Not too long ago, Ronald Reagan called Oliver North an "American hero." Now he says his former White House aide is lying.
The turnabout is the latest twist in an extraordinary political feud that pits Republican against Republican, former Reagan aide against former Reagan aide as Sen. John Warner and much of the Republican establishment try to keep a Senate nomination from North, the retired Marine lieutenant colonel of Iran-Contra fame.Reagan refused to endorse, saying he'd leave it up to the people of Virginia to pick between North and James C. Miller III, the former Reagan budget director who also is seeking the Senate nomination at a June party convention.
"But I do have to admit that I am getting pretty steamed about the statements coming from Oliver North," Reagan said in a letter released by Warner and Miller on Thursday.
In a book and in subsequent interviews, North has said Reagan was aware of the secret operation to funnel money from arms sales to Iran to Nicaraguan Contra rebels. Also, North has said he was ordered to lie to Congress and that he believed his superiors had Reagan's authority to issue the orders.
Former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt, a Reagan friend who supports Miller, took issue with North's statements. "I must tell you, my friend, that I sense North's irresponsible conduct has hurt you somewhat," Laxalt wrote in a letter to Reagan.
In a response dated Wednesday, Reagan lamented the "false statements that one candidate continues to make" and said he never instructed North or anyone else to lie to Congress. And, "I certainly did not know anything about the Iran-Contra diversion."
A defiant North called a news conference and insisted "I never, never, never said that Ronald Reagan asked me to mislead anybody about anything in Iran-Contra. North called Reagan "a president that I revere and admire." And he said "people have flat out lied" to Reagan in a "desperate attempt to salvage a foundering political campaign."
In a letter of his own to Reagan, signed under the Marine motto "semper fidelis" (always faithful), North said "for political reasons some are trying to mislead you about me."
But North did write that he followed orders "by those superior to me who reported directly to you and I have every reason to believe at the time that they had your authority as well."