11/5/04: Invade Iran? (1979)

Nov. 5, 2004 — -- Nightline was born, as I mentioned to you the other evening, out of the events that took place on Nov. 4, 1979, when American hostages were taken in Tehran.

But the first program of "America Held Hostage" -- the program out of which Nightline was born -- didn't go on the air until a few days later. My late friend and colleague, Frank Reynolds, was the anchor in those days, and I was the diplomatic correspondent covering the State Department.

Americans were angry at the hostage-taking, and some called for immediate military intervention. "It's time to land 30,000 Marines on the shore of Iran and go in and take over the American property, which the U.S. Embassy is," one man told ABC News.

But most Americans favored a more measured response. In an ABC News poll reported Nov. 5, 1979, 37 percent of respondents said they believed the government should rely on diplomacy to free the hostages. Only 11 percent favored an American invasion of Iran.

It wasn't until a few days later that a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on "America Held Hostage": Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, and so on. That constant repetition, we learned later, contributed to the defeat, ultimately, of Jimmy Carter as president by Ronald Reagan.