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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2009
The Republican loss of majority status in the U.S. Senate following the mid-term elections of 1986, and the disclosure of the Reagan Administration's secret arms sales to Iran and diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan Contras, effectively brought to an end six years of senatorial deference to presidential foreign policy-making. From 1981 to 1986 the Republican-controlled Senate had generally afforded President Reagan a degree of latitude in the making of foreign policy which not only contrasted markedly with that of hisimmediate predecessors, but also prepared the atmosphere for the type of adventures pursued by Colonel Oliver North. Whereas the foreign policy initiatives of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter had been subject to considerable scrutiny by senators, thereby forcing a detailed examination of their consequences, the forbearance shown to the Reagan Administration by the Senate encouraged a much less diligent approach to policy-making.
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