21. Iran-Contra Scandal
Throughout the 1980s, Iran and Iraq were locked in a bloody war. Desperate for weapons, Iran reached an agreement to buy some. It was part of a clandestine deal with some members of the Reagan administration and against the sanctions that the US had imposed on Iran due to the 1979 revolution. The money from the weapons sales would fuel Contras fighting in Nicaragua. The massive scandal nearly toppled the presidency of Reagan.