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Oliver North

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Oliver North

Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North (born October 7, 1943) is a former United States Marine, White House aide, and radio talk show host. He is most famous for his role in the Iran-Contra Affair.

North was born in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968.

North was a U.S. Vietnam veteran and was awarded the silver star, the bronze star, three Navy Commendation Medals and two purple Hearts. In 1981 he was a Cold War insider in the cabinet of Ronald Reagan, where he served as an aide to National Security Advisor Admiral John Poindexter. North was an integral player in the Iran-Contra Affair whereby the U.S. government secretly and illegally sold weapons to Iran and used the profits to fund the Contra rebel group in Central America. He is a Christian, and a regular conservative pundit on FOX News, CNN, and other networks.

Oliver North became famous when he was summoned to testify in the Iran-Contra hearings. Some saw him as the public scapegoat for many other people in the Reagan administration who were involved in the Iran-Contra affair.

North was indicted March 16, 1988, on 16 felony counts. After standing trial on 12, North was convicted May 4, 1989 of three charges: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service.

A three-judge appeals panel on July 20, 1990, vacated North's conviction for further proceedings to determine whether his immunized testimony influenced witnesses in the trial. The Supreme Court declined to review the case. Judge Gesell dismissed the case September 16, 1991, after hearings on the immunity issue, on the motion of the independent counsel.

In 1994 North again stirred controversy this time as a candidate for the United States Senate from Virginia. Although North had the backing of the mainstream Republican Party, he failed to gain an endorsement from Virginia's senior senator, John Warner, also a Republican. Warner gave his support to the incumbent Democrat, Charles Robb. North lost the election to Robb, one of the few Republican defeats in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994. A documentary film (A Perfect Candidate [1]) was made about his campaign.

North wrote an autobiography, Under Fire: An American Story (ISBN 0971700915), and has authored many military thriller novels, some of which are based on his own adventures.

North is the host of "Common Sense," a conservative radio talk show on many American stations. He has also hosted "War Stories with Oliver North" on FOX News television, and has had a small recurring role on the CBS series JAG.

North also participated as an "embedded" reporter for FOX News during the Iraq war. He was embedded with a Marine unit.

One of the most northern points on the west coast of Costa Rica, "Ollie's Point," was the favorite place for North's shipments to arrive on their way to Nicaragua. It is also considered by some to be a world-class surfing spot.

Quotes

On those who discuss the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:

  • "In the original statement issued by his [Paul M. Johnson Jr.] captors, they referred to Abu Ghraib. Now, that whole scandal has been elevated to the level of self-flagellation by our media and by politicians in Washington hoping to gain some kind of political traction from it. They have blood on their hands if they keep this up, because what we're doing is giving ammunition to the likes of the captors of Paul Johnson." - From "Hannity and Colmes" [6/16/04]
  • "The media's 'compassion' for these imprisoned miscreants and suspected terrorists [the abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison] is a front for their journalistic jihad against the [George W. Bush] administration." - From a commentary in the Washington Times [5/9/04]
  • "Alan -- Alan, for 13 or 14 days now, all we have seen on the front pages of America's newspapers is a group of obviously twisted young people with leashes and weird sex acts, the kind of thing that you might find on any college campus nowadays, being perpetrated by people in uniform." - From "Hannity and Colmes" [6/11/04]
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