Oliver North | Biography

During the mid-1980s, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North played a leading role in the Iran-Contra Affair, a foreign policy scandal that produced numerous investigations and trials and rocked the administration of President Ronald Reagan. At the time, North was an aide in the National Security Council (NSC). As Americans were shocked to learn, however, a mere assistant was essentially conducting U.S. foreign policy, moreover, as the White House claimed, without the president's knowledge. Though convicted of multiple felonies, North later successfully appealed.

As a secret foreign policy plan, Iran-Contra had two parts. First, the NSC sold arms to the Iranian government in hopes of winning the release of American hostages in Lebanon. Second, it used money from the sale to fund the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Nicaragua. The first part was a violation of stated U.S. policy, while the second part actually violated a part of U.S. law, the so-called Boland Amendments. Support for the Contras had proven so controversial that the Congress had passed the Boland Amendments to forbid the White House from further funding the guerrilla fighters. Iran-Contra was a way for the administration to continue the funding, secretly and illegally.

North's role in the operation was significant. As deputy director for political-military affairs, he reported to the head of the NSC, Vice Admiral John Poindexter. North ran the second part of the operation: he saw to it that the proceeds from the arms sales were diverted to a secret fund used to buy weapons and supplies for the Contras. Poindexter approved his actions. Later, it emerged that North was even more ambitious and had privately raised funds for the Contras as well.

After discovery of the operation, major investigations were launched by all branches of government. North, Poindexter, and others testified before Congress, and a special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, pursued indictments against them. In May of 1989, Walsh won three felony convictions against North for obstructing Congress, destroying documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity. At trial, North had alleged that Presidents Reagan and George Bush knew more about the operation than they claimed. Later, in his book Under Fire: An American Story (1991), North accused Reagan of having had complete knowledge.

Because of the multiple investigations of the scandal, legal loopholes were created. In its zeal to inform the public, Congress had granted North and Poindexter limited immunity from prosecution in return for their testimony. This decision ultimately harmed the special prosecutor's cases against the two men, whose convictions were overturned on appeal. In July 1990, North won his appeal on grounds that his congressional testimony was improperly used against him. The appeals court dismissed one of the counts and ordered a trial court to reexamine North's testimony, and a year later, the trial court dropped all charges. While the Reagan administration suffered a loss of credibility through the scandal, North later fared well. He became a folk hero to many conservatives and in subsequent years became a popular conservative commentator.