The nsc’s invisible man – foreign policy

I n July , Oliver North was living proof of what could happen when obscure government staffers exercise power on their own.

The nsc’s invisible man – foreign policy: Brent Scowcroft, George H.

As television cameras rolled, the staffer recounted his role in the scheme to sell weapons to Iran and funnel the proceeds to Contras battling a socialist government in Nicaragua. I was 8 years old. Yet when I began research for a book on the people and power of the NSC—a project that eventually included reviewing 10, archival documents and almost interviews with policy makers from the Reagan administration and more—I was surprised how seldom Iran-Contra came up.

There is one Washington wise man to thank for that. Brent Scowcroft, an unassuming Utahn, retired Air Force lieutenant general, and former national security adviser, has done more than anyone to shape the NSC and the way Washington makes foreign policy today. Even before North testified, Scowcroft took steps to not only save the staff but empower it.

Thirty years later, the institution that Scowcroft empowered serves at the pleasure of Donald Trump. The 45th president has even taken to Twitter to thank NSC staffers for their service. Unsurprisingly, Americans have taken again to thinking that those in government are off again on their own wild ride. A poll last year found that three-quarters of Americans believed that unelected government and military officials secretly control policy decisions in Washington.