The Iran-Contra scandal transfixed Washington for most of 1987 and renewed a struggle as old as the Republic between the President and Congress.

The Iran-Contra affair was the biggest scandal of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

It was not the easiest one to understand.

The Reagan administration's determination to sell arms secretly to Iran and to help

guerrillas fighting the Marxist government of Nicaragua despite congressional objections was

the engine that drove the Iran-Contra policy.

But it had some wonderful characters.

I don't think it was wrong.

I think it was a neat idea. There was Oliver North,

the lieutenant colonel who devised the scheme, and then covered it up. I will tell you right now,

counsel, and all the members here gathered that I misled the Congress. There was a seemingly endless stream of prosecutions and congressional hearings,

and there was one question every American wanted to know.

What did President Ronald Reagan know about the Arms for Hostages deal, and when did he know it?

Once I realized I hadn't been fully informed, I sought to find the answers.

Some of the answers I don't like.

The President insisted that he did not know about the scheme, and none of the investigations found that he did.

The committee's final report went further.

It said the ultimate responsibility for the events in the Iran-Cuntra affair must rest with the president.

If the president did not know what his national security advisors were doing, he should have.

Most Americans found the president's denials implausible,

especially in light of the fact that the two-year secret campaign had been organized by his

closest White House advisors.

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