I. Introduction

For the second time in 40 years, a Republican President was forced to clean up the mess left by his Democrat predecessor’s failures in Iran. The first time was when a group of Muslim “college students” overran the U.S. embassy in 1979 and paralyzed the Carter administration for more than a year. The second time was when the Obama administration, in a move reminiscent of British PM Chamberlain’s futile attempt to appease Hitler, sent a plane-load of cash in the middle of the night to Tehran to induce the rogue nation to stand down on its nuclear program. The irony with Carter and Obama, both Nobel Peace Prize recipients, is that their policies precipitated “war” not peace.

Aesop's fable of the scorpion and frog captures the essence of the problem:

"A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a babbling stream. It's too treacherous to cross, so the scorpion nicely asks the frog to carry him across on its back. This makes the frog a little suspicious. It asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.” That sound reasoning relaxes the frog's nerves. So he allows the scorpion to climb aboard and they shove off across the flowing water. They get halfway across the stream and the scorpion stings the frog directly in the middle of his back. The frog feels the onset of the scorpion's poison and starts to sink. He manages one dying breath: "Why?!" And the scorpion replies: “It’s my nature…”

II. James Earl Carter Jr.

Jimmy Carter would unquestionably rank ahead of Donald Trump and most other presidents in a contest for sainthood. Carter is a humanist, a philanthropist, teaches Sunday school and builds houses for the poor. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.” Still, he was a below-average president and America lost stature in the world when he was at the helm. His presidency was an aberration that reflected the country’s need to restore order to an office rocked by the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s resignation. The American people generally liked Jimmy Carter, but they could not trust him to keep them safe.    

After the Iranian Revolution, the U.S. embassy in Tehran was overrun and 52 American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage and held for 444 days. Eight U.S. servicemen would die in a failed rescue attempt when their helicopter crashed in the desert. The hostages were released before Ronald Reagan was even sworn into office, having defeated the hapless Jimmy Carter. There was a new sheriff in town and the Iranians feared Reagan in a way they never feared Carter.   

When the Iranians mined the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, the USS Samuel Roberts was crippled and nearly sank while escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers. The Reagan administration responded with Operation Praying Mantis on 18 April 1988.  By the time the smoke had cleared, half of Iran’s Navy had been destroyed. Iran was forced into a ceasefire and hostilities in the Gulf ended shortly thereafter. 

It turns out that the B actor who played a tough cowboy in Western movies brought that same grit to the Oval Office. The Russians would take notice when President Reagan abruptly fired the air-traffic controllers for an unlawful strike less than a year into his presidency. He was not a man to be trifled with.  

III. Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Obama was swept into office as a youthful, dynamic (almost messiah-like) figure after George W. Bush completed his second term. The American people had begun to question the Iraq War amidst the specter of human rights abuses. The WMD that were the lynchpin of the U.S. entry into Iraq were never found and the Bush administration lost credibility. The economy had fallen into a deep recession in 2008 and the government appeared flat-footed and ill-prepared for the severity of the crisis. The people were ready for the “hope and change” they were promised.  

Barack Obama was woke. As one journalist noted, he looked cool jogging down the stairs of Airforce One in his sharply creased slacks. He is a gifted, inspirational orator with the ability to rally the crowds. He was also the country’s First Black President. Opinions differ as to whether Obama had the “goods” for the job, or whether he simply emerged at the right time in our nation’s history. He went from Illinois state senator to U.S. President in a mere four years. Television had changed the presidency and Obama looked good on camera.  The problem with TV is that viewers focus too much on how you look and sound, and too little on the substance of what you actually say.

Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international cooperation between people” and the “new climate” precipitated by his reaching out to the Muslim world. This prize was not without controversy, largely because he had been president for less than a year and his significant accomplishments were elusive if not illusory.     

 As part of a broader plan to induce Iran to stand down on its development of nuclear weapons, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama administration released upwards of $150 billion in Iranian assets. Even Secretary of State Kerry conceded that some of these funds would likely be used to finance acts of terrorism. 

President Trump ended U.S. involvement in the JCPOA. He did not believe Iran’s leaders could be trusted to live up to the agreement—most scorpions can’t. The president’s adversaries (and his own defense secretary) argued this would reignite tensions with Iran.   

Following the Iran-initiated assault on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on New Year’s Eve, which followed attacks on U.S. military personnel and the death of a civilian contractor, President Trump sanctioned striking Iran’s top military commander, General Qasem Soliemani. The general was responsible for the deaths of several hundred American military personnel and had orchestrated terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. The drone that killed the general was fired over Iraq, but it was heard around the world in China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. President Trump understood, just as President Reagan had before him, that you must sometimes do more than just “carry a big stick.”

The final scene in the Iran saga is not yet written. President Trump’s actions against Iran’s terror network were certainly bold; time will tell whether they were also wise.

IV. Conclusion

Four U.S. Presidents have been awarded Nobel Peace Prizes (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson,Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama). Yet President Reagan won the Cold War, a standoff that truly posed an existential threat, without firing a single shot. He prevailed with an unwavering belief in the power of free markets and “peace through strength.” Presidents Carter and Obama were good, peace-loving and well-intentioned men, but our enemies would question their resolve, and this put the country at risk.

Their detractors would say that Ronald Reagan was not “intellectually” equipped for the presidency and that Donald Trump lacked the experience and temperament for the office. Neither is as humanist as Jimmy Carter or as woke as Barack Obama, but none of that matters when the missiles are flying overhead, and tomorrow is no longer assured. By the way, that 3 AM phone call that Mrs. Clinton shamelessly hawked in her 2008 presidential campaign finally did come, and President Trump answered it.  

Dr. Weisman is Professor of Economics Emeritus at Kansas State University.