1. Iran-Contra

2.  Reagan administration- wanted to eradicate the world of Communism  Reagan Doctrine- CIA trained and assisted anti-Communist insurgencies worldwide

3. Who were the Contras?  “freedom fighters” who were working to overthrow the democratically elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua

4.  Reagan felt the Contras were “the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers”

5.  Reagan wanted to help them- told National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane “I want you to do whatever you have to do to help these people keep body and soul together.”

6.  1982- Democratic sweep of Congress  passed the Boland Amendment

7. Boland Amendment  Restricted CIA and Department of Defense operations in Nicaragua specifically

8. 1985  Iran and Iraq were at war  Iran- secret request to buy weapons from U.S.  McFarlane needed Reagan’s approval  Embargo against selling arms to Iran

9.  Reagan- upset there were 7 American hostages being held in Lebanon by Iranian terrorists  Reagan felt “he had a duty to bring those Americans home.”

10.  Shipping arms would violate embargo to Iran  Dealing with terrorists would violate Reagan’s campaign promise  Arms-for-hostages proposal divided the administration

11.  Secretary of State George Schultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger objected to the plan but (MacFarlane testified) Reagan agree to it

12.  July 1985- U.S. would send 508 American made TOW anti-tank missiles from Israel to Iran for the safe exchange of a hostage- Reverend Benjamin Weir

13.  After that successful transfer- Israelis offered to ship 500 HAWK surface to air missiles to Iran in Nov 1985, in exchange for the release of all remaining American hostages being held in Lebanon

14.  February 1986- 1000 TOW missiles were shipped to Iran. From May to Nov there were more shipments of various weapons and parts

15.  Hezbollah terrorists who had kidnapped the original hostages planned to kidnap more hostages following the release of the previous ones- which made any further dealings with Iran meaningless

16. Lebanese newspaper ”Al-Shiraa”  November 1986  Confirmed reports the United States secretly sold arms to Iran

17.  Reagan went on TV and denied any operation had occurred  Went on TV a week later and said sale of weapons had not been an arms-for-hostages deal

18.  14% of Americans believed Reagan when he said he had not traded arms for hostages

19.  Found that $12 million of $30 million Iranians had paid had reached our government  Where was the rest of the money? Funding the Contras

20.  This directly violated the Boland Amendment

21.  Oliver (Ollie) North (U.S. Marine Lt. Col) proposed the plan to funnel arms money to the Contras  National Security Council

23.  Secretary Fawn Hall- helped funnel shredded documents out for North  Testified after given immunity about role in scandal

24.  November 18, 1987- Congress issued a report on the affair that stated the president bore “ultimate responsibility.”

25.  Hearings about the scandal were televised from May to August 1987  Found that National Security Advisor Poindexter had personally authorized the diversion of money to the Contra rebels

26.  Poindexter was withholding information from President Reagan  CIA’s William J. Casey played a part in conspiracy, but he died during hearings

28.  North had been a military aide to the National Security Council- he had been the main negotiator  During his hearings he repeatedly explained he was “under orders from his superiors”

29.  In the end- President was not charged with any offense  North was convicted on 3 of 12 criminal counts, but convictions were set aside on appeal

30.  Convicted of obstructing Congress, unlawfully destroying government documents  Conviction was expunged on grounds he had acted strictly out of patriotism

31.  Poindexter convicted in April 1990 on five counts of deceiving Congress and sentenced to six months in prison  Weinberger convicted of five counts of deceiving Congress  Convictions overturned

32.  All were pardoned by George H. W. Bush- Christmas Eve 1992

33.  When Reagan left office- had highest approval rating of any president since Franklin Roosevelt