21. Editorial Note
The Iran hostage crisis began on November 4, 1979, when 52 U.S. citizens were taken hostage by Iranian students and militants at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Having not been able to negotiate the release of the Americans by spring 1980, President Jimmy Carter decided to move forward with a rescue mission. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was the sole adviser to Carter who opposed that rescue mission. Vance, unable to persuade the President to countermand his decision, resigned on April 21.
On Friday, April 11, the National Security Council was hastily convened in order to decide if the rescue mission should be attempted. Vance was out of town, so Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher attended the meeting. Like Vance, Christopher also objected to the use of military force in Iran. Christopher, however, was the only objector; the members of the NSC decided to attempt the rescue mission.
Vance wrote in his memoir, “When I returned to Washington late Monday afternoon, Christopher informed me of the meeting. Stunned and angry that such a momentous decision had been made in my absence, I went to see the president very early the next morning and spelled out my strong objections to the rescue mission.” (Vance, Hard Choices, page 409) Vance continued, “But by Thursday, April 17, I knew I could not honorably remain as secretary of state when I so strongly disagreed with a presidential decision that went against my judgment as to what was best for the country and for the hostages. Even if the mission worked perfectly, and I did not believe it would, I would [Page 78] have to say afterward that I had opposed it, give my reasons for opposing it, and publicly criticize the president. That would be intolerable for the president and for me. That day, I told Carter I would have to resign if the mission went forward.” (Vance, Hard Choices, pages 410–411) Knowing that Carter’s mind could not be changed, Vance wrote, “On Monday morning, April 21, I sadly wrote out a formal letter of resignation, which I had discussed with Gay [Vance] the night before. I delivered it to the president in the map room of the White House that afternoon. It was one of the most painful days of my life, as I am very fond of Jimmy Carter.” (Vance, Hard Choices, page 411) See Document 22.
The rescue mission was scheduled for April 24. It failed due to several unforeseen events, and it was not until January 20, 1981, that the hostages were released after 444 days in captivity. Carter wrote in his diary for April 27, “I told Harold [Brown] and Zbig [Brzezinski] about Cy’s resignation. They did not know about it ahead of time in any specific terms, although they both had suspected it was coming.” (Carter, White House Diary, page 423) Although Vance’s resignation largely came as a surprise, there had been earlier indications of his discontent. In March 1980, the New York Times reported that Vance would be returning to practice law at the conclusion of the first term, and Brzezinski stated that he was not interested in becoming Secretary of State for the second term. (“Brzezinski Disavowing Interest in Vance’s Job,” New York Times, March 7, 1980, page A9) After Vance’s resignation, the New York Times reported in an article entitled “Departure of Vance: End of a Rivalry”, “‛It was just a question of when he would finally decide to do it,’ said a White House aide. He added that it had been clear for some time that Mr. Vance was no longer part of the foreign policy mainstream in the Carter Administration.” The article continued, “But State Department aides said tonight that Mr. Vance’s doubts over the mission were only the most recent of a series of questions that he entertained over the general thrust of American foreign policy. They said that over the last year or so Mr. Vance had found himself increasingly at odds with a majority of President Carter’s senior advisers.” The article stated that “Mr. Brzezinski, according to both White House and State Department officials, was slowly successful in chipping away at Mr. Vance’s authority.” (Richard Burt, “Departure of Vance: End of a Rivalry,” New York Times, April 28, 1980, page A10)