Oliver North

Oliver North
North in 2017, wearing his Silver Star medal ribbon
President of the National Rifle Association
In office September 2018 – April 29, 2019
Preceded by	Pete Brownell
Succeeded by	Carolyn D. Meadows
Personal details
Born	Oliver Laurence North (1943-10-07) October 7, 1943 (age 80) San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Betsy Stuart ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	4
Education	State University of New York, Brockport United States Naval Academy (BS)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1968–1990
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Unit	1st Battalion, 3rd Marines (Vietnam) 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines 2nd Marine Division
Commands	Northern Training Area
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Silver Star Bronze Star with valor Purple Heart (2) Combat Action Ribbon Presidential Service Badge

Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s. It involved the illegal sale of weapons to the Khomeini regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran to encourage the release of American hostages then held in Lebanon. North formulated the second part of the plan, which was to divert proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contra rebel groups in Nicaragua, sales which had been specifically prohibited under the Boland Amendment. North was granted limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before Congress about the scheme. He was initially convicted on three felony charges, but the convictions were vacated and reversed and all charges against him dismissed in 1991, on the grounds of immunity.

North unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Chuck Robb from Virginia in 1994. In a three-way race, North narrowly lost to Robb by a margin of 2.73%. He then hosted a talk show on Radio America from 1995 to 2003, and hosted War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News from 2001 to 2016. In May 2018, North was elected as president of the National Rifle Association. On April 27, 2019, he resigned amidst a dispute with the organization's chief executive Wayne LaPierre,^[1] and was succeeded by Carolyn D. Meadows.^[2]