US History 1973 - 2014 Commonplace Book: Lecture 13, Iran-Contra and the End of the Cold War (Con't)

I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. As angry as I may be about activities undertaken without my knowledge, I am still accountable for those activities. As disappointed as I may be in some who served me, I'm still the one who must answer to the American people for this behavior. And as personally distasteful as I find secret bank accounts and diverted funds -- well, as the Navy would say, this happened on my watch....

A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not....

[N]o one kept proper records of meetings or decisions. This led to my failure to recollect whether I approved an arms shipment before or after the fact. I did approve it; I just can't say specifically when.

—Ronald Reagan, oval office speech on Iran-Contra, March 4, 1987

Introduction to (and explanation of) this quote series can be found here.  Read this tag to see all of them.