WEBVTT - Bonus Episode 9: The Surgery That Sparked the Iran-Contra Scandal

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<v Speaker 1>The Iran Contra scandal transfects Washington for most of nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seven and renewed a struggle as old as the Republic

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<v Speaker 1>between the President and Congress. The Iran Contra affair was

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<v Speaker 1>the biggest scandal of Ronald Reagan's presidency. It was not

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<v Speaker 1>the easiest one to understand. The Reagan Administration's determination to

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<v Speaker 1>sell arms secretly to Iran and to help guerrilla's fighting

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<v Speaker 1>the Marxist government of Nicaragua, despite Congressional objections, was the

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<v Speaker 1>engine that drove the arand Contra policy. But it had

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<v Speaker 1>some wonderful characters. I don't think it was wrong. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it was a neat idea. There was Oliver North,

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<v Speaker 1>the lieutenant colonel who devised the scheme and then covered

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<v Speaker 1>it up. I will tell you right now, Counsel, and

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<v Speaker 1>all the members here gat that I misled the Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a seemingly endless stream of prosecutions and Congressional hearings,

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<v Speaker 1>and there was one question every American wanted to know.

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<v Speaker 1>What did President Ronald Reagan know about the arms for

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<v Speaker 1>hostages deal? And when did he know it. Once I

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<v Speaker 1>realized I hadn't been fully informed, I sought to find

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<v Speaker 1>the answers, some of the answers I don't like. The

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<v Speaker 1>President insisted that he did not know about the scheme,

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<v Speaker 1>and none of the investigations found that he did. The

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<v Speaker 1>committee's final report went further. It said, the ultimate responsibility

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<v Speaker 1>for the events in the Iran Countra affair must rest

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<v Speaker 1>with the president. If the President did not know what

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<v Speaker 1>his national security advisors were doing, he should have. Most

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<v Speaker 1>Americans found the president's denials implausible, especially in light of

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that the two year secret campaign had been

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<v Speaker 1>organized by his closest White House advisors. Was Reagan really

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<v Speaker 1>that forgetful? Was he lying to the American people? Or

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<v Speaker 1>was there more to the story? Welcome back to Flashback.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Sean Braswell. In this special bonus episode, we returned

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<v Speaker 1>to the Iran Contra scandal and one very fateful presidential surgery.

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<v Speaker 1>It turns out there may have been a good reason

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<v Speaker 1>why President Reagan's memory was so hazy about the decision

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<v Speaker 1>to sell arms to Iran, or at least a more

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<v Speaker 1>benign reason, and it's one that starts with something potentially malignant.

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<v Speaker 1>That something was a large polyp that the President's doctors

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<v Speaker 1>discovered on his lower right colon during a routine colonoscopy

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<v Speaker 1>on July twelfth, nineteen eighty five. Reagan was rushed into

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<v Speaker 1>surgery the very next morning at Bethesda Naval Medical Center

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<v Speaker 1>in Maryland to remove the growth. Before he was put

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<v Speaker 1>to sleep, Reagan invoked the twenty fifth Amendment, transferring the

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<v Speaker 1>powers of the presidency temporarily to Vice President George Bush.

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<v Speaker 1>Reagan was wheeled into the operating room with his wife

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<v Speaker 1>Nancy holding his hand, around eleven fifteen that morning. In

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<v Speaker 1>typical Reagan fashion, he joked with his doctors referring to

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<v Speaker 1>the previous day's colonoscopy. He mused, after what you did yesterday,

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<v Speaker 1>this ought to be a breeze. The three hour surgery

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<v Speaker 1>was successful. Doctors removed two feet of Reagan's lower intestine

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<v Speaker 1>in addition to the two inch growth, which a biopsy

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<v Speaker 1>showed to be cancerous. George Bush remained acting president until

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<v Speaker 1>after seven p m. That evening, while Reagan remained under

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<v Speaker 1>the effects of the anesthesia. My fellow Americans, I'm talking

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<v Speaker 1>to you today from a little makeshift studio just outside

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<v Speaker 1>my room in Bethesda Naval Hospital. The president spent a

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<v Speaker 1>week recovering at the hospital. First off I'm feeling great,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm getting a little restless. A lot of you

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<v Speaker 1>know how it is when you have to endure some

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<v Speaker 1>enforced bed rest. You get this feeling that life's out

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<v Speaker 1>there and it's a big shiny apple, and you just

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<v Speaker 1>can't wait to get out and take a bite of it.

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<v Speaker 1>The President had a jovial spirit, but at age seventy four,

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<v Speaker 1>he was not a young man. He was in pain.

