Five Days That Revived America

Thirty-five years ago this month, America began its climb back from the malaise and uncertainty that defined the decade of the 1970s. Two tracks, one sports-related and one political, combined to give America a renewed sense of confidence that would usher in the dynamic decade of the 1980s.

The Obama apologists of today maintain that the president inherited the worst fiscal mess since the Great Depression. Actually, 1980 was much worse because of the decade that preceded it, but more importantly, because America had lost its self-confidence. Leading scholars and historians were not shy to opine that America’s best days were behind it and that we could at best look forward to scarcity and rationing of natural resources and a sharply reduced role in the world. These are views, incidentally, that are also held by key members of the Obama administration as well as the president himself.

As if on cue, the end of 1979 saw the country hit by stagflation, gas lines, the takeover of the American Embassy in Iran and imprisonment of our diplomats by Muslim extremists, and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The country’s leadership had few answers. However, in just five days 35 years ago, things changed suddenly and dramatically.

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