By all accounts, 1986 seemed to be mostly about Terrorists, countries harboring terrorists, and countries getting caught.

Probably the most dramatic would be the Iran-Contra scandal that blossomed forth in 1986. The other would be the ongoing problem with Libya and Libya's ties with terrorist organizations.

Not a good year if you were an American tourist. It seemed that bombs were going off in tourist hangouts all over Europe during the Summer and countries were scrambling to find solutions.

It wasn't all bad news though. A popular uprising toppled the Marcos regime in the Philippines, paving the way for democratically elected Corzon Aquino to assume leadership for the first time in many years. The upshot was we didn't have to hear about Imelda Marcos' shoes for a while.

But the year was laced with drama. No less grim was that of Chernobyl and the specter of nuclear power plant accidents and disasters, which were on the rise. Up to that point we only had Three Mile Island to compare it all to. Now the new measure for disaster was Chernobyl.

All in all 1986 gave the decade a dose of reality it was avoiding for a while. Since the Reagan Years sought to paint a rosy picture of the Shining City On A Hill - the terrible reality was the facade was crumbling.

1986 as part of the CBS Radio Series Where We Stand with Walter Cronkite.

For all intents and purposes, just a typical June day - only it's 1984.

President Reagan arrived in London on this day, as the 10th Economic Summit got started. A full slate of issues greeted the participants.

A Liberian Grain ship hit a mine in the Persian Gulf, escalating tensions in the already war-torn region. Fighting in the Iran-Iraq War was grinding along with casualties mounting by the hour.

Fighting between Sikhs and the Indian Army escalated with the Army storming the Golden Temple in the Punjab region, resulting in the deaths of 300 Sikhs as well as their leader. The battle touched off Sikh riots in New Delhi with a reported 30 dead at the time of this news report.

A joint Military exercise between the U.S. and El Salvador enraged the government of Nicaragua, who claimed it was ruse in order to stage a full-on invasion of that country. Protests were lodged.

A sailboat bound from Haiti to the U.S. capsized off the Florida coast with a reported 6 drowned and some 61 rescued. The suspicion was the sailboat was crammed with refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.

The Presidential Primaries held on Tuesday yielded sufficient delegates for Walter Mondale to secure the Democratic nomination for the November election.

Flash floods were raging around Vermont.

And it was reported that Acid Rain was more widespread than previously thought.

All this and a lot more on this June 7, 1984 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) Network news.

How this day in 1987 was going to end up was anybody's guess, but in the morning, when this newscast went on the air, everything was up for grabs.

First off - President Reagan was getting ready to give his first press conference since November of '86. And since that one was such a nightmare, he was going into serious overtime rehearsing his appearance before the Fourth Estate, making sure no gaffes would come back to haunt him.

And for good reason; the Iran-Contra scandal was burned into everyone's consciousness and it showed no signs of letting up. Even vice-President Bush was fending off inquiries over a $1,000 contribution made by financier/pop-maven Adnan Khashoggi, who claimed the elder Bush was twisting arms like pretzels in search of cash for the Contras.

However, that didn't stop Congress from approving yet another $40 million outlay for the Contras, seeing as Reagan was holding the Veto card over everyone's head if they dared say no.

And to make sure things were going smoothly, the CIA was found to be supplying the Contras with maps and blueprints of all the dams, power systems and ports in helped put together in Nicaragua, just to be safe.

In other news, newly disgraced former White House aide Michael Deaver was trying desperately to stay out of jail, even though all signs were pointing to it. Seems his influence peddling was getting the best of him no matter what he was trying. The House passed the 65 mph speed limit with 55 mph advocates painting dire pictures of highway littered with bodies as the result.

And Bristol-Myers was optimistic that it may have developed an AIDS vaccine and wanted Capitol Hill permission to start testing it on humans.

And that's what March 19th sounded like in 1987, as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.

So March 14th 1984 had a lot to do with Super Tuesday, which the previous day was (which just so happened was also yesterday in 2012).

