A Brief History
On March 16, 1988, Marine Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Oliver North and National Security Adviser Vice Admiral John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Despite legislation specifically prohibiting the aiding of the “Contra” rebels in Nicaragua (the Boland Amendment to the 1982 Appropriations Bill), North had masterminded a shell game of maneuvering funds in order to finance them.
Digging Deeper
As if blatant disregard for the law was not bad enough, part of the conspiracy that became known as the Iran-Contra Affair included selling weapons to Iran to fund the Contras and possibly to encourage the release of American hostages in Lebanon. To tangle the web he was weaving even more, North developed a cozy relationship with Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega to get his help in destroying Nicaraguan economic targets in exchange for a free hand dealing drugs in the U.S. and perhaps some extra cash.
When the politically embarrassing information became public in 1986, President Ronald Reagan was forced to fire North from his position with the National Security Council. North was more or less on hold for the next year until he retired from the Marine Corps and testified before Congress in 1987. It was discovered that he had shredded documents and destroyed evidence at the behest of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Casey and the previous National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane.
North was indicted on 16 felony counts, and in 1989 was convicted of 3 of them: 1) accepting an illegal gratuity; 2) aiding and abetting the obstruction of a congressional inquiry; 3) and ordering his secretary, Fawn Hall, to destroy evidence. The immunity granted him during congressional hearings prevented his testimony from being used against him and spared him from further convictions. Sentenced to 3 years in prison (suspended), a $150,000 fine and, of course, community service, North’s convictions were overturned in 1990 with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as his inadmissible testimony was deemed to have swayed witnesses. The convictions were dismissed despite stringent efforts by the prosecution to avoid any such pitfalls, with research showing that no undue influence had taken place. (Justice in the U.S. is a joke. Just saying…)
Disturbing allegations and innuendo about North’s involvement with setting up and aiding drug trafficking by Noriega and the Contras was investigated by Congress, but no further charges were filed. North went on to become a conservative spokesman, a failed candidate for the Senate (after raising over $20 million) and a radio and television host. He even appeared on the Jerry Springer Show and was parodied on Saturday Night Live.
North founded a tax-exempt foundation to further the cause of national defense called the Freedom Alliance which has since raised millions of dollars but has also been criticized for failing to spend an appropriate amount on conservative causes. He also sits on the board of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and has addressed their conventions.
So, the question remains, is Oliver North a patriot or traitor? Question for students (and subscribers): Was he just doing his duty as best he knew how and was “thrown under the bus” by Ronald Reagan et al. when they were found out? Or was he a loose cannon who blatantly disregarded the law in a Machiavellian scheme during the Cold War? He remains a hero to many Marines and to many conservatives, while liberals tend to discount him as a crook. What do you think? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Byrne, Malcolm. Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power. University Press of Kansas, 2014.
North, Oliver and William Novak. Under Fire – An American Story. Post Hill Press, 2013.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="9987 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=9987">73 Comments
He should have been shot by a firing squad
I’m an independent voter – no party affiliation. North and his associates took an oath to follow and protect the Constitution. He did neither. He’s remains a crook, and should have done his time, but instead he’s now another rich radio-show host. It pays to have rich friends in high places…
As a marine North was a hero but with everything else hes a traitor and got a much smaller sentence then he deserved. All the stuff he did after he served his time and payed his fine was probably a guilty conscious that could never be eased.
He is a traitor with what he did and deserved more of a punishment than what was placed on him. I don’t thnk he was “thrown under the bus”.
Wow, he was on the National Security Council, but he was bringing drugs into the US. He didn’t uphold the Constitution as a political figure and he deserved to be booted out.
disappointing to see/read…
He did a bunch of stuff he wasn’t suppose to as a political figure and yet he’s still seen more as a celebrity figure.
He is definitely not a patriot in my mind. He betrayed our country and shredded the evidence.
I don’t believe that he is a patriot.
I believe he was a traitor, not a patriot.
He betrayed our country. He should have been punished more.
I had never before heard of Oliver North. This was an interesting article.
I think he was a traitor and deserved all that he got. He betrayed his country and then tried to conceal his betrayal.
Never even heard of this guy. I don’t like him.
I cannot believe i never heard of him
It was new to hear of this Oliver north, disappointing what he did
I think North and his pal Hannity are two of the biggest traitors to ever walk the earth, they sold their souls to the kosher media and crime syndicate long ago (too long to ever come back). I would hang both of them.
I had never heard of him.
I never heard of North. I would say that yes he is because ultimately he did betrayed his country. I also don’t agree with his drug trafficking.
I believe he got everything he deserved.
I have never heard of North before. I believe he get everything he deserved.
I think that North betrayed his duty and was a traitor.
Traitor! He blatantly disregarded our country.
I think he got what he deserved and could have had a longer sentence even. I think that overturning the ruling because of swaying the witnesses with his testimony was the wrong choice, even though it may have swayed them.
Liberals call North a crook because he is a conservative. They call Hillary a hero because she is a liberal.
I had never heard of this before and it was an interesting article to read.
It is sad to see that Oliver North was set up to fail,a true work of art by the liberal media.
I wonder how the next situation like this will be brought up. i still feel this was a blow by the american culture going against regan and everything he has done
I have only vaguely heard about this in high school. I do not think that Oliver North was a traitor.
This slightly reminded me of Hillary Clinton’s whole accusation of criminal activity with her emails and how everyone was amazed that she has not been convicted of anything.
It does not seem like Oliver had any chance, It was like he was set up for failure.
North is certainly a traitor and deserves some kind of punishment. I can not believe he turned out to be a conservative spokesman with his suspected drug trafficking resume.
I honestly think Oliver was setting himself up to get in trouble for his actions, at least I think he deserves to be punished.
You could say that he is a patriot just wanting what he thought was best for his country. However, he had the punishments coming.
It is pretty sad that North was indicted of sixteen counts and convicted of three. I would say that North was a traitor rather than a patriot.
After reading this article, I can see his as a patriot and not a traitor. He turned his mistakes into lessons for other people. Now he gives those to people who need them.
I am still confused after reading this article. I am not sure if he is a traitor or a patriot. I think there is fault at both ends.
He did it, he was guilty, case closed.
I can see how it can be confusing to say if this man is a patriot or a traitor. I guess it depends on if you can forgive someone when they choose to change their ways.
I think North was doing what he was told to do. I am not sure I would call him a traitor!
This article doesn’t really make sense to me but I am more on the side that he was a traitor.
Maybe Oliver North only did his job for the political purpose. From the article, it still cannot judge that he was a patriot or a traitor.
I’m still not sure if I would consider him a traitor. These are conflicting views.
This kind of history is so hard to understand why. But I am pretty much on the side that he was a traitor.
This was highly conflicting.
I would have to agree that I saw this article to be conflicting. It was hard to conclude whether he was a patriot or a criminal, but 16 felony counts showed that something needed to be done.
it is hard to me understand this story.
There are decisions that military leaders are forced to make that are often controversial. The issue is that you can never really get to the bottom of these things or to the truth of it, to make a solid decision for yourself.
I personally feel that Oliver North is a hero and patriot and would do anything for the safety of America.
Had North been a traitor, or had there been sufficient evidence to prove him as such he wouldn’t have been found guilty of only three minor violations and never spend a night in prison.
I don’t have a problem with what he did I think he did what he thought was best for the country.
Not sure what to believe since the CIA was involved. I do not believe he acted alone, that is for sure. He may have been thrown under the bus.
I can see why some people have a problem forming an opinion about North. I think he has his country in mind and did what he thought was best.
I do have a hard time believing that this was all his doing. I do think when you are fighting for your country you make decisions and opinions of those decisions can go either way.
Hard to make a decision on this one. Lots of different people involved.
North was a patriot and a scapegoat for other politicians. The corrupt machine of DC and the those that fall for their shortcomings.
Oliver North was a true patriot and was “Thrown under the bus”. He even sits on the board for the NRA.
I must agree with everyone else Oliver North was a true patriot and that he was scapegoat for government, because he was the bottom of ranking people involve.
What a shame a Lt.col or government official would get involved in this type scandal.
It is mind boggling how this man only got three years in prison only later to become a television host, radio host, and spokesperson who was able to raise 20 million dollars. Anybody else would have been convicted of treason. The only good that came from him doing what he did was when he tried to get American hostages released in Lebanon.
Oliver North was a scapegoat. His actions may not have been ideal but he was doing what he needed to do.
It amazing that someone can be charged for something that happened such a ling time ago.
It is hard to say either way if not all the facts are present. I find it difficult that he would stay loyal to the republican party after being betrayed by them.
I think there is a lot more to North then we will ever know. He did what he needed to do.
Oliver North was thrown under the bus. This man is a hero.
Im on the fence in regard to Oliver North
I believe Oliver North was thrown under the bus. I believe all this shady stuff was going on and once it leaked out someone had to take the fall.
I also believe he was thrown under the bus. He was following orders. That’s what military men do best.
He was following orders given, he was a soldier his job is to follow the direction of his commanders. If he went down then his commanders should have went down too.
Oliver North was doing is job. In his position where following orders is what he knew he had to do. It is not like my job or most peoples jobs that when asked to do something that you think is wrong you have to option to quit your job. In the military that is not the case. So yes, he was thrown under the bus.
I can only assume that Oliver North was following orders.
Assuming Oliver North was doing his job and following his orders i do agree he was thrown under the bus.
[Dana] “Rohrabacher also did his share of advocacy for his former intern [Eric Prince-Blackwater]. “Prince is on his way to being an American hero just like Ollie North was,” he said in 2007 after a House investigation raised concerns about Blackwater’s conduct.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-lawmaker-got-direction-from-moscow-took-it-back-to-dc
Thanks for clarifying what kind of traitorous crooks these three are.