Major funding for backstory is provided by an anonymous donor, the National

Dowment for the Humanities, the University of Virginia, the Joseph and Robert

Cornell Memorial Foundation, and the Arthur Vining Davis foundations.

From the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, this is backstory.

Welcome to the show. I'm Brian Bellow. I'm Ed Ayers. And I'm Nathan Connolly.

Mr. President, Mrs. Carter.

A New Year's Eve, 1977, the Shah of Iran, who's an

event wit for the President of the United States.

This reception is particularly auspicious since it takes place on the eve of 1978.

Since the distinguished guest tonight is such a person of goodwill and achievement.

Naturally, we consider it as a most excellent form.

But 1977 was not going to be a good year for the Shah. Seeds of discontent were increasingly

visible in Iran. Street demonstrations against the Shah had begun to crop up the

previous fall, but he had discounted them. Now when President Jimmy Carter

stepped to toast his counterpart, it was clear that he didn't think much of

those protests either. Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah,

is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.

This is a great tribute to you, Your Majesty, and to the respect and the

admiration and love which your people give to you.

President Carter was in Tehran to discuss a deal that had been in the works for

years, the sale of nuclear processing equipment to Iran.

The agreement had been initiated by the previous President Gerald Ford.

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