North vs. a Reagan : Ex-President’s Son, Contra Figure Clash on the Radio

As Oliver North bounces from city to city promoting his new book, it is unlikely he will have another interview quite like the one he participated in Thursday at KSDO-AM here.

The interviewer was Michael Reagan, son of North’s ex-boss, former President Ronald Reagan.

In what was billed as North’s only face-to-face interview with a member of the Reagan family, Reagan, an afternoon talk-show host at KSDO, took the opportunity to challenge the man who says that his father knew all about the diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan Contras.

Much like North’s appearances with Phil Donahue and Ted Koppel, the hourlong session was contentious and argumentative, as North was repeatedly questioned about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal and his interpretations of events contained in his “Under Fire: An American’s Story.”

On the air, Reagan, who believes his father was kept in the dark, pointed out that North’s assertion that President Reagan knew all was printed in italics in the book, seemingly to draw attention to it.

“I think maybe (the charge) was done to sell a book, and that becomes somewhat upsetting,” Reagan said.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but that was not the purpose of it,” replied North, who said the charge was nothing new and that it made headlines again only because the “liberal media” wanted to “drive wedges” into the “conservative coalition.”

Off the air, Reagan made it clear he is no North supporter. He called North a “great schmoozer” who has repeatedly “lied” and written a “self-serving book.”

In a recent conversation with his father and stepmother, he told them about the upcoming interview.

“(Former First Lady) Nancy (Reagan) said, ‘Why are you going to have Oliver North on your show?’ ” Reagan recalled, with a laugh. “ ‘Why?’ I said. ‘Ratings, that’s why.’ ”

Reagan, talking as “someone who has known Ronald Reagan for 46 years,” told North that the thing that bothered him most about the book was the charge that Reagan diminished the power of the President.

“I acknowledge that many people criticize me for giving your father bad advice,” North said. “If that’s the case, the bad advice didn’t stop on the 25th of November, 1986, when I was fired.”

Sounding very much like a prosecuting attorney, Reagan asked North point-blank why he never directly told the President about the diversion of funds during their many face-to-face meetings.

“I acted on the assumption and the belief that Ronald Wilson Reagan approved of what I was doing or I wouldn’t have done it,” North said.

After the show, as he and his entourage hurried off to another book signing, North was asked by a reporter if he was surprised that the interview with the ex-President’s son was so contentious.

“No,” North replied, “I think most people in . . . the media are fairly hostile. He’s no different than Donahue or one of those guys. He’s just a little more polite than Mr. Donahue.”