Jimmy Carter was the thirty-ninth president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. He used radio and television to address the nation like presidents before him, but he was often more detailed in his addresses. His Third State of the Union Address, delivered in 1980, was extremely important as the nation was reeling from the combination of an energy crisis that began earlier in the 1970s; the ongoing crisis in Iran, where more than fifty Americans were being held hostage after the storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran; and the prospect of the Soviet Union taking over Afghanistan, which it had invaded at the end of 1979. Carter’s speech detailed his plan for the upcoming year, the final year of his term, and also looked back on the accomplishments made so far during his presidency. In addition, Carter highlighted the continued increase in the price of OPEC oil, which identified as a cause of increased inflation. He also discussed the normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China, a Communist polity, which was important given the state of the Cold War after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan months earlier.