Iran contra how much money

Several investigations followed. In a report released in February , the commission blamed the NSC staff and other presidential aides for the scandal. On March 4, , he delivered a televised address in which he accepted responsibility for the scandal and recanted his previous assertion that his administration had not traded arms for hostages. Reagan also accepted the resignation of his chief of staff, Donald Regan, and named former Senator Howard Baker to that position.

Baker tried to allay public concerns when he announced after his first day on the job that he was certain Reagan was completely engaged and fully in command of his presidency. Select congressional committees also held televised hearings, and North was the star witness.

He appeared in uniform with his service medals and insisted he was no loose cannon but a dedicated public servant who had full authorization from superiors for his actions. North blamed Congress for intruding into policy decisions on support for the Contras that properly belonged to the president.

Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh required almost seven years to complete his investigation. He secured a dozen indictments and eight convictions or guilty pleas on a variety of charges, including obstruction of justice, perjury, and withholding of evidence.

The convictions of North and Poindexter, however, were overturned on appeal. In December , President George H. Bush pardoned six figures in the scandal, including McFarlane and Weinberger. However, his actions during Iran-Contra added to public mistrust of the presidency that had begun during the Vietnam War and deepened during the Watergate scandal.

The affair also raised troubling questions about the accountability of presidential power and the means the Reagan administration used to achieve what it considered desirable ends. The purpose of the Boland Amendment to a defense bill was to prohibit the Reagan Administration from.

Funding for the Nicaraguan Contras during the Reagan administration came from all the following except. March 4, Byrne, Malcolm. Draper, Theodore. New York: Oxford University Press, LeoGrande, William M. Upcoming Events Explore our upcoming webinars, events and programs. The Washington Post. The Iran-Contra Affairs. Brown University. The Iran-Contra Affair. Iran Hostage Crisis. The Iran-contra scandal 25 years later. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Fueled by territorial, religious and political disputes between the two nations, the conflict ended in an effective stalemate and a cease-fire nearly eight years The United States and Iran have never formally been at war, but tensions between the two countries have persisted for decades. Below is an overview of the long-running conflict between Iran and the United States—and measures taken economic and otherwise in the wake of flare On November 4, , a group of Iranian students stormed the U.

Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. Civil War For many people in the United States, the late s were a troubled and troubling time. The radical and countercultural movements of the s and early s, the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, uncertainty in the Middle East and economic crisis at home had undermined For several decades, the U.

But ironically, the reason Iran has the technology to build these weapons in the first place is because the U. This nuclear assistance was part of a The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned several centuries—from the sixth century B.

In the late s and early s, a virus that had previously appeared sporadically around the world began to spread throughout the United States. Then-unknown Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council explained the discrepancy: he had been diverting funds from the arms sales to the Contras, with the full knowledge of National Security Adviser Admiral John Poindexter and with the unspoken blessing, he assumed, of President Reagan.

Poindexter resigned, and North was fired, but Iran-Contra was far from over. The press hounded the president: Did he know about these illegal activities, and if not, how could something of this magnitude occur without his knowledge? In an investigation by the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission, it was determined that, as president, Reagan's disengagement from the management of his White House had created conditions which made possible the diversion of funds to the Contras.

But there was no evidence linking Reagan to the diversion. Speculation about the involvement of Reagan, Vice President George Bush and the administration at large ran rampant. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh investigated the affair for the next eight years.

Fourteen people were charged with either operational or "cover-up" crimes. In the end, North's conviction was overturned on a technicality, and President Bush issued six pardons, including one to McFarlane, who had already been convicted, and one to Weinberger before he stood trial. Although laws had been broken, and Reagan's image suffered as a result of Iran-Contra, his popularity rebounded.

In he left office with the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. Discover the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst who helped bring down gangsters and break up a Nazi spy ring in South America. Her work helped lay the foundation for modern codebreaking today.

I n the summer of , hundreds of wildfires raged across the Northern Rockies.