Lovers of major political events, the kind which dominate an entire nation’s attention, should pause for a moment to remember the second week in July – 20 years ago.
This is the 20th anniversary of one of last great political moments before the dawn of the Internet era. That event: Oliver North’s testimony to the special congressional committee investigating Iran-Contra.
More than mere testimony in a scandal that rocked the Ronald Reagan presidency, it was the last great nationwide media event before the Internet changed politics. This was all television, in its purest grand form.
With 60 million people watching, it bumped soap operas. But this was far better than any other daytime drama. This was real life.
In the Washington Post, Tom Shales called Col. North the “television champion.”
And why not? North testified in his military uniform, featuring six rows of medals on his chest. He got emotional and misty-eyed at the right moments, with a to-die-for catch in his throat. The picture of North taking the oath is one of the great political images of the modern era. The hearings were held in the storied Senate Caucus Room – home to the McCarthy hearings, Watergate, and the inspiration for the great Senate hearing scene in “Godfather II.” (Then a representative, Dick Cheney was the investigating panel’s top House Republican.)
A decade later, Arthur Liman, chief counsel for the Senate side on the special Iran-Contra committee, told the Washington Post: “Steven Spielberg later told me that North was televised at the hero’s angle, looking up as though from a pit at the committees, who resembled two rows of judges at the Spanish Inquisition. Spielberg called that the villains’ angle.”
And Time magazine said about North: “He played brilliantly upon the collective values of America, upon its nostalgias, its memories of a thousand movies (James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, John Wayne in They Were Expendable) and Norman Rockwell Boy Scout icons.”
Even Eleanor Clift dropped her jaw, saying on “The McLaughlin Group”: “I think he touched a chord in all of us. He’s Rocky, Rambo, Patton and the boy next door all wrapped up in one.”
Democratic leader Sen. George Mitchell was smitten, too: “Most Americans are taken by his personality.”
We were also taken by his testimony. Here are classic North moments which live on today:
- “They were sitting in my office and the shredder was right outside, and I walked out and shredded documents.”
- “I remember shredding documents while they were in there reading documents.”
- “Are you criticizing how well I did my shredding?”
- “I came here to tell you the truth, the good, the bad and the ugly.”
- “I thought using the Ayatollah’s money to support the Nicaraguan resistance was a neat idea.”
- “I’ll be glad to meet Abu Nidal on equal terms anywhere in the world.”
- “I think we all had to weigh, in the balance, the difference between lives and lies.”
The Time magazine cover of the hearings quoted North: “I was authorized to do everything that I did.” That line worked. As author Richard Reeves has pointed out, one poll showed that 62% of respondents said North was telling the truth but 56% said Reagan was lying.
Thousands of telegrams — in the ancient age before e-mail — poured onto the Hill. North got 150,000 telegrams in support. He also proved to be a bonanza for conservative fundraising.Tom Shales wrote of North’s second day of testimony: “It will be studied for years in universities, political forums and, perhaps, medial laboratories.”
All true. For white hot politics, few other pre-Internet events come close.
