Lexie's USH: Patty Hearst and the Tension of the 1970's

The 1960’s were a time of peace and filled with social justice. The 1970's had a transition to where people began to become apathetic and absorbed with themselves. Americans confidence is now completely gone because of the Vietnam War. Gas went from 30 cents a gallon to one dollar. Drug abuse was more common, along with divorce and teen pregnancy. Leading up to the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, several events seemed to create just as much controversy in the public eye. Kent state, Apollo 13, 18 year olds can vote, Nixon’s china trip, Watergate, death penalty is now ruled unconstitutional, tragedy at the Olympic Games, and the Vietnam Paris peace talks.

It all started with a very rich man, William Randolph Hearst. He was rich with power, as well; some might call him the father of newspaper. He had a kid, that had a kid, and that little girls name was Patty Hearst. Patty was born in 1954, and she was a cheerleader at Sacred Heart School in California. She was living with her fiancé in Berkley, CA on February 4^th, 1974 when her fiancé was beat up and she was kidnapped. Patty’s kidnapping was solely meant to be a trade for imprisoned men Joe Remiro and Russ Little, but it turned into so much more.

Joe and Russ and the kidnappers were all part of the Symbionese liberation army, a left-wind revolutionary group, led by Donald DeFreeze. Their motto was “Death to the Fascist insect that preys upon the life of people.” The SLA wanted to destroy the capitalist state of the 1970’s, and Joe and Russ had already killed two school superintendents. This group was no joke, and DeFreeze realized that Patty’s kidnapping got so much public attention, that he could use her for more than a return on imprisoned members.

Patty was now going to be killed if her father did not pay 400 million dollars worth of food to the California bay area. “I am quite willing to carry out the execution of your daughter to save the life of starving men, women, and children of every race.” –DeFreeze. After hearing this, Patty’s father immediately put his power and money into donating 6 million dollars of food. Still, there was no return of Patty. The public began to think that the SLA was not a hero to the people, but instead as revolutionary freak extremists.

Patty finally showed up, but she made her grand re-appearance as a bank robber. This was the Hibernia Bank Raid of 1974, and Patty was now "Tania.” Could this be true? Was this a genuine conversion? Hearst's lawyer would later argue that security cameras show Patty being held at gunpoint and forced to rob the bank. Later, Hearst had a recording saying that she had not escaped when she had the chance to, making it seem as if Patty robbed the bank by choice and had joined the SLA. The SLA ended stealing 10,000 dollars from the Hibernia Bank. Tania was now known throughout headlines as “Heiress Joins revolution.” This made the SLA well known, and she was used for propaganda and as the poster child of the revolution. She even claimed she was a “soldier in the people’s army.” Then, a counterculture iconic picture was released of her holding a gun in front of the SLA’s insignia.

The police were now ready to find and arrest her, and they found the SLA’s safe. There was a very tragic shootout, 6 died including DeFreeze, but still no Hearst. She was found 17 months later in San Francisco. She had escaped with SLA members Emily and Bill Harris. She was put onto trial for 7 years in prison, but only served out around two years because Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential clemency. This was because she was represented by F. Lee Bailey, and claimed that she was brainwashed.

People’s opinion really shaped how Hearst explained her crime. Hearst said she was kept in closet, tortured, given propaganda and revolutionary rhetoric, sleep and food deprivation, and even rape and death threats. Hearst called her father a pig before she was found, and claimed she was in love with named Willie Wolfe. The public took this information as reason to doubt her brainwashing, but they still had sympathy for her harsh sentence, even though they began to think she was an urban guerrilla.

Stronger and harsher opinion was shared by Harry Kozol, a psychiatric doctor used during the case. He said the idea of “Heiress Joins Revolution” was used for propaganda of the left wing group. Kozol says that Hearst was “embittered, discouraged, unhappy, and ready to lash out.” She was a “rebel in search of a cause, and that cause found her.” He diagnosed her with Traumatic Neurosis, and the people diagnosed her with Stockholm syndrome.

Traumatic Neurosis is described as any functional nervous disorder after an accident or injury.(drugs.com) Stockholm Syndrome is the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.(Merriam-webster.com)

Patty now has two daughters and wrote a book called Every Secret Thing in ’82. She had a song written about her called “Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart” by Camper Beethoven in ’88, and the title was about the SLA’s press manifestos. In 2001 Bill Clinton Pardoned her. Patty Hearst is now known as the heiress that joined the revolution, and I think it is ironic that her grandfather being who he is, that slogan was probably a headline in a newspaper. Tension in the 1970’s was filled with apathy and selfishness, but also sympathy towards people like Patty Hearst.

I never really had to change my focus, nor did I face any obstacles. My most useful source was PBS. I was drawn to this topic because of the crime and rebellion aspect of the case. What was surprising to me is that Patty seems to live a normal life currently, and also the video of her at the Bank was pretty cool.