an American - a proud, an independent, and a most compassionate individual, for the most part.

“Well, we, the living Americans, have gone through four wars. We’ve gone through a Great Depression in our lifetime that literally was worldwide and almost brought us to our knees. But we came through all of those things and we achieved even new heights and new greatness.

“I believe the people of this country can, and together, we can begin the world over again. We can meet our destiny - and that destiny to build a land here that will be, for all mankind, a shining city on a hill. I think we ought to get at it.”

Reagan later won the election and by some miracle all 52 hostages are flown out of Tehran to freedom during his inauguration. The announcement came minutes after Reagan was sworn in. After 444 days of humiliation: a sign of strength from one of the world’s two superpowers.

Everyone was too happy to devise any conspiracy theories about the hostages’ release, we just know that they are coming home, seemingly due to Reagan’s new confidence, along with threats of immediate military force to free them.