Oliver North
| Oliver North | |
|---|---|
| Other names | * Ollie North
|
| |
| Born | circa 1943 |
| Occupation | military officer, politician, author, radio personality |
| Known for | was charged with obstructing Congress |
Oliver North is an American radio personality and author, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a White House staffer.[1][2] He was a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan Administration in the 1980s.
North is a veteran of War in Vietnam, where the medals he earned include a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts.[3]
North was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps when he served as a military aide in Ronald Reagan's National Security Council.[1]
He would later face trial for the illegal destruction of important classified papers related to the Reagan Administration's secret action to sell arms to Iran to release American hostages and fund the Nicaraguan Contra rebels in central America. Other members of the Reagan administration, like Edwin Meese, would acknowledge, during his trial, that they were concerned if these documents became public they would trigger Reagan's impeachment.[4] North was initially convicted of obstructing Congress, but his conviction was overturned.[5]
According to New York Daily News the public prominence the trial brought North made it possible for him to become a public commentator.[5]
In April of 1991 The New York Times reported that, during the Reagan administration, North had blocked investigation into terrorists who were aiding the Reagan administration's secret trade with Iran.[6] Victoria Toensing was reported to have been blocked in pursuing Mohammed Rashid, and was only able to effectively pursue him after North was forced to resign.
In March 2019, when Donald Trump was facing impeachment, New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie described North as a trend-setter for Republicans, for a certain kind of deception.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oliver North profile. Speaker Line-Up 2002. The Bakersfield Business Conference. mirror
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jamelle Bouie. Oliver North Showed Republicans the Way Out, The New York Times, 2019-03-28. “Most Republicans outside the administration also stood firmly behind the Reagan administration, even in the face of clear wrongdoing. 'I don’t want you prosecuted,' Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said to North during the colonel’s testimony before a House and Senate select committee on the scandal in 1987. 'I don’t. I don’t think many people in America do. And I think there’s going to be one lot of hell raised if you are.'”
- ↑ John Greenwald, David Beckwith, David Halevy. Washington's Cowboys, Time magazine, 1986-11-17. mirror
- ↑ David Johnston. Meese Testifies That Impeachment Was a Worry, The New York Times, 1989-03-29, p. 17. “Mr. Meese was not asked today to explain precisely what actions he feared might constitute an impeachable offense. Mr. Meese said Mr. Reagan did not know of the diversion before his brief inquiry. But the documentary record that might confirm that account is incomplete because of the shredding of documents by Mr. North and others. 'That Spelled Touble'.” mirror
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Adam Lisberg. He won't go to the poky, and he soon may be in the money, New York Daily News, 2007-07-03. Retrieved on 2022-12-18. “Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North became a Reagan administration icon for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, though his conviction for obstructing Congress was later overturned. It launched him into a successful career as an author and commentator.”
- ↑ Anthony Lewis. Gangsters in Charge, Baltimore Sun, 1991-04-22. “'In 1985 and 1986 . . . Washington was not only approving high-technology sales to Iraq but providing it with satellite reconnaissance on Iranian troop movements. . . . At the National Security Council, Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North insisted on keeping total jurisdiction over antiterrorism, blocking out the Justice Department so that nothing could derail the new 'special relationship' with Iraq.'” mirror