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In the years following his return from Southeast Asia, North continued to crave action. After joining the NSC in 1981, he became known for his overt patriotism and his covert activities. North seemed to pop up at every trouble spot around the world: cheerleading for the contras in Honduras and stalking terrorists in Lebanon. He helped plan the invasion of Grenada, the secret mining of Nicaraguan harbors and the hijacking of the plane carrying the Achille Lauro terrorists. Later, North became the point man for the private network financing the Nicaraguan rebels.
By most accounts, North was a fiercely loyal man, and the person he was most loyal to was his Commander in Chief. Like the President, North developed an obsessive concern about the need to help the contras. But zeal may have taken him too far. If it is proved that North was behind the siphoning of money to the contras, he may have violated a congressional ban on such activities, a law that has since expired.
As the Iran-contra arms scandal unfolded on the small screen, Oliver North, who took to quoting the Bible and asking for divine assistance, became a household face and name in an unfinished political mini-series. There is more to come, and it remains to be seen whether North will someday be regarded as a bit player in an ephemeral scandal of a widely popular Administration or the central protagonist in a torturous national drama.