assembled a staff of twenty-three employees and be-
gan searching for evidence.
In addition to investigating the Iran-Contra affair,
the commission recruited outside experts to con-
duct twelve studies of how the NSC had performed
in crises dating back to the presidency of Harry S.
Truman. With the notable exceptions of the presi-
dent’s national security adviser, Navy vice admiral
John Poindexter, and his assistant, Marine lieu-
tenant colonel Oliver North, both of whom faced
possible prosecution, the commission completed in-
terviews of more than fifty individuals, including
principals in the Iran-Contra operation, the three
living former presidents, various past presidential
advisers, President Reagan, and Vice President
George H. W. Bush. Two weeks before its mandate
was to expire, the commission made the important
discovery that hundreds of backup copies of deleted
electronic messages remained in the NSC’s com-
puter system, and these “PROF notes” allowed the
commission to solidify and add credibility to its con-
clusions. After receiving two time extensions, the
commission presented its report to Reagan and the
public on February 26, 1987.The Commission’s Findings The Tower Commis-
sion’s report presented a detailed account of the six
arms deliveries that the United States made to Iran,
for which Iran paid $48 million, and traced how
some of the proceeds, along with money raised from
donors in the United States and foreign countries,
was used to fund and supply the Contras in Nicara-
gua. The commission drew the conclusion that the
structure of the NSC was sound but that members of
its staff had been allowed to function too indepen-
dently and to usurp the role normally served by the
Central Intelligence Agency in conducting covert
operations. Finding that the motive for arms sales
to Iran was to gain release of several Americans be-
ing held hostage in Lebanon, the commission con-The Eighties in America Tower Commission 977
Members of the Tower Commission take questions from the press on February 26, 1987. From left: Edmund Muskie, John Tower, and
Brent Scowcroft.(AP/Wide World Photos)