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Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over Democrat incumbent president Jimmy Carter and independent congressman John B. Anderson in the 1980 presidential election.
- Overview
- The Iran-Contra affair
- Reagan and Iran-Contra
- What do you think?
Reagan's administration was embroiled in scandal when it came to light that the United States had sold weapons to Iran and funneled the money to Nicaraguan rebels.
Issues of Central American communism and Middle Eastern terrorism combined in the Iran-Contra affair to cast a shadow over President Reagan’s second term in office.
The first stage of the events involved a weapons-for-hostages exchange in which officials in the Reagan administration sold antitank missiles to Iran. In exchange, Iran worked to have American hostages released from Lebanon. Reagan administration officials, including Colonel Oliver North, then used the money from the missile sales to fund US military support for the Contras, anticommunist guerrillas who were fighting against the Marxist government in Nicaragua.1
The problem with all this was that President Reagan had vowed that his administration would never negotiate with hostage-takers, on top of the fact that Congress had placed an embargo on the sale of weapons to Iran. Congress also had passed the Boland Amendment, limiting US assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua, citing evidence that they had tortured and murdered civilians. Therefore, both the sale of arms to Iran and the use of money from that sale to aid the Contras was illegal.2
The scandal began to unravel after an C-123 supply plane over northern Nicaragua was shot down in October 1986. An American who survived the crash described how he had been hired by the CIA to load and drop weapons cargoes to the Contras, and, soon, investigative reporters and Congress were uncovering the various elements of the scandal.3
Although it is certain that Reagan condoned the sale of missiles for hostages in Iran, there is no evidence that the president knew that Oliver North was diverting money from the missile sales to the Nicaraguan Contras.5
Some people blamed Reagan’s hands-off administrative style as a contributing factor in Iran-Contra. For, while Reagan concerned himself with big-picture strategy in domestic and foreign policy, he assigned others responsibility for carrying out the details. But this administrative approach seemed to lead to serious—some said impeachable—consequences in the Iran-Contra affair. Reagan earned another nickname, the “Teflon president,” since scandals never seemed to stick to him and his popularity with the public remained unchanged.6
What were the Reagan administration’s motives in funding the sale of US TOW anti-tank missiles to the government of Iran?
Do you think the US should bargain with those who take hostages?
Why is President Reagan sometimes called the “Teflon president”?
[Notes and attributions]
Cabinet Secretaries. Cabinet Level Positions. *Reappointed by President George H.W. Bush. Cabinet Members During the Reagan Administration. President Reagan and Vice President Bush pose with their Cabinet in 1981.
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Aug 10, 2017 · The Iran-Contra Affair was a deal made by the Ronald Reagan administration which sent arms to Iran to secure the release of hostages and fund Nicaraguan rebels.
The Presidency Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States on November 4, 1980. His triumph capped the rise of the new right/conservative wing of the Republican Party and ushered in a new era of governing. Reagan served as arguably the first true conservative U.S. president in over 50 years. Reagan advanced domestic policies that ...
1982-1990. Key Administration Officials. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE - CHIEF OF STAFFSERVEDJames A. Baker, III January 1981-February 1985Donald ReganFebruary 1985-February 1987Howard H. Baker, Jr.March 1987-June 1988Kenneth M. DubersteinJuly 1988-January 20, 1989 During the first administration, Chief of Staff James A.
The Iran–Contra affair ( Persian: ماجرای ایران-کنترا; Spanish: Caso Irán-Contra ), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan administration.
