Originally Posted by Robbie

That story is true. The details were worked out with Iran ahead of time. They refused to release the hostages until Pres. Carter was officially out of office. Reagan's behind the scenes people had all the negotiations done. They were released simultaneously with Reagan being sworn in:

"Reagan's inaugural address was 2,452 words long. It utilized the vista offered by the West Front, invoking the symbolism of the Presidential memorials and Arlington National Cemetery in the distance. As Reagan was giving his address, 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for the previous 444 days were released."

Nothing to do with Reagan being great. Everything to do with the Iranians hatred of Pres. Carter.
And I kind of admire Carter in a way for being the kind of guy that those motherfuckers hated that bad.

Carter was a shitty president for other reasons. He was probably one of the more intelligent men to hold office for sure...but as I understand it, he was reluctant to delegate and wanted to micro-manage everything himself.
Which wasn't a good thing in that position.

Reagan, was nowhere near as smart of a guy as Carter. But his personality made people more willing to work WITH him (the Democrat Congress for instance) and he surrounded himself with very capable people and knew how to be a leader and get the most out of his staff.