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<v Speaker 1>He had trouble eating, and he suffered through several sleepless nights,

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<v Speaker 1>and unfortunately, events outside the hospital did not wait for

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<v Speaker 1>his recovery. Prior to the president's surgery, several Americans had

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<v Speaker 1>been taken hostage by the terrorist group Hezbollah. That would

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<v Speaker 1>be clearly understood that the seven Americans still held captive

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<v Speaker 1>in Lebanon must be released, along with other innocent hostages

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<v Speaker 1>from other countries. The United States gives terrorists no rewards

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<v Speaker 1>and no guarantees. We make no concessions, we make no deals.

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<v Speaker 1>A few days after the president's cancer surgery, however, Reagan's

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<v Speaker 1>national security adviser, Bud McFarlane approached him with a deal.

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<v Speaker 1>In his hospital bed, McFarland was told that Iran would

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<v Speaker 1>help secure the release of seven US hostages held by

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<v Speaker 1>Hezbollah in return for the sale of arms. McFarland later

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<v Speaker 1>claimed that President Reagan approved the arms for hostages exchange

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<v Speaker 1>in the hospital, responding, Gee, that sounds pretty good. Once

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<v Speaker 1>the media learned of the deal, Reagan was soon on

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<v Speaker 1>the hot seat. Mr. President, you have stated flatly, and

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<v Speaker 1>you stated flatly again tonight, that you did not trade

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<v Speaker 1>weapons for hostages. And yet the record shows that every

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<v Speaker 1>time an American hospit was released, there had been a

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<v Speaker 1>major shipment of arms just before that. Are we all

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<v Speaker 1>to believe that was just a coincidence? Chris? The only

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<v Speaker 1>thing I know about major shipments of arms, as I've said,

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<v Speaker 1>everything that we sold them could be put in one

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<v Speaker 1>cargo plane and there would be plenty of room left over.

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<v Speaker 1>The President's muddled denials strain credulity and hurt his credibility. Sorry,

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<v Speaker 1>if I may, The polls show that a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>American people just simply don't believe you that the one

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<v Speaker 1>thing that you've had going for you more than anything

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<v Speaker 1>else in your presidency, your credibility has been severely damaged.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you repair it? What does it mean for the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of your presidency? Well, I imagine I'm the only

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<v Speaker 1>one around who wants to repair it, and I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>do heavenning to do with distent if damaging it. Did

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<v Speaker 1>the president really have nothing to do with it? Reagan

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<v Speaker 1>undoubtedly knew what his advisers had done by the time

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<v Speaker 1>he started to stonewall the press about it, but there's

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<v Speaker 1>a good chance he truly had no recollection of authorizing

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<v Speaker 1>the arms for hostages deal. A political scientist at Northeastern

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<v Speaker 1>University named Robert Gilbert investigated this issue, conducting interviews of

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<v Speaker 1>key medical personnel surrounding the president. Gilbert told me that

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<v Speaker 1>Reagan had trouble remembering the meeting with McFarland in the

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<v Speaker 1>hospital had ever occurred, much less the substance of it,

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<v Speaker 1>and that such a memory lapse is common after a

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<v Speaker 1>surgery involving high doses of painkillers, particularly in older patients

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<v Speaker 1>like Reagan. These past nine months have been confusing and

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<v Speaker 1>pain for ones for the country. I know you have

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<v Speaker 1>doubts in your own minds about what happened in this

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<v Speaker 1>whole episode. Reagan addressed the nation on television after the

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<v Speaker 1>Iran contrahearings in Congress finished. In he remained evasive about

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<v Speaker 1>what had really happened. Our original initiative rapidly got all

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<v Speaker 1>tangled up in the sale of arms, and the sale

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<v Speaker 1>of arms got tangled up with hostages. Who knows what

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<v Speaker 1>a clear headed Ronald Reagan would have done had he

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<v Speaker 1>made the arms for hostages decision in the Oval Office

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<v Speaker 1>rather than Bethesda Hospital. Perhaps his biggest mistake was not

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<v Speaker 1>invoking the twenty five Amendment for longer while he recovered

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<v Speaker 1>from major surgery. As Professor Gilbert argues, Reagan's decision to

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<v Speaker 1>resume his presidential duties so quickly after his surgery contributed

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<v Speaker 1>substantially to the most damaging episode of his presidency. The

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<v Speaker 1>Iran contra affair not only hurt his popularity at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>but also his standing in history, and there was very

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<v Speaker 1>little even a great communicator like Reagan could do about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Flashback is written and hosted by me Sean brads Well,

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<v Speaker 1>senior writer and executive producer at Azzi. It was edited

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<v Speaker 1>by Mabe mcgarren and produced by Tracy Moran and Yorio Digizia.

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Hoff engineered our show. Make sure to subscribe to

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<v Speaker 1>Flashback on the I Heart Radio app or listen wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts