Oliver North was ahead of his time

In a fascinating blast from the past, two of the main figures in the biggest political scandal of the 1980s, Iran-Contra, have now married. Former National Security Council member Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and his ex-secretary Fawn Hall tied the knot privately last month in Virginia, after it was reported they reconnected at the funeral of North’s late wife in 2024. The pair were key figures in the Reagan-era scandal, with North running the arms-for-hostages operation and Hall providing assistance in smuggling documents, avoiding public scrutiny, and shredding evidence. Hall was granted immunity for her testimony, while North was convicted of three criminal offenses before they were overturned on appeal. During the controversy, Hall and North were rumored to have been having an affair, but both strenuously and publicly denied this. Their marriage has now brought those rumors back into the public eye.

Certainly, their unique shared experience as some of the brightest stars in the first televised real-life political drama bound them forever. The Iran-Contra hearings were the precursor to the circus-like atmosphere we see in Congress today, with round-the-clock coverage, live televised hearings and lashings of salaciousness. Both Hall and North led highly highly public lives in the immediate wake of the controversy – the former getting into Hollywood (after turning down Playboy) and the latter going into political punditry. They were pioneers of the now well-worn path of shamelessly turning scandal into celebrity.

The scandal itself could have easily been ripped from today’s headlines. Within the past 15 years, we have seen illicit arms trafficking to Latin American groups, clandestine attempts to hide government involvement in questionable national security efforts and deliberate mishandling of classified documents by top American officials. Right now, there are American hostages in the Middle East, held by Iran-backed Islamist terror groups. There are backroom negotiations to free those hostages and others around the world that result in concessions to unsavory characters. There are clandestine operations to advance American interests under the aegis of the federal government. There are increasing interventions against anti-American leftist regimes in Latin America. And the Sandinistas are still in charge in Nicaragua, running an authoritarian leftist regime.

The only real difference is that Iran-Contra would not have triggered nearly as much outrage today as under Reagan. Not only have we turned every issue into a partisan firefight that plays out in the culture, on 24/7 cable news and across the cesspools of social media, we have become inured to controversy altogether. Shame is no longer an operative part of the American ethos. It can be debated as to when that process began – the Lewinsky scandal played a big role – but it has found its full flowering in the second Trump administration.

The Iran-Contra hearings began as a bipartisan affair that was characterized by genuine interest in government oversight and an attempt to have a nonpartisan consensus. Media involvement shaped the controversy into what it became: a three-ring circus. Today, there would be nakedly partisan hearings, dueling reports, chronic leaks and constant online punditry from committee members. The leading female players would not be offered Playboy spreads, but instead might have set up their own OnlyFans accounts. North would no doubt launch his own podcast, whisky and merchandise empire.

Instinctively Donald Trump would have embraced a semi-rogue actor like North. His top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, talks directly with terrorists from Hamas – a far cry from the 1980s when negotiating with terrorists was scorned. A Truth Social post lauding the operation despite its illegality wouldn’t be out of the question.The operation itself would likely not be concealed by layers of bureaucracy and plausible deniability, but announced from the White House podium. And partisans on both sides would immediately retreat into their own echo chambers and spin entirely divergent narratives about the truth, hyper-charged by social media.

Reached by phone, North declined to comment on his new marriage, apart from quoting a line delivered by Clark Gable’s character in “Gone with the Wind.”

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” he told CNN.

With that kind of supercharged chutzpah, Ollie North was simply ahead of his time. He would have fit perfectly within a MAGA White House. Given the turnover in the Trump administration’s national security apparatus, perhaps he’ll have another chance.