North vs. a Reagan : Iran-Contra Figure Feuds on Radio With Son of Ex-Boss

As Oliver North bounces from city to city promoting his new book, it is unlikely he will have another interview quite like the one he participated in Thursday at KSDO.

The interviewer was Michael Reagan, son of North’s ex-boss, former President Ronald Reagan.

Billed as North’s only face-to-face interview with a member of the Reagan family, Reagan, an afternoon talk-show host at KSDO-AM (1130), took the opportunity to challenge the man who says his father knew all about the diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan Contras. If North expected an easy radio chat with Reagan, he was mistaken.

Much like North’s appearances with Phil Donahue and Ted Koppel, the live, hourlong session was contentious and argumentative, as North was repeatedly questioned about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal and his interpretations of events contained in his “Under Fire: An American’s Story.”

On the air, Reagan, who believes his father was kept in the dark, pointed out that North’s assertion that President Reagan knew all was printed in italics in the book, seemingly to draw attention to it.

“I think maybe (the charge) was done to sell a book, and that becomes somewhat upsetting,” Reagan said.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but that was not the purpose of it,” replied North, who said the charge was nothing new, and that it made headlines again only because the “liberal media” wanted to “drive wedges” into the “conservative coalition.”

Off the air, Reagan made it clear he is no North supporter. He calls North a “great schmoozer” who has repeatedly “lied” and written a “self-serving book.”

In a recent conversation with his father and stepmother, Nancy Reagan, he told them about the upcoming interview.

“Nancy said, ‘Why are you going to have Oliver North on your show?’ ” Reagan recalled, with a laugh. “ ‘Why?’ I said. ‘Ratings, that’s why.’ ”

North, on the other hand, is attempting to sell copies of his book. During the interview, he said he hopes sales will “help my family survive this ordeal.” The whirlwind North tour, which began Nov. 1, is scheduled to hit 22 cities in 21 days.

North had canceled his Wednesday appearances in San Diego because of the death of a friend, his publicist said. But he attended four book signings Thursday, in addition to the hourlong chat with Reagan.

“Michael Reagan had made his interest known, and Ollie thought it was an interesting idea,” said North publicist Cathy Saypol.

As with all stops on the tour, North’s handlers attempted to control television coverage of the event. Television reporters were told that they wouldn’t be allowed to use edited audio outtakes from North’s interview. They were free to ask North questions after the interview, but they were told not to record the questions and answers with Reagan because, in the past, “unflattering” comments about North had been taken “out of context,” Saypol said. She acknowledged that they could not enforce the directive but only hoped stations would honor it. At least two San Diego television stations ignored the ground rules and recorded the interview.

Asked after the Reagan interview about his handlers’ efforts to control coverage, North said he was simply following the instructions of his publisher.

“I was a really good infantry officer, and I’m going to follow their advice on it,” he said.

As he has in the past, North used the “good soldier” response often during the KSDO interview. Despite North’s contentions, Ronald Reagan has repeatedly denied knowing that proceeds from arms sales to Iran were used to fund the Contra rebels, whom the Administration wanted to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista regime.

Confronted by Michael Reagan, North labeled the “so-called diversion” as a “distortion” of the press, and, at one point, accused him of becoming “just like your colleagues in Washington.”

Reagan countered with repeated questions about inconsistencies in North’s story, from his failure to mention the involvement of CIA Director William Casey in his initial meeting with Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese to North’s apparent willingness to hide information from Congress.

Reagan, talking as “someone who has known Ronald Reagan for 46 years,” told North that the thing that bothered him most about the book was the charge that his father diminished the power of the President.

“I acknowledge that many people criticize me for giving your father bad advice,” North said. “If that’s the case, the bad advice didn’t stop on the 25th of November, 1986, when I was fired.”

Sounding very much like a prosecuting attorney, Reagan asked North why he never directly told the President about the diversion of funds during their many face-to-face meetings.

“I acted on the assumption and the belief that Ronald Wilson Reagan approved of what I was doing, or I wouldn’t have done it,” North said.

As he and his entourage hurried off to another book signing, a reporter asked North after the show if he was surprised that the interview with the ex-President’s son was so contentious.

“No,” North replied, “I think most people in . . . the media are fairly hostile.

“He’s no different than Donahue or one of those guys. He’s just a little more polite than Mr. Donahue.”