Part 1 of Essay
The tangled U.S. foreign-policy scandal known as the Iran-contra affair came to light in November 1986 when President Ronald Reagan said yes to reports that the United States had secretly sold arms to Iran. He said that the goal was to improve relations with Iran, not to get releases of U.S. hostages held in the Middle Ea ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... a review board headed by former Republican senator John Tower. The Tower commission's report in February 1987 criticized the president's passive management style. In a nationaly televised address on March 4, Reagan accepted the reports judgement without serious disagreement. Select committees of the Senate (11 members chaired by Democrat Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii) and the house of representatives (15 members, headed by another Democrat, Lee Hamilton of Indiana) conducted televised hearings in partner ....