The big winners were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale, with Hart picking up 171 delegates to Mondale's 161. Hart was confident he would go the distance. Not going the distance was George McGovern who, as promised he would do so if he didn't win first or second place in Massachusetts, dropped out of the race on this Wednesday morning. All the pundits agreed, the horse race was underway.

In other news: Atlantic City New Jersey Mayor Michael Matthews was recalled in a special election that took place the day before.

Convicted murderer James "Cowboy" Autry was put to death at 12:01 on this day in Texas. The first of what would be four executions to take place in Texas for the month of March.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was shot and wounded by an unknown attempted assassin. Adams was recovering from the ordeal.

On Capitol Hill this day - The Senate Appropriations Committee proposed expanding funding for our excursions in Latin America. First was increased funding for CIA and their covert war in Nicaragua and the second was tripled spending on Military aid to El Salvador. Both funding increases were asked for by the Reagan White House.

And a ceasfire in Beirut Lebanon was appearing to take hold, however shaky it seemed.

And that's how the day went, this March 14th in 1984 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

News of this day in 1982 was pretty sad. It had been reported that actor John Belushi had died earlier in the day from "natural causes". Only as the hours went by did the news reports get more facts in. Still, Belushi the Comic genius was gone and that was bad enough.

In other news (if we really paid attention at the time) - Gen. Alexander "I'm In Charge Here" Haig claimed proof that Cuban and Nicaraguan aid was pouring in to the rebels in El Salvador.

The trial of Klaus von Bulow was wrapping up with Defense resting its case. Only a matter of time before it went to the Jury.

Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill were proposing a crackdown on people who underpaid their taxes. It was said this sort of forgetfulness was responsible for the government not getting as much as $77 Billion in tax revenue.

Rumors that Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev had died halted temporarily the downward spiral in gold prices. When he later appeared on TV the prices spiraled upward.

And so went that particular March 5th in 1982 via CBS Hourly News as well as local (KNX-Am) coverage of the Belushi death.

Breaking news on this day in February, 1988. After an all day debate on Military funding for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, the house voted 219-211 to deny the Reagan request. Since it had already given over $36 million in aid opponents called on the House to "give peace a chance", a phrase that was widely mocked and ridiculed by the hawks and the White House.

Meanwhile - The Senate approved by a vote of 97-0 the confirmation of Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court. Speaking of courts, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Surrogate Mother contracts were akin to baby selling, which were considered illegal, so the Baby M controversy got a major set-back. On the matter of Election 1988, Presidential hopeful Bob Dole was being accused of handing favors to friends in the form of fat government contracts. Dole feigned amnesia.

Speaking of amnesia; Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega was to be indicted by the U.S. government for drug trafficking, even though it was casually revealed Noriega was on the CIA payroll to the tune of $200,000 a year for well over a decade as some sort of anti-Communist operation. The G-Man giveth - the G-Man taketh away.

An oil slick from a spill of some 300,000 gallons of crude was making its way to the Brittany coast of France. The uproar in Paris was palpable. And on the subject of uproars, it was discovered Brazil had entered into a very lucrative arms deal with Libya. That little bon mots didn't sit well with Capitol Hill.

And so it went, spinning quietly out of control this February 3rd 1988 as reported by CBS News and CBS Special Reports.

Another day the world went slightly askew. June 13, 1979. U.S. policy towards Zimbabwe/Rhodesia went flying into reverse as the the Senate voted 52-41 to repudiate the Carter administrations call for sanctions against the still-White Minority ruled former colony. Carter promised a veto for their trouble. Speaking of Jimmy, preparations were underway for his first face-to-face with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the signing of the SALT II peace treaty in Vienna in a few days. It was still getting blasted by the likes of Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who said signing the treaty would leave the U.S. inferior to the Soviets. No doubt that bit of "wimp baiting" may have been a factor in Carter's vow to "whip his ass" when asked about a possible challenge in 1980 from Senator Ted Kennedy for re-election to the White House at a dinner the previous night.

