Abstract
The President’s recovery from the Iran-Contra calamity proved to be slow and arduous, an elongated and painful slog on both a political and public front. Dramatic events thrust the scandal ever more prominently into public view — Chief of Staff Donald Regan resigned in the wake of the aforementioned Tower Commission Report, and televised Congressional hearings investigated the Iran-Contra operations. A number of familiar issues came to the fore during this phase of the recovery. President Reagan was under pressure to take a firm grasp of the situation, and for the first time his leadership qualities emerged. He gave an authoritative speech and conducted an error-free press conference, welcome contrast with the difficulties of November. Yet, his denials and explanation were insufficient to overcome widespread doubt about his declarations of innocence.
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Notes
‘Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy: Informal Exchange with Reporters. March 4 1987’ Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 23 no. 9 1987, p. 218.
‘President’s Credibility Battered as he Readies Crucial Speech: Successive Reports Challenge the Sale of Arms to Iran and Question the Accuracy of President’s Statements’ Washington Post 4 March 1987, p. A7.
‘Text of March 4 Televised Address: President Reagan Responds to Tower Board Investigation’ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 10, 7 March 1987, p. 440.
‘In a Spirit of Contrition’ New York Times 5 March 1987, p. A18.
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 10, 7 March 1987, p. 441.
‘Corner Turned, Leaders Say: Actions Before Speech Called Key to Its Success’ Washington Post 5 March 1987, p. A1.
Washington Post 5 March 1987, p. A13.
‘Republicans Praise Speech: Democrats Wary About the Future’ New York Times 5 March 1987, p. A18.
‘Reagan and Panel Differ on Some Points’ ibid., p. A19.
‘Still Silent on Many Issues: Reagan Failed to Meet Tower Report Head-on’ Washington Post 5 March 1987, pp. A1, A13.
David S. Broder, ‘What Took Him So Long?’ Washington Post 6 March 1987, p. A23.
‘President “Wimped Out Big-Time”: Young Working-Class Voters Fault Response to Iran Report’ ibid., p. A14.
‘President Reagan’s Speech Helped Him, but Only Slightly’ Newsweek 16 March 1987, p. 18.
‘Text of March 19 News Conference: the President and the Press: Focus on the Iran-Contra Affair’ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 12, 21 March 1987, p. 532.
Dick Kirschten, ‘An Encounter with the President Who Wants to Get His Story Out’ National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1364.
‘Foreign and Domestic Issues: Interview with White House Correspondents, April 28 1987’ Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 23 no. 17 1987, p. 440.
National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1364.
American Journal of International Law 81 no. 3 1987, pp. 713–18.
Dick Kirschten, ‘Boland Amendment Only an Advisory’ National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1360.
Dick Kirschten, ‘White House Vacancies Go Begging as Don Regan Waits Out the Storm’ National Journal 19 no. 4, 24 January 1987, p. 214.
Nancy Reagan (with William Novak), My Turn: the Memoirs of Nancy Reagan (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989) p. 327.
NBC Nightly News, 26 February 1987. On 24 February Cheney had also publicly attacked Regan: ‘There is only one reason to serve as Chief of Staff, and that’s to serve the President of the United States. When you can no longer do that, then you should move on.’ ABC Nightly News, 24 February 1987.
‘Chief of Staff to the President of the United States: Statement by the President on the Resignation of Donald T. Regan and the Appointment of Howard H. Baker, Jr. February 27 1987’ Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 23 no. 8 1987, p. 196.
NBC Nightly News, 27 February 1987.
George E. Reedy, ‘Can the President Still Lead?’ New York Times 6 March 1987, p. A31.
Richard E. Cohen, ‘Baker’s Limits’ National Journal 19 no. 10, 7 March 1987, p. 592.
‘One for the Gipper: Baker Signs On’ Newsweek March 9 1987, p. 14.
‘Howard Baker Takes Over: Can he rescue Reagan?’ US News and World Report 9 March 1987, p. 23.
Cited in Dick Kirschten, ‘The President’s Counselor’ National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1332.
A key aspect of Baker’s work involved damage control and the Iran-Contra scandal: ‘What Baker is in position to do is “staunch the flow of blood,” according to lobbyist Martin B. Gold, who was Baker’s counsel from 1981–1984...’ Cited in ibid., p. 1333.
‘No Newcomers on the Baker Staff’ National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1333.
Newsweek, 16 March 1987, p. 18.
Christopher Madison, ‘Iran: Act Two’ National Journal 19 no. 18, 2 May 1987, p. 1053.
‘A Simmering Scandal’s Opening Act’ U.S. News and World Report 102 no. 19, 25 May 1987, p. 27.
‘Week 2: more troubling questions’ U.S. News and World Report 25 May 1987, pp. 24–5.
Cited in, ‘The Hearings: A Political Truth or Consequence’ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 22, 30 May 1987, p. 1129.
‘Hearings Don’t Portray a Disengaged Reagan: Each Day Brings More Detail on Iran-Contra Participation’ Washington Post 16 May 1987, p. A1.
‘What Reagan Worry: There He Goes Again, Ignoring the Real World’ Washington Post 17 May 1987, p. C1.
‘It Was My Idea: Dropping his didn’t-know defense, Reagan takes credit for Contra aid’ Newsweek 25 May 1987, p. 16.
‘85 Plan to Free Hostages Wasn’t Ransom, White House Says’ The Washington Post 18 May 1987, p. A6.
‘Lawmakers Agree Probe Is Steadily Eroding Reagan’s Authority’ Washington Post 24 June 1987, p. A17.
‘Panels Take a Breather to Sort Out New Findings’ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 24, 13 June 1987, p. 1242.
‘Secord’s Secretaries Tell of Shredding: North Tosses Monkey Wrench Into Capitol Hill Investigation’ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 45 no. 25, 20 June 1987, p. 1308.
Christopher Madison, ‘The Administration’s Dog Days’ National Journal 19 no. 24, 13 June 1987, p. 1531.
‘One-third Say Reagan Should Consider Resigning’ Newsweek 9 March 1987, p. 13.
‘Poll Shows Reagan Approval Rating At 4-Year Low’ New York Times 3 March 1987, p. A11.
‘Opinion Outlook: Views on National Security: the Iran-Contra Saga’ National Journal 19 no. 21, 23 May 1987, p. 1337.
‘Opinion Outlook: Views on Presidential Performance: Smoking Gun?’ National Journal 19 no. 27, 4 July 1987, p. 1744.
‘Political Party Affiliation’ Gallup Report no. 260 May 1987, p. 16.
NBC Nightly News, 26 February 1987.
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© 1999 Robert Busby
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Busby, R. (1999). Searching for Stability: February–July 1987. In: Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14726-7_7
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