sked about these events. On October 8, 1986, Reagan was asked by a news conference: “ Was there any United Sates involvement in this fight over Nicaragua – carrying the arms – any involvement whatsoever?” Reagan replied, “I’m glad you asked that. Absolutely not.” Later, after the government admitted to selling arms to Iran, Reagan stated that these sales would be stopped. He had to have known about these arrangements before the American public found out. Reagan’s first priority was freeing the hostages, and Iran had already stated that it would free the hostages if more arms were supplied. This is an even greater cause for Reagan to proceed in aiding the Contras. He wanted to stay an adored public figure, and he wanted to succeed where President Carter failed. He would do so even if the law had to be broken. It was well known that the President ran the White House with full authority. He was personally active in national security affairs and attended almost all of the relevant meetings involving the Iran initiative. He, as much as anyone, should have insisted that an orderly process be observed. In addition, he especially should have made sure that plans were made for handling any public disclosure for the initiative. He must take primary responsibility for the chaos that descended upon the White House when such disclosure did occur. The President was in full control and should take responsibility for these actions. Everyone in the White House knew who was in charge, so how could something like this just slip by without him knowing? President Reagan’s knowledge of these events is fairly obvious. It is just hard to see because he knew how to hide things well. The president always watched the way he would say things, and made sure to say them clearly. He never did say go lie to Congress. He did say, for example, when learning of the contribution of a foreign cou...