Speaking of howls of disgrunt, the Annual Conference of Mayors in Pittsburgh had a few choice syllables to say about the coming "Austere 80's", which were just around the corner. The words were no doubt unprintable but the sentiments left nothing to the imagination. More of the same, less of everything and don't drop the soap.

And it wasn't a fun-filled day for the Somoza regime in Nicaragua either as Sandanistas were romping towards Managua at break-neck speed in that "preview of coming attractions" imbroglio to topple the Military government. And a 28% rise in gas prices caused a major flip-out in Panama as riots ripped up the scenery and more than a few Mobil stations. Funny, we just shrug our shoulders when that happens here - the gas prices, not the riots.

And Cambodia was wondering what to do with the Welcome Mat as Thailand packed up and sent thousands of refugees back home, now that Pol Pot was over. The sight of endless bus convoys probably soiled more than a few border guards shorts, but the trudge back home was non-negotiable.

And you thought the dewey-eyed notion of history was an attack of the warm and fuzzies? Hate to burst the bubble but . . . no.

And so went the spinning Earth from the CBS World News Roundup on this June 13th in 1979.

This day in 1981 saw British Prime Minister pay a visit to President Reagan for talks in Washington. The "two-peas-in-a-pod" analogy became glowingly apparent during their toasts and throughout their talks. Meanwhile, the situation in Central America was quickly derailing as accusations flew back and forth between Washington and Moscow of who was shipping arms to whom. I suppose if we had that luxury of clairvoyance in 1981 we'd all know how it would unfold a few years later. Nonetheless, fighting was going on and sides were quickly being drawn. Meanwhile, in the Middle East - attempts were being made to forge some sort of settlement between warring Iran and Iraq on the parts of Arab neighbors as that war galloped on.

All in all, a rather typical February 28th day thirty years ago as this episode of the CBS World News Roundup with Neil Strawser points out.

(Getting the stories straight - what they didn't know and when they didn't know it)

The echo from Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address had hardly decayed when word starting leaking around about covert activities and the CIA's renewed "fooling around" with foreign governments as a result of the Reagan Administrations stepped up efforts to destabilize (the nice word for overthrowing) various governments deemed unfriendly towards the U.S.

And Central America along with our clandestine interests came up for particular scrutiny in early 1982 when this Nightline broadcast first aired (February 18). Ted Koppel hosted a panel which consisted of Ray Cline, E. Howard Hunt, Senator Joe Biden and former Senator Frank Church. The subject was just how involved in all this were we?

From the White House Press Conference earlier that day:

Question (Press conference): “Have you approved of covert activities to de-stabilize the present government of Nicaragua?”

Pres. Reagan: “Here again, this is something upon which . ..national security interests I just . . I will not comment.

Question: “Do you approve the (muffled) policy is, as far as having American covert operations to de-stabilize any existing government without specific reference to Nicaragua?”

Reagan: “There again I’m going to say this is like discussing the options. And – no comment.”

Funny how it eventually went from "no comment" to "I don't recall". It begs the question of just how aware (or unaware) Reagan was with the goings on in his own White House. If he was truly aware, he would probably top Nixon in the honors of deceit. If he was truly unaware, that would give credence to the notion that Reagan was, indeed our first figurehead President.

(Luis Somoza - like father like son)

Virgil Pinkley (News commentator): “The Champ is dead, but his heirs are still in firm control of one of the most durable, profitable and enemies charged, most ruthless dictatorships ever to rise in the Western Hemisphere. Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua died in a Panama Canal Zone hospital from four bullets fired into his body by an assassin.”

On September 29, 1956, Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza was gunned down by four assassins bullets while attending a dance. Somoza, who seized power in 1937 died some seven days later and his son Luis quickly assumed power. His Presidency was assured on February 4,1957 when he was officially inaugurated. And so the Somoza regime continued, pretty much unabated until his ouster by the Sandanistas in 1979. What resulted involved the U.S. and what became the infamous Iran/Contra scandal. A general state of chaos continued until around 1990 when Violeta Chamorro won an upset victory in the country's first free poll since 1937.

Some things just don't change overnight.