Iran-contra affair
In 1986 the Iran-Contra affair severely damaged President Ronald Reagan's believability. He and several other U.S. officials, including Oliver North, Ed Meese, Caspar Weinberger and John Poindexter secretly faciliated the sale of weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages so that the money could be used to finance the Contra rebels in Nicaragua who wanted to overthrow the socialist government in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras had been prohibited by the U.S. Congress, making the entire affair illegal. While North, Meese, Weinberger and Poindexter were forced to resign and convicted, it remains unclear how much Reagan knew about these illegal proceedings. The Tower Commission, who investigated the case, could not find direct evidence that he had prior knowledge of the program, but did claim that he as President was responsible and should've informed himself more about these activities.
