Ronald Reagan in What A Party, by Terry McAuliffe

On Homeland Security: 1981: Iranian hostages released 5 minutes after inauguration

Let me tell you why I'm sure the Reagan people had a hand in this. First of all, the arms transfers from Israel to Iran began almost immediately after Reagan became President. 2nd, the main defense of the Reagan people was that it would have been too terrible a crime for Reagan to cook up secret deals with the Iranians in violation of US law, but that is just what the Reagan administration did when it sold arms to the Iranians and used the profits to illegally fund the contra rebels in Nicaragua.

On Homeland Security: On Iran-Contra: We did not trade weapons for hostages

"We did not, repeat, not trade weapons or anything else for hostages--nor will we," Reagan said on national television. "Those who think we have 'gone soft' on terrorism should take up the questions with Colonel Quaddafi. We have not, nor will we, capitulate to terrorists." [But we had]. Pres. Bush pardoned 6 top officials; the pardons stopped two pending cases and nullified one conviction and 3 guilty pleas.

The Iran-Contra affair should be taught in detail to every high school student in America, so we can do a better job of learning from past mistakes. Cynical secret deals with our enemies to win elections will always come back to haunt their perpetrators later.