And the esteem for President Carter shot up immediately after that attempt - even though it failed. It wasn't until he gave up on trying to get our people back that he went down in the toilet.
Failure can happen -- but you have to try. When you leave your people out there to hang and dry - you don't deserved to be a leader.
While Carter did try, he did try to be politically correct about it. Rather then give the mission to the Seals, Green Berets etc. he decided to be politically expedient and send in a mixed team vs. one.