What Ollie North Told Me before He Took the Fifth

On Friday, November 14, 1986—the morning after President Reagan’s first speech on the Iran affair—I had breakfast with Lieutenant Colonel Oliver “Ollie” North at the Hay-Adams Hotel. I did not realize at the time that the issue would soon be approaching the status of a national scandal. But this was before the disclosure by Attorney General Meese that some of the profits from the Iran arms transaction had been diverted to the Contras fighting the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

As a writer on terrorism and commentator for six years on the Reagan Administration’s anti-terrorism policies, my breakfast was part of a regular ritual of meetings with senior Administration officials to get their perspectives on current developments and policies. My most recent book on terrorism, edited with Terrell Arnold, had carried an introduction by then National Security Advisor Robert C. “Bud” McFarlane.

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Neil C. Livingstone

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On Friday, November 14, 1986—the morning after President Reagan’s first speech on the Iran affair—I had breakfast with Lieutenant Colonel Oliver “Ollie” North at the Hay-Adams Hotel. I did not realize at the time that the issue would soon be approaching the status of a national scandal. But this was before the disclosure by Attorney General Meese that some of the profits from the Iran arms transaction had been diverted to the Contras fighting the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

As a writer on terrorism and commentator for six years on the Reagan Administration’s anti-terrorism policies, my breakfast was part of a regular ritual of meetings with senior Administration officials to get their perspectives on current developments and policies. My most recent book on terrorism, edited with Terrell Arnold, had carried an introduction by then National Security Advisor Robert C. “Bud” McFarlane.