Iran-Contra, a second Watergate

so these days Watergate is a house hold word, "gate" is a suffix for every scandal and upset in politics, but Iran-Contra is largely forgotten, even though Cabinet members ended up convicted and others served time, is there any way that Iran-Contra could have been as big as Watergate, destroyed a Presidency, forced Reagan out of office, and why didn't it?
 
Somehow, get more direct evidence of Reagan ordering illegal activity. As I recall, IOTL, he was able to maintain just the right veneer of plausible deniability throughout the whole affair.
 
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Yes, something similar to the Nixon tapes would be needed.

Also, in a psychological sense, it was easier for Reagan to portray himself as someone who wasn't involved and had no dealings with the people involved in the scandal. He had the kind of public persona that made it difficult for people to believe he could be a "crook," unlike Nixon. Of course, even the possibility of Reagan being in the dark vis-a-vis the scandal would be as bad as active involvement, since it would imply that Reagan had no control over his own damn Cabinet, which would be a dereliction of duty and make him completely unfit to be President.
 
Would Reagan been able to stay in Power if Bush got busted in the scandal ?

The Vp who was ex head of the CIA being impeached might be a tipping point.
 
When you look at how events unfolded if the story broke a month or two earlier Reagan would have been toast. In October of 1986, right before Iran-Contra hit the press, a plane piloted by a CIA operative was shot down over Nicaragua and the pilot captured by Sandinistas who made him confess to running arms to the Contras on live television. If the story had hit the press before that happened, just in time for the 1986 elections, then it is quite possible you could have a chain of events ending in Reagan's impeachment.
 
Would Reagan been able to stay in Power if Bush got busted in the scandal ?

The Vp who was ex head of the CIA being impeached might be a tipping point.

If they were both Impeached, then Tip O'Neill would become President, and he was Democrat. Don't know how that would have ended up.
 
If they were both Impeached, then Tip O'Neill would become President, and he was Democrat. Don't know how that would have ended up.

Or Jim Wright would be President if Reagan and Bush were removed after December of '86.
 
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