General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGeorge H.W. Bush's Mixed Legacy In A Reagan-Era Scandal
Largely missing from the flood of remembrances of the late President George H.W. Bush is the role he played as Ronald Reagan's vice president in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
It's an episode that clouded an otherwise remarkable career in public service.
Perhaps Bush's most well-known involvement in the affair was his absolution of some of those in the know about it.
On Christmas Eve of 1992 - six weeks after losing his bid for a second presidential term to Bill Clinton Bush pardoned six members of the Reagan administration who'd been charged with crimes ranging from perjury, to lying to Congress, to obstruction of justice.
All those charges stemmed from attempts by senior Reagan administration officials to cover up a covert White House operation whose disdain for established law and outright deception marred Reagan's tenure as well.
The scheme, which unfolded over a two-year period beginning in late 1985, started with illegal arms sales to Iran.
.... more at https://www.npr.org/2018/12/06/674079779/george-h-w-bushs-mixed-legacy-in-a-reagan-era-scandal
NewJeffCT
(56,827 posts)if I recall as well. (can't read the entire article at work right now)
I believe the pardons effectively killed the entire investigation, which likely would have been bigger and more serious than Watergate.
pecosbob
(7,511 posts)he was a f*cking war criminal. F*cking revisionist history...
I stayed quiet about it for the last couple of days, but I'm done.
UpInArms
(51,253 posts)The BFEE will always be the Family That Preyed Together
I caught a lot of hell yesterday because I wont let his death balm he or his sons crimes.
Bush41 was a GOP* scumbag and a fixer.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Trial of Casper Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, and others was set to begin about two weeks after Bush pardoned them. In his final report, Lawrence Walsh all but said that the evidence at trial would put the lie to Bush's alibi that he was "out of the loop" on trading arms for hostages and using the proceeds to fund right wing death squads and terrorist groups in Central America.
But he was very gentlemanly about it, so it was all good and the media have largely agreed to forget all about this little episode.
genxlib
(5,507 posts)I always thought the entire scandal was really underplayed.
Aside from the entire "subverting congress" thing, we were selling arms to an enemy that had kidnapped Americans only a few years before. It should have been the end of the Reagan Administration
Instead, the administration lived on for four more zombie years in HW. My take was simple. As the former head of the CIA, he had to know what was going on. If he didn't know, then he was completely oblivious and not deserving of the Presidency anyway. The whole thing should have been disqualifying one way or another.
UpInArms
(51,253 posts)The CIA drug running
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking