Transition of Power: The Presidency Page #8

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of Carter's last day in office,

after working around

the clock for two days

to negotiate with the Iranians,

the deal is still not done.

Does the Bank of England know

the figure

we're supposed to reach?

NARRATOR:
To secure the release

of the hostages, Carter agrees

to pay a form of ransom,

the return of nearly $8 billion

in Iranian cash and gold,

frozen in American banks

since the beginning

of the crisis.

CARTER:
Okay. I just don't want

him to certify something

$12 million short.

NARRATOR:
For Carter,

the stakes couldn't be higher.

At noon, he loses his job

and all of his power.

Finally, at 6:
18 a.m.,

there's a breakthrough.

Hello.

Yeah...

Right on, man!

That's great, that's great.

NARRATOR:
The money

is in place, and everything

seems to be going

according to plan.

The hostages board

a plane in Iran.

So that'll go to Algiers,

and Algiers,

when they notify Iran,

will notify us back, right?

NARRATOR:
But suddenly,

there's a problem.

Nothing concerning the airport?

DOYLE:

Jimmy Carter is on the phone

trying to get confirmation

that the hostages have left

Iranian airspace.

NARRATOR:
At the Tehran airport,

the Iranians are holding

the 52 hostages on board

two jets.

They were suppose

to have taken off

once the money was transferred,

but at 7:
00 a.m., the planes

are still on the ground.

Carter's last chance

at redemption is slipping away,

and there's no telling

what will happen

when a new president

takes power.

NARRATOR:

On Inauguration Day,

the sitting president

holds power

until the exact moment

of transition, 12:00 noon.

On January 20, 1981,

as he prepares to leave office,

President Jimmy Carter

is fighting the clock.

Hello, I just wondered if you

had any report to give me.

NARRATOR:
He's been working

for 48 straight hours

to secure the release

of 52 American citizens

being held hostage in Iran.

He's desperate to get it done

before he transfers power

to Ronald Reagan.

DOYLE:

All they want to hear is,

"The plane has left the runway.

The hostages are on their way

home," and the Iranians

will not give him

that satisfaction,

because to the militants

in Iran, Jimmy Carter

represented the devil,

America, for years.

Carter was seen

as the principal opponent

of the Iranian Islamic

revolution.

So he was a bad guy,

he was the original

great Satan of the West.

NARRATOR:

With just hours to go,

Carter dresses

for the inauguration.

His aides continue

to work the phones.

Mm-hmm. What about statements

by Tehran radio?

NARRATOR:

At 8:
30 a.m.,

Carter updates

President-elect Reagan.

Governor. Good morning,

how you doing?

Um, I placed a call

for you earlier.

I just want to let you know

that the planes

are at the end of the runway.

NARRATOR:

The soon-to-be ex-president

takes a brief time-out.

Two hours later,

as Carter welcomes

the incoming First Family,

there's still no word

on the hostages.

DOYLE:
President Carter

has to get in a limousine

to get his successor sworn in.

He can't delay this, he can't

delay the transition of power.

The transition of power

happens on the clock.

When he goes to the inauguration

of Ronald Reagan,

relinquishing power,

he hasn't slept in 50 hours.

NARRATOR:

Carter continues to manage

the crisis from a phone inside

the presidential limousine,

as he travels the short

distance to the Capitol.

DOYLE:

The clock keeps ticking,

the Iranians don't release

the hostages.

They're being held

in airplanes

on the runway in Tehran.

Jimmy Carter walks down

to the podium

of the inauguration.

They have not been released.

The Iranians are teasing

and tormenting Jimmy Carter

and the American people

until the last second,

and they're holding it

into the new presidency

just to give one last poke

in the eye to Jimmy Carter.

I, Ronald Reagan,

do solemnly swear...

REAGAN:
I, Ronald Reagan,

do solemnly swear...

That I will faithfully

execute...

DOYLE:

Ronald Reagan is sworn in.

So help me God.

May I congratulate you, sir.

DOYLE:
The planes take off

from Tehran airport

with the hostages aboard.

The planes bearing our prisoners

left Iranian airspace

-and are now free of Iran.

-(applause)

What is one of

the first decisions

that Ronald Reagan makes?

He decides to send Jimmy Carter

to greet the freed hostages

in Germany,

as a symbol to the world

that he may no longer

be president,

but we're presenting

a united front.

This gesture by Ronald Reagan

really showed

the strength of our democracy.

NARRATOR:
On inauguration

morning, the outgoing president

prepares for a different

kind of transition.

In a matter of hours, the most

powerful person on Earth

will become an average citizen.

CARD:

I had the privilege of watching

George H.W. Bush's

last day in office.

And he didn't choose that

to be his last day in office.

He lost reelection,

and so it was

a bit melancholy.

NARRATOR:
Bush slips a letter

into the Oval Office desk.

It's addressed to his rival

and successor, Bill Clinton.

A handwritten note of support

from one president to another.

Every outgoing president since

has done the same,

although most of the letters

remain private.

McBRIDE:
One of the other

great traditions...

There are several great

traditions that happen

on the morning of January 20,

is, first of all, the farewell

to the executive residence

staff.

The staff gathers

for one last good-bye

to the First Family.

We, all of us,

get very close to the families.

But our Constitution says

the president changes at noon.

And that's when we have to

go to work for a new president.

NARRATOR:
With less

than two hours to go

before the transfer of power...

...the outgoing

and incoming First Families

meet for morning coffee.

UPDEGROVE:

The incoming president arrives

at the White House,

is greeted by the president

and first lady.

It's civilized,

and it's a symbol

of the peaceful transition

of power

that we take for granted

very often in our country.

NARRATOR:
In 2009,

as George and Laura Bush

welcome Barack and Michelle

Obama to the White House,

a record of nearly

two million spectators

are gathering

in front of the Capitol

to witness history.

But few people are aware

that Homeland Security

is tracking a viable threat

at the National Mall.

CHERTOFF:
Information came in

about a number

of potential terrorists

planning to carry out an attack

that would be occurring

actually on Inauguration Day.

NARRATOR:
Outgoing

Homeland Security Secretary

Michael Chertoff

relays the threat

to his successor,

Janet Napolitano.

There are threats that happen

a lot, unfortunately.

And the lingo used is "Are you

able to clear the threat?"

I was informed that there was

a credible threat

against the inauguration

that they had not

been able to clear.

NARRATOR:
According to

intelligence reports,

Somali terrorists have

entered the country via Canada

and are allegedly planning

to detonate several bombs

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