March 4, 1987: President Reagan's Iran-Contra Speech

March 4, 1987: President Ronald Reagan, the Iran-Contra scandal closing in on him, addresses the nation from the Oval Office.

Three months earlier, he had said, from the same desk, "We did not trade arms, or anything else, for hostages." This had since been exposed as untrue, including by the Tower Commission, chaired by a Reagan ally, former Senator John Tower of Texas.

So either the old man was lying (meaning he was a criminal), or it has been done by his people without his knowledge (which means he was incompetent), or he had simply forgotten (which also means he was incompetent).

Any way you slice it, through either impeachment and conviction, or the 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Ronald Reagan should have been removed from the Presidency for Iran-Contra. Indeed, his own people began to wonder if he was losing it.

Instead, he said the following:

The reason I haven't spoken to you before now is this: You deserve the truth. And as frustrating as the waiting has been, I felt it was improper to come to you with sketchy reports, or possibly even erroneous statements, which would then have to be corrected, creating even more doubt and confusion. There's been enough of that.

First, let me say I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. As angry as I may be about activities undertaken without my knowledge, I am still accountable for those activities. As disappointed as I may be in some who served me, I'm still the one who must answer to the American people for this behavior... 

A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true. But the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.

As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages. This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy, and to the original strategy we had in mind.

After this speech, the country (mostly) accepted his word, and left him alone. The Congressional hearings that began in early May never uncovered any evidence to incriminate Reagan. He was permitted to serve through the end of his term on January 20, 1989. America chose to forget he had committed a crime, an impeachable offense.

On November 5, 1994, Reagan released a statement that he had Alzheimer's disease. Some people suspected this as far back as 1984.

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March 4, 1987 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-99 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Gerald Wilkins scored 41 points for the Knicks.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Bullets, 117-114 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Jeff Malone scored 48 points for the Bullets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Utah Jazz, 123-105 at the Boston Garden. Kevin McHale scored 33 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 125-120 in overtime at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. Michael Jordan scored 61 points.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-100 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now named the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets, 115-107 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Mark Aguirre scored 38 for the Mavs.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 138-124 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-102 in overtime at the original ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

And there were 3 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 7-5 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 8-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And in English soccer, a North London Derby is played in the League Cup Semifinal. Arsenal come from 1-0 down to defeat arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur, 2-1 at White Hart Lane. David Rocastle scored the winning goal as regular time ran out.