Iran+Contra+Scandal

=Iran Contra Scandal= toc

The Iran Contra Scandal happened in 1983 to 1988 and was one of the biggest political scandals of the 1900s. It was over an arms for hostages trade. This scandal really made people really angry. It happened during the Reagan administration and it made many people mad at Reagan.

Beginning
The Iran Contra Scandal started out as a way to improve the relationship between Iran an the United States. Israel would give the US weapons in exchange for supplies. Israel then promised that they would do everything in their power to release six American hostages. It eventually turned into an arms for hostages trade, where the US would give Israel weapons for the hostages. Ronald Reagan was a supported of this, but there was no evidence showing that he authorized this plan.

Oliver North
Oliver North was a marine, an author, an inventor, and many other things. He was apart of the National Security Council Staff in the Ronald Reagan administration, and was the government's counter-terrorism coordinator from 1983-1986. Later he became infamous because of his involvement in the Iran Contra Scandal. He was the central coordinator of the illegal sales of weapons to Iran. In November 1986, Ronald Reagan fired him because of this involvement. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours of community service.

John Poindexter [[image:http://a.abcnews.com/images/WN/ap_oliver_north_070521_ssh.jpg width="200" height="204" align="left" caption="Oliver North"]]
John Poindexter was an admiral in the U.S. Navy and was a pentagon official. He was a national security adviser in the Ronald Regan Administration. He worked closely with Oliver North and was regarded as the main chief in the Iran Contra operation. Poindexter was convicted of many felonies pertaining to the scandal. The convictions were reversed in 1991 because the court believed that the evidence against him may have somehow been tainted.

Casper Weinberger
Casper Weinberger was in the position of Secretary of Defense in the Ronald Reagan Administration. He participated in giving TOW missiles to Iran during the Iran Contra Scandal. He was also apart of the pentagon and wrote a very good book about his years in the Pentagon. He told everyone that he didn't participate in the missile trading but he was the main coordinator of it. Weinberger later resigned in 1987. After he resigned there were many legal proceeding against him. He later received a presidentl pardon from George Bush in 1992.

Aftermath
In the beginning Ronald Reagan told everyone that he didn't approve the weapons for hostages transaction. Eventually he was on national TV expressing regret to the American people. He took full responsibility for his actions and said that it was all his fault. This really lowered his popularity with the American people, but many people respected him because he told the truth. This scandal was a very large scandal that undermined the U.S.'s credibility and brought down Reagan's popularity.

Resources
Garraty, John A. The Story of America. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1994

"Iran-Contra Affair." __History.com.__ 13 April 2009 

"Iran Contra Scandal." __Home.snu.edu.__ 13 April 2009 