Process Paper

What originally drew our group to the idea of researching the Iran-Contra Affair
was the secrecy and intrigue behind such an operation operating outside of the
populations knowledge. Additionally, we were interested in the United States foreign
policy with Iran, as our research period coincided with the completion of the Iran deal
regarding nuclear weapons in 2015. Reagans involvement, or lack thereof, was
especially interesting. We wondered: what is happening today within the government that
even President Obama does not know about, or has illegally sanctioned? How could
Reagan possibly have stayed in office and high in the approval ratings during a scandal
he clearly should have prevented?
Once we knew we wanted to study the Iran-Contra Affair and how Reagans
involvement impacted his public approval, we searched in our local library, the HamiltonWenham Public Library, for appropriate books covering our topic. We also did some
online primary research, finding videos and speeches from Reagan. We utilized the
website, JStor, and other journal searches to find articles from the time of the Affairs in
order to better understand the full impact of the events. Several of the books we found are
by primary sources within the scandal or the Reagan Administration. We each
individually took notes on excerpts from books, journal articles, and primary articles. We
then came together to form our thesis. Following this, our group reached out to two
candidates, Lawrence Friedman and Victor Hansen, for their views on the Iran-Contra
Affair. Their feedback was outstanding and furthered our groups understanding of the
affairs. We have multiple sources written by the National Security Archive, a leading
archive on the Iran-Contra Affair.

After completing our research, we debated which medium to utilize for our
project. After considering a documentary, we chose a website because we felt we could
more concisely convey the information we wished to. Each member of our group
contributed to the website with writing, sourced information, and artistic vision.
So, how does the Iran-Contra affair fit into the theme of Exploration, Encounter,
and Exchange? To begin with, the Iran-Contra affairs themselves were exchanges of
goods and services. The U.S. provided arms to Iran in EXCHANGE for hostages, and
then in turn supplied the contras with aid in an EXCHANGE of arms and money for anticommunist fighting. The ENCOUNTERS between the American diplomats and the
Iranian diplomats in secrecy are shrouded in mystique, although details came out in the
hearings and trials that would follow the outing of the scandal. A famous ENCOUNTER
associated with the affair was the CIAs secret aid to the contras in order to prove to
Congress that the contras could be supplied and trusted with weapons. After the events,
the courts and public were able to EXPLORE the depths of concealment and secrecy that
surrounded the illegal activities being taken on by North and his department. To
conclude, the Encounters, Exchanges, and Exploration of the Iran-Contra Affair have had
a lasting legacy on foreign policy and Reagans legacy post-scandal.