Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took offic
Official portrait, 1981
Ronald Reagan with a cowboy hat at Rancho Del Cielo, 1976.
Outgoing president Jimmy Carter and President-elect Ronald Reagan with his wife Nancy in the Oval Office on November 20, 1980
President Reagan and his cabinet in 1981
The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Contragate, Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms traffick
Presidency of Ronald Reagan
…in covert arms sales to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua that were fighting to overthrow their nation's socialist government. The resulting Iran–Contra affair led to the conviction or resignation of several administration officials. During Reagan's second term, he worked with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev…
Reagan (on the far right) meets with (left to right) Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of State George Shultz, Attorney General Ed Meese, and Chief of Staff Donald Regan in the Oval Office.
A BGM-71 TOW antitank guided missile
President Reagan (center) receives the Tower Commission Report in the White House Cabinet Room; John Tower is at left and Edmund Muskie is at right, 1987.
Reagan addresses the affair from the Oval Office; March 4, 1987.