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Summary: The Iran Contra Affair

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The Iran-Contra Affair
In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the presidential election, and despite his efforts to keep the Republican majority in Congress, the Democrats swept both houses in the midterm elections. This democratic majority would complicate President Reagan’s agenda, specifically in regard to the Reagan Doctrine, a policy that promoted American support for nations resisting communism. One example of a complication would be the Boland Amendment. The Reagan Doctrine laid the foundation for monetary and military assistance to “freedom fighters” all over the world who were fighting against communism. It was the basis for not only America’s support for the Contras in Nicaragua, but also for Afghanistan against the Soviet Union and for the …show more content…
In the late 1970s, an anti-communist group known as the Contras emerged. The United States backed the Contras financially, as President Reagan believed that the fall of Nicaragua to communism would threaten surrounding nations. Furthermore, as laid out in the Reagan Doctrine, the president also sympathized with the Contras and described them as the “moral equivalent to the Founding Fathers.” However, after discovering the Contras were supported financially by the cocaine trade, Congress passed the Boland Amendment, which prohibited the CIA and Department of Defense from using funds to provide military assistance to groups that were trying to overthrow Nicaragua’s government. President Reagan did not let this amendment deter him and asked his National Security Officer, Robert McFarlane to find a way to assist the Contras. Mcfarlane found the opportunity in the Middle East (“The Iran-Contra …show more content…
When testifying in court, Oliver North claimed, “I would have promised those terrorists a trip to Disneyland if it would have gotten the hostages released” (“Oliver North's Checkered Iran-Contra Record”). One of North’s primary goals was to release the hostages, regardless of the cost. This viewpoint was also shared by the president. Shortly after his inauguration in 1980, Reagan released hostages from the Iran hostage crisis, a situation in which over fifty Americans were being held captive in Iran (“Iran-Contra Affair”). Reagan’s immediate action spoke to his values of the United States and its citizens. In regard to the seven hostages in Lebanon, Reagan stated that he, “had the duty to bring those Americans home" (“The Iran-Contra Affair”). Both North and Reagan acted for the good of the American citizens held hostage, despite their major

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