Ronald Reagan

The President did not examine the nature of the Iran arms scheme or the full consequences of U.S. participation. Though committed to freeing the American hostages, the commission found, Reagan "appears to have proceeded with a concept of the initiative that was not accurately reflected in the reality of the operation."

Nor did Reagan hold his staffers accountable for their actions. His management style, the commission acknowledged, "is to put the principal responsibility for policy review and implementation on the shoulders of his advisers. Nevertheless, with such a complex, high-risk operation and so much at stake, the President should have ensured that the NSC system did not fail him. He did not force his policy to undergo the most critical review of which the NSC participants and the process were capable."