Editing Ronald Reagan (section)

===Iran–Contra affair===
{{Main|Iran–Contra affair}}
[[File:Photograph of President Reagan receiving the Tower Commission Report in the Cabinet Room - NARA - 198581.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan in the Cabinet Room to receive the Tower Commission Report on the Iran–Contra affair, February 1987|Reagan receiving the [[Tower Commission]] on the [[Iran–Contra affair]], 1987]]

Reagan authorized [[William J. Casey]] to arm the [[Contras]], fearing that Communists would take over Nicaragua if it remained under the leadership of the [[Sandinistas]]. Congress passed the 1982 [[Boland Amendment]], prohibiting the CIA and Department of Defense from using their budgets to provide aid to the Contras. Still, the Reagan administration raised funds for the Contras from private donors and foreign governments.<ref>Weisberg, pp. 128–129</ref> When Congress learned that the CIA had secretly placed [[naval mine]]s in Nicaraguan harbors, Congress passed a second Boland Amendment that barred granting any assistance to the Contras.<ref>Patterson, pp. 208–209</ref> By mid-1985, [[Hezbollah]] began to [[Lebanon hostage crisis|take American hostages in Lebanon]], holding seven of them in reaction to the United States' support of Israel.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=488–491}}

Reagan procured the release of seven American hostages held by Hezbollah by selling American arms to Iran, then engaged in the Iran–Iraq War, in hopes that Iran would pressure Hezbollah to release the hostages.<ref name="weisberg129134"/> The Reagan administration sold over 2,000 missiles to Iran without informing Congress; Hezbollah released four hostages but captured an additional six Americans. On [[Oliver North]]'s initiative, the administration redirected the proceeds from the missile sales to the Contras.<ref name="weisberg129134">Weisberg, pp. 129–134</ref> The transactions were exposed by ''[[Ash-Shiraa]]'' in early November 1986. Reagan initially denied any wrongdoing, but on November 25, he announced that [[John Poindexter]] and North had left the administration and that he would form the [[Tower Commission]] to investigate the transactions. A few weeks later, Reagan asked a panel of federal judges to appoint [[United States Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel|a special prosecutor]] who would conduct a separate investigation.<ref>Patterson, pp. 210–211</ref>

The Tower Commission released a report in February 1987 confirming that the administration had traded arms for hostages and sent the proceeds of the weapons sales to the Contras. The report laid most of the blame on North, Poindexter, and [[Robert McFarlane (American politician)|Robert McFarlane]], but it was also critical of [[Donald Regan]] and other White House staffers.<ref>Brands, pp. 646–649</ref> Investigators did not find conclusive proof that Reagan had known about the aid provided to the Contras, but the report noted that Reagan had "created the conditions which made possible the crimes committed by others" and had "knowingly participated or acquiesced in covering up the scandal".<ref>Patterson, pp. 211–212</ref> The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan's competency and the wisdom of conservative policies.<ref>Rossinow, pp. 202–204</ref> The administration's credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran.<ref>Brands, pp. 653, 674</ref>