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.

Continuing the yearly reviews, we're smack in the middle of 1966. And depending on how you look at it, it was either the tipping point where it all came unglued or we were on the verge of everything changing.

The 1966 mid-year elections and the Republicans were energized from their 1964 massacre. Governorships saw Republicans in office for the first time, including California and the beginning of what was to become The Reagan Years. Nelson Rockefeller took New York. George Romney kept Michigan. Edward Brooke, the first Black Senator and Republican was elected. Charles Percy became the first Republican Senator from Illinois.

All in contrast to the escalation of the war in Vietnam. Hanoi was being bombed, with civilians being reported among the casualties for the first time. LBJ went on a tour of Asia in order to drum up support of his Vietnam policy and came away with mass protests in Manila.

Domestically, violence was getting to be a familiar face around the country. Civil Rights demonstrations turned violent in Chicago and a sense of unease swept over the country in the wake of the goings on in 1965. It was also a year for mass murder, with 8 student nurses murdered in a dorm and 12 students killed and 40 wounded at the hands of a sniper perched on a clock tower at the University of Texas in Austin. Even politicians weren't immune with the murder of Senatorial candidate Charles Percy's daughter at the family home during his campaign.

The economy was heading into Inflation territory, but the Space program was making strides with The Gemini Program continuing and offering high points to the year.

And if all that weren't enough, The Beatles landed in the lap of controversy with John Lennon being misquoted in the press about being more popular than Jesus Christ touching off a firestorm among the unhinged. The innocent answer to a question about the current lack of faith in the world and the irony that a group like the Beatles would be more popular in the eyes of the younger generation than a religious figure got perceived as a boast rather than an indictment and piles of now-valuable Beatles albums went up in flames as a result.

And they didn't call the 60's Insane for nothing.

And here is the recap of that year by way of ABC Radio Program Voices In The Headlines.

Since this November marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Contra Scandal, I ran across this special produced by NPR on the occasion of the opening days testimony of Col. Oliver North, the man alleged to have been at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal from July 1987.

Hosted by Cokie Roberts and featuring veteran newsman Daniel Schorr, they outline the circumstances and events that led up to this moment in the hearings.

Since time and facts get fuzzy, I thought it would be a good idea to run this piece as a sort of refresher course in the scandal and the players involved.

At the end of the NPR piece is an interview conducted by KCRW's Ruth Seymour with none other than Newt Gingrich, himself an outspoken supporter of covert operations and doing-what-needs-to-be-done.

Considering he is the man who would like to be President next year, a glimpse of him twenty-five years ago might not be such a bad thing. Not that he's changed so dramatically over the years. But you get the idea of where he would like our current state of government headed, even in 1986.

History.

Certainly a baffling day if you weren't "from around here" on this June 12th in 1982. In one part of the Hemisphere you had one of the largest Anti-nuclear/Anti-War rallies being staged in Central Park in New York. While in another part of the Hemisphere you had the British Army staging the "final assault" on Port Stanley in the Falklands, and Pope John Paul II offering communion to the ruling Military Junta in Buenos Aires. Go figure.

Between all that you had the Middle-East and an announcement from Tel-Aviv that a ceasefire had been brokered in Lebanon with the PLO, and Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal's house had been bombed in Vienna.

And the much-heralded Holmes-Cooney fight ended with Holmes winning as predicted.

And that's how this particular June 12th rolled in 1982 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup and CBS Hourly News.

News for this day in 1982 was preoccupied with military action.

From Lebanon came reports that the Israeli Army was making huge advances against the PLO. While PLO leader Yassar Arafat made an appeal to the Soviet Union and other Arab nations for aid in the wake of swift action by the Israeli's. As of this report, 25 Israeli soldiers were dead, and some 7 were missing.

From Capitol Hill came word there would be no sanctions placed on Israel. The U.S. Navy was re-deploying to other parts of the Mediterranean as a precaution against direct involvement.

Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands crisis was continuing with British and Argentine troops waiting to see who blinks first,

President Reagan was visiting the UK and called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, but no such call for withdrawal for The Falkands.

On Capitol Hill - the fight was continuing over the 1983 Fiscal Spending Plan with some calling the same old problem with the same old answers. Others called it the continuing Economic Mess.

And Kermit the Frog made the Commencement Address to the graduating class of Harvard.

