Reagan Democrat

This picture taken in 1948, shows actor Ronald Reagan, then a liberal Democrat, campaigning on the radio for presidential candidate Harry Truman. Reagan would eventually switch his party affiliation and go on to become the 33rd governor of the state of California, and eventually the 40th President of the United States.

Iran Hostage Crisis

Iranian Islamist students parade a blindfolded American hostage outside the American Embassy in Tehran during the Iran Hostage Crisis. The students held 53 hostages in the embassy for a total of 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981 in support of the Iranian Revolution. The plane with the released hostages was not allowed to takeoff from Tehran until moments after the newly elected US President Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. Every evening during the crisis, ABC would televise a half hour special, updating the status of the ongoing crisis. This news programming continued after the crisis and became known as Nightline.

Samantha Smith

In 1982, a ten year old American schoolgirl from Maine wrote a letter to newly appointed Communist Party Secretary General Yuri Andropov stating her concern about nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Andropov replied personally to Samantha's letter and invited her to visit the Soviet Union, which she promptly accepted.

The incident caught media attention around the world, and Samantha was soon dubbed the world's Youngest Ambassador For Peace. At age 13, she and her father were on their way back from one of Samantha's appearances when their aircraft crashed during landing, killing all aboard. Among those sending condolences in addition to President Ronald Reagan was former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.