Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger is indicted by a federal grand jury on five felony counts of lying to Congress and investigators about the Iran-Contra scandal, marking the highest-ranking Reagan administration official charged in the affair. Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh brings the …
Former President Ronald Reagan is questioned under oath in a videotaped deposition for the trial of former National Security Advisor John Poindexter, providing 293 pages of testimony in which he repeatedly claims he cannot recall virtually any specific details of the Iran-Contra affair. …
Ronald ReaganJohn PoindexterIran-ContraReagan-administrationaccountabilityperjurycover-up
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is convicted on May 4, 1989, of three felony charges stemming from his central role in the Iran-Contra scandal: accepting an illegal gratuity (a security fence for his home), aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and ordering the …
Oliver NorthGerhard GesellLawrence WalshIran-ContraReagan-administrationobstruction-of-justiceaccountabilitylegal-immunity
On August 4, 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, a 1949 policy requiring broadcast license holders to present controversial issues of public importance in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints. The elimination of this fundamental …
Federal Communications CommissionMark S. FowlerRonald ReaganRobert BorkAntonin Scaliamedia-infrastructureregulatory-capturefairness-doctrinepartisan-mediafcc+1 more
CIA Director William Casey dies at age 74 from nervous-system lymphoma, taking critical knowledge of the Iran-Contra scandal to his grave without ever testifying before Congress. Casey dies less than 24 hours after former colleague Richard Secord testifies that Casey supported the illegal aiding of …
William CaseyRonald ReaganRichard SecordIran-ContraCIAReagan-administrationaccountabilitycover-up
Joint congressional hearings on the Iran-Contra affair begin, launching seven weeks of televised testimony that becomes the most-watched series of congressional hearings since the Senate Watergate Committee hearings in 1973. The House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with …
Oliver NorthJohn PoindexterGeorge ShultzCaspar WeinbergerIran-Contracongressional-oversightReagan-administrationaccountabilitymedia
The Tower Commission delivers its report on the Iran-Contra affair to President Reagan, producing findings widely criticized as a whitewash that shields Reagan from accountability while blaming subordinates for the illegal scheme. The commission, composed of former Senator John Tower, former …
Ronald ReaganJohn TowerEdmund MuskieBrent ScowcroftWilliam CaseyIran-ContraReagan-administrationcongressional-oversightaccountabilitycover-up
Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that proceeds from secret arms sales to Iran were illegally diverted to fund Nicaraguan Contra rebels, publicly exposing the Iran-Contra scandal that had been revealed three weeks earlier by the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa on November 3. The announcement comes …
National Security Council staff member Oliver North and his secretary Fawn Hall begin systematically shredding documents that would expose illegal activities related to arms sales to Iran and the diversion of proceeds to Nicaraguan Contra rebels. The five-day document destruction campaign, running …
Oliver NorthFawn HallJohn PoindexterIran-ContraReagan-administrationobstruction-of-justicecover-upcovert-operations
President Reagan vetoes the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, calling economic sanctions against South Africa’s white minority regime “economic warfare” and claiming they would hurt the impoverished Black majority. Reagan’s veto represents the culmination of his …
Ronald ReaganDesmond Tutuforeign-policyhuman-rightsapartheidSouth-AfricaReagan-administration
President Reagan signs a finding on December 5, 1985, retroactively authorizing covert arms sales to Iran already conducted by National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, formalizing an illegal shadow foreign policy run through the National Security Council. McFarlane had undertaken the sale of …
Robert McFarlaneJohn PoindexterOliver NorthRonald ReaganIran-ContraReagan-administrationNSCcovert-operationsconstitutional-crisis
Israel sends 96 American-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles to Iran through arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, marking the first covert arms shipment in what becomes the Iran-Contra scandal. Hours after receiving the weapons, the Islamic fundamentalist group Islamic Jihad releases one American …
Ronald ReaganRobert McFarlaneOliver NorthManucher GhorbanifarIran-ContraReagan-administrationforeign-policyarms-traffickingcovert-operations
Several Opus Dei members and sympathizers gain positions in the Reagan Administration, including key roles in economic policy and judicial nominations. This marks the beginning of systematic Opus Dei influence in Republican politics, particularly around conservative economic and social policies. By …
Ronald ReaganOpus Dei MembersRepublican Partyreagan-administrationopus-deirepublican-politicsconservative-influence
On October 30, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, fundamentally deregulating the cable television industry and setting the stage for massive media consolidation. Written and championed by conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, the act amended …
Ronald ReaganBarry GoldwaterFederal Communications CommissionCable industrymedia-deregulationcorporate-consolidationregulatory-capturereagan-administrationmedia-infrastructure
Congress passes the most restrictive version of the Boland Amendment, explicitly prohibiting any U.S. government agency involved in intelligence activities from providing support for military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. The amendment, effective from October 3, 1984, to December 3, 1985, …
Edward BolandRonald ReaganIran-Contracongressional-oversightNicaraguaReagan-administrationconstitutional-law
President Reagan sends Donald Rumsfeld as a special envoy to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, establishing formal diplomatic relations and initiating a strategic partnership during the Iran-Iraq War. The now-infamous handshake between Rumsfeld and Hussein symbolizes the Reagan …
Donald RumsfeldSaddam HusseinRonald Reaganforeign-policyIraqReagan-administrationwar-crimeschemical-weapons
President Reagan signs the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act in the Rose Garden, calling it “the most important legislation for financial institutions in the last 50 years.” The Act removes Depression-era constraints on thrift asset holdings, allows S&Ls to make high-risk …
Ronald ReaganJake Garn (R-UT)Fernand St Germain (D-RI)Chuck SchumerSteny Hoyer+2 morederegulationthrift-industryregulatory-capturereagan-administrations&l-crisis+1 more
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan welcome Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to the White House in September 1982, demonstrating strong support for the Philippine dictator despite his regime’s notorious corruption, extravagance, and brutality. The Reagans maintain a personal …
Ronald ReaganFerdinand MarcosImelda MarcosNancy Reaganforeign-policycorruptionkleptocracyhuman-rightsReagan-administration
General Efraín Ríos Montt seizes power in Guatemala through a military coup, beginning what would become the bloodiest period in the nation’s history. The Reagan administration, seeking regional allies for its covert war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, immediately embraces the …
Ronald ReaganEfraín Ríos Monttforeign-policyhuman-rightscentral-americagenocideReagan-administration
In 1981, ALEC formalized its systematic corporate legislative capture mechanism by establishing seven Cabinet Task Forces that worked directly with the Reagan administration on policy development. President Ronald Reagan formed a national Task Force on Federalism headed by U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt …
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Ronald ReaganPaul LaxaltTom StiversJohn Kasichcorporate-capturelegislative-capturealecreagan-administrationstate-level-politics+2 more
Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, marking a symbolic beginning of U.S. support for El Salvador’s death squad government during a brutal 12-year civil war. A single gunman fires directly into Romero’s heart from the chapel …
Ronald ReaganRoberto D'AubuissonOscar Romeroforeign-policyhuman-rightsdeath-squadsCentral-AmericaReagan-administration