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We Haven't Heard the Last of Oliver North
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12074 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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12 / 1987 |
3,596 Words |
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Neil C. Livingstone
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Oliver North will be back. Despite the fact that the star witness of the Iran-Contra hearings has dropped out of sight to contend with legal problems arising from the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, it is extremely shortsighted by some in Congress and the media to write him off as a flash in the pan. The "North for President" T-shirts have disappeared and the hoopla has subsided, but that is just as well. Such things only trivialized him and are hardly measures of his true durability as a public figure. The same personal magnetism, oratorical flair, and compelling convictions that catapulted him into the national spotlight in July will still be there when he is ready to resurface. North has charisma. Moreover, he has important things to say.
For example, at a dinner in 1984 for a prominent British parliamentarian known for his efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Northern Ireland question, it was North who gave the most eloquent toast, the one that best spoke to the issues and the mutual hopes for Ireland's future. All those present were impressed by his earnestness and insight, and nearly everyone asked about him afterward. Who was he? What was his role in government?
Today, of course, no one would have to ask. North has, in the words of one congressman, "passed over the great divide into fame." Yet he remains something of an enigma. Now that the dust from the Iran-Contra hearings has cleared, perhaps it is time to reexamine North, the man, and to try to understand who he is and what motivates him.
The man from Philmont
He has come a long way from the village of Philmont, New York, to center stage in the nationally televised congressional hearings that riveted the nation in the summer of 1987. The eldest of four children, North was born into an Army family in San Antonio, Texas. After World War II, his father left the military and moved the family back to Philmont, where he entered the family business, a wool-combing mill. The North family enjoyed a comfortable, though not privileged, existence, which revolved chiefly around church and community activities. North's parents, by all accounts, were loving and good parents, but strict disciplinarians with high expectations for their children.
Ollie, who was known in those days as Larry, is remembered more for his good looks, natural leadership, and athletic prowess than for his academic achievements. He was an above-average student, however, and one whom teachers rewarded because of the effort he expended on his studies. Indeed, the confidence and persistence with which he would later tackle his duties at the White House were readily apparent in the young Oliver North.
North won a scholarship to attend the State University of New York at Brockport, where he joined the on-campus Marine officer training program. He soon put aside thoughts of a teaching career and, after completing his sophomore year, transferred to the U.S. Naval Academy, starting over as a plebe. Shortly thereafter, North was one of four plebes involved in an automobile accident in which one was killed and the other three severely injured, including North. He was forced to leave the academy and return home to recuperate.
Although still in pain and moving
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