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About the Project

This project evolved from an applied ethics and public policy course at Brown University called Good Government. The course examines several concepts that have been promoted in the name of good government, including integrity, accountability, and transparency. The course also examines Watergate and subsequent political scandals.

How to cover the Iran-Contra Affairs has posed a serious challenge. The most comprehensive book on the matter is Theodore Draper's A Very Thin Line: The Iran-Contra Affairs. However, the book is 700 pages long and it is out of print.  There is not a single website devoted exclusively to this subject like there is for Watergate.  This website is intended to fill that gap and provide an educational resource with extensive materials about the issue.

We were fortunate that C-SPAN started posting digitized video from the Iran-Contra hearings in the spring of 2010 and want to thank them for their assistance in finding all the clips we needed. We selected and have embedded close to 100 clips from the hearings. We also gratefully acknowledge the National Security Archive and ProQuest LLC for permission to make a host of documents freely available on this site.

This project was supported by an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA) from the Dean of the College and by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions. The project was supervised by Professor Ross Cheit. The students who have conducted the research and created content are: Sara Chimene-Weiss, Sol Eppel, Jeremy Feigenbaum, Seth Motel, Ingrid Pangandoyon, and Michael D'Ortenzio. The site was designed by Ingrid Pangandoyon with Ryan Chan providing technical assistance.