All that and a lot more for this day in June, 1982 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup, the 8:00 network news and the 9:00 network news.

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.

This day in 1982 was about shooting wars. British troops landed on The Falkland Islands and the shooting war started. Amid reports of casualties and both sides claiming the upper hand, the propaganda wheels were in motion. The diplomatic wheels however were not, and even though Pope John Paul II appealed to Britain to show restraint and seek a peaceful solution, Margaret Thatcher said "thanks, but no thanks". And the war was on.

Likewise in the Middle East, only this time it was Iran who boasted major gains in territory over the Iraqi's, but it didn't look as though this thing would be over anytime soon. Terrorist bombs went off in Beirut, this time at the French Embassy and with scores of casualties.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world. Successor to the ailing Leonid Brezhnev was looking more and more like Yuri Andropov, head of the Secret Police.

On Capitol Hill - Pres. Reagan's Fiscal spending plan for 1983 goes to battle at the House. Reagan also pushed for The Department of Energy to be merged with the Department of Commerce. The Supreme Court ruled people on Nixon's Enemies list did not need to be revealed. The Abortion question was also back on the docket, this time via State's rulings on abortions.

The DeLorean Auto plant in Ireland was ordered closed by the Irish government, citing no buyers in the foreseeable future.

All that, and a lot more on this May 24th in 1982 from the CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) network news.

May 21st, 1984 started off with a visit to Capitol Hill from Salvadoran President-elect Josè Napoleon Duartè. The reason for his visit was simple - money. In an effort to persuade Reagan and Congress to cough up $68 million in military aid, Duartè did his best to convince the powers-that-be that El Salvador was going to be a brand-spanking new country.

All this, amid the release of a report by Amnesty International claiming that El Salvador had been knee-deep in Death Squad executions since 1979 and some 40,000 were believed to be dead as the result. The report went on to say it had no reason to believe it was going to improve it's Human Rights record, since the Duartè government had been showing, maybe not direct involvement, but certainly tacit complicity.

And the sales pitch continued.

Meanwhile, news from the Persian Gulf was unsettling as Iran was continuing to attack and sink ships, most notably oil tankers. The move brought condemnation from the Arab League as the majority of ships sunk belonged to the Saudis. There were hints the U.S. would possibly play a role in this current Persian Gulf crisis, but what form the role would take remained to be seen. But nothing was ruled out.

Reports from Bombay estimated some 100 dead following rioting between Hindus and Muslims over the weekend. The violence was the latest in a series of tense confrontations between the two religious groups.

And Soviet Dissident Andrei Sakharov was celebrating his 63rd birthday while on his 19th day of a hunger strike in an undisclosed Soviet prison. The strike was in protest to Moscow's refusal to grant Sakharov's wife, Yelena Bonner a visa in order to seek medical treatment. The Soviets claimed it was Bonner who was the real dissident, manipulating Sakharov by brain-washing him.

And so it went, this May 21st, 1984 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) Network news with Richard C. Hottelet.

This day in May 1982 had a lot to do with negotiations - some successful and some not.

On the Cold War front - Soviet President Brezhnev proposed a series talks with the U.S. aimed at limiting the number of nuclear weapons in either country's arsenal. Brezhnev also called for a nuclear freeze, but Alexander Haig balked, saying the Russians already had more weapons than we did.

At home - debate in the Senate was heating up over Fiscal '83 with a proposed $40 billion in unspecified Budget cuts, including Social Security. But since that was such a hot-button issue, especially during an election year, it was recommended it all go no the backburner until after the election.

And the Senate was als getting ready to vote on anohter controversial piece of legislation. This time over an FTC requirement for Used Car dealers to state if a car has major known defects before it's sold. The Auto Dealer's Lobby went insane, spending vast amounts of money just to kill it.

And overseas, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin lost his majority in the Knesset as two members of Begin's Likud party bolted and joined the opposition Labour Party.

And that's how it went this May 18, 1982 as reported over The CBS World News Roundup.

News this day was about the sudden collapse of any Peace Settlement in the Middle East. Jordan's King Hussein issued a tersely worded note saying the PLO weren't serious in discussing any worthwhile peace deal. This was hot on the heels of the assassination of PLO Moderate Leader Issam Sartawi in Portugal. Reagan scrambled to put a positive spin on things, but the damage had been done and now it was back to square one.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill - Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was busy going on a promo tