A. Investigation PlanThis investigation evaluates the Reagan administration and its inconsistent foreign policy toward Iran. The Iran-Contra affair was a controversial crisis for the fortieth president. This involved two parts: selling arms to Iran, then siphoning that money to Nicaragua. However, in this investigation, the situation with Iran will be discussed more than the situation in Nicaragua. Foreign policy relating to the Middle East will be analyzed for its confusion and complexity. The two sources used in this essay, The Long Road to Baghdad: A History of US Foreign Policy from the 1970s to the Present by Lloyd C. Gardner and The Reagan Diaries by Ronald Reagan and edited by Douglas Brinkley will be evaluated for their origin, value , objective and limits.B. Summary of Evidence Since the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979, right in the middle of Jimmy Carter's second term, our relations with Iran have been anything but healthy. Iran, at the time of the crisis, was under the radical influence of Ayatollah Khomeini. He had invaded and exiled the previous Shah with whom the United States had better relations. After learning of the Shah's battle with cancer, influential Americans convinced President Carter to allow the Shah to visit the country to receive world-class medical treatment. This did not go down well in Iran and Khomeini then called on students working at the American embassy in Tehran to act on the country's behalf in response. On November 4, these “Iranian extremists” captured fifty-two American hostages.1 Carter attempted negotiations ranging from diplomacy to helicopter invasions, but nothing worked. The relationship between the two countries...... middle of paper ......nesh. Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader. New York: Touchstone. 1997.Gardner, Lloyd C. The Long Road to Baghdad: A History of American Foreign Policy from the 1970s to the Present. New York: The New Press. 2008. Lapham, Lewis H. “Learning to Live Without Soviet Threat,” Harper's Magazine. (1987).Ray, Locker. “For American presidents, a familiar problem,” USA Today. (July 1, 2009). Reagan, Ronald. Ed. Douglas Brinkley. The Reagan Diaries. New York: HarperCollins Publisher. 2007. Rich, Alex K. “Tehran,” Our World: Iran. (2010). Taylor, Michael. “Iran-Contra Scandal Tarnished Credibility/But Americans Forgave President After He Admitted Errors in Judgment,” San Francisco Chronicle. (June 6, 2004). Walsh, Kenneth T. “Damage Control: Reagan's Contra Iran Strategy Offers Lessons,” US News & World Report .(2005).