Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North

War Stories with Oliver North

War Stories is a military history program on the Fox News Channel. Hosted by Oliver North , the program covers a number of different stories relating to war and national defense, featuring individuals who were directly involved with the topic covered in...

on Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author.

North was at the center of national attention during the Iran-Contra affair

Iran-Contra Affair

The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...

, a political scandal

Scandal

A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...

 of the late 1980s. North was a National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

 staff member involved in the clandestine

Clandestine operation

A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed.The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental...

 sale of weapons to Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, which served to encourage the release of U.S.