Oliver North
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Oliver Laurence North (born October 7 1943) was a member of the United States Marine Corps who achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He rose to national prominence because of the Iran-Contra Affair, during which he was a key Reagan administration official involved in the clandestine selling of weapons to Iran in order to generate proceeds to support the Contra rebel group in violation of the law — specifically, a provision known as the Boland Amendment.
Today, he is a conservative political commentator, and host of the Fox News Channel program, War Stories, which is usually broadcast on Sunday evenings.
Iran-Contra affair
North became famous due to his participation in the Iran-Contra Affair, in which he was the chief coordinator of the sale of weapons via intermediaries to Iran, with the profits being channeled to the Contras in Nicaragua. He was responsible for the establishment of a covert network used for the purposes of aiding the Contras.According to the National Security Archive, in an August 23 1986 email to John Poindexter, Oliver North described a meeting with a representative of Panamanian President Manuel Noriega: "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship", North writes before explaining Noriega's proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the Sandinista leadership for us" (see [link]).
North tells Poindexter that Noriega can assist with sabotage against the Sandinistas, and suggests paying Noriega a million dollars – from "Project Democracy" funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran – for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations. [[Citing sources citation needed]]
In November 1986, North was fired by President Reagan, and in July 1987 he was summoned to testify before televised hearings of a joint Congressional committee formed to investigate Iran-Contra. During the hearings, he admitted that he had lied to Congress, for which he was later charged among other things. He defended his actions by stating that he believed in the goal of aiding the Contras, whom he saw as freedom fighters, and said that he viewed the Iran-Contra scheme as a "neat idea". [[Citing sources citation needed]]
North was tried in 1988 in relation to his activities while at the National Security Council. He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and on May 4, 1989, he was convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents (by his secretary, Fawn Hall, on his instructions). He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell on July 5 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service.
However, on July 20 1990, with the help of the ACLU (see[link]), North's conviction was overturned by a three-judge appeals panel in advance of further proceedings on the grounds that his public testimony may have prejudiced his right to a fair trial. [link] The Supreme Court declined to review the case, and Judge Gesell dismissed the charges on September 16 1991, after hearings on the immunity issue, on the motion of the independent counsel.
Essentially, North's convictions were overturned because he had been granted limited immunity for his Congressional testimony, and this testimony was deemed to have influenced witnesses at his trial.
Later life and career
In 1994, North unsuccessfully ran for the Senate as the Republican candidate in Virginia. Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia endorsed Marshall Coleman, a Republican who ran as an independent, instead of North. On the eve of the election, former first lady Nancy Reagan told a reporter that North had lied to her husband when discussing Iran-Contra with the former president. North lost to incumbent Democrat Charles Robb. North's candidacy was documented in the 1996 film A Perfect Candidate.
North has written several best-selling books including Under Fire, One More Mission, War Stories — Operation Iraqi Freedom, Mission Compromised, The Jericho Sanction, and The Assassins. He is also a syndicated columnist, and is the host of the television show War Stories with Oliver North, and a regular commentator on Hannity and Colmes, both on the Fox News Channel. In addition, he regularly speaks at both public and private events.
In 1990 North founded the Freedom Alliance, a 501(c)(3) foundation "...to advance the American heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending the sovereignty of the United States and promoting a strong national defense."
Oliver North has been married to Betsy North (formerly Betsy Stuart) since 1968, and they have four children (daughters Tait, Dornin, and Sarah North, and son, Stuart North). Although raised a Roman Catholic, he has long attended Protestant evangelical services with his family.
Trivia
- On a trip to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair, North took a chocolate cake and a Bible as gifts to Ruhollah Khomeini.
- In the Michael Moore satire Canadian Bacon, Oliver North becomes President of the United States in the film's epilogue.
- During the early 1990s, Oliver North's mother called in to his radio show to tell him that she was out of the hospital, and that her operation had gone well.
External links
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