 It was one of America's most
notorious presidential scandals
that almost cost Ronald
Reagan his presidency.
The Iran-Contra Affair.
In the early 1980s, the
US was still in a Cold War
with Russia, and anti-communist
sentiment was strong.
In his presidential
campaign, Reagan
promised to assist
anti-communist insurgencies
around the world.
For a brief time
under Reagan, the CIA
trained and assisted
groups fighting
communist leaders abroad.
Reagan was particularly
interested in a group
called the Contras and
their battle in Nicaragua.
The Contras were
a group battling
the Cuban back Sandinistas,
a communist group
who had seized power in 1979.
Reagan called the Contras
the moral equivalent
of our founding fathers.
But much of the funding
came from the cocaine trade.
Because of this, Congress
passed the Boland Amendment,
specifically aimed at
keeping American money
from funding the group.
That happened in 1982, shortly
after Reagan took office.
The amendment restricted the CIA
and the Department of Defense
from using funds to provide
military assistance to groups
that were trying to overthrow
Nicaragua's government, groups
like the Contras.
This didn't stop Reagan.
The president told his
national security advisor,
Robert McFarlane,
to help the Contras
anyway, regardless of the cost.
McFarlane found
opportunity in Iran.
In 1985, an Iranian backed
terrorist group held seven
American hostages in Lebanon.
Reagan insisted his
advisors find a way
to bring the hostages home,
saying, "I want you to do
whatever you have to
do to help these people
keep body and soul together."
So with permission from Reagan,
McFarlane made a deal that.
The US would give Iran
weapons, and Iran would broker
the release of the hostages.
This happened even though Reagan
publicly insisted he would not
negotiate with terrorists,
and despite the fact
that there was a trade
embargo with Iran.
But that was just the
tip of the iceberg.
The deal with Iran
didn't just secretly
secure the release
of the hostages
in exchange for weapons.
There money involved.
While $30 million have been
allocated for the weapons,
the CIA funneled a portion
of that money to the Contras
in Nicaragua, the
group Reagan supported
in their guerrilla fight against
the Sandinista government.
In 1986, the Lebanese newspaper,
Al-Shiraa, reported the arms
deal, and everything began
to unravel that prompted
an investigation by the
US attorney general, who
discovered that only $12 million
of the $30 million actually
went toward weapons for Iran.
The rest of the money was sent
to the Contras in Nicaragua.
The revelations were explosive.
Reagan denied the
allegations that he
had negotiated with terrorists.
But Lieutenant
Colonel Oliver North
came forward, and
acknowledged that he
diverted funds to the Contras.
North also said
Reagan knew about it.
North's testimony would
inspire the press and Congress
to launch investigations
against Reagan
for the rest of his presidency.
Texas Senator John Tower led the
investigation into the scandal.
The Tower Commission
determined it was Reagan's lack
of oversight that allowed
Iran-Contra to happen,
but did not implicate
Reagan directly.
It wasn't until another
congressional investigation
in 1987 that Reagan
finally testified.
On May 5, 1987, joint hearings
were televised investigating
the covert arms deal with
Iran, and the assistance
to Nicaragua.
The hearings would
go on for 41 days.
Reagan was never charged,
but McFarlane, Oliver North,
four CIA officers, five
government contractors,
and Reagan's National security
advisor, John Poindexter,
were all found guilty.
Yet speculation about Reagan's
involvement lingered on.
Press investigations would
go on for years to follow.
While Reagan's image
suffered a bit,
he still left office
with one of the highest
approval ratings of any
presidents in US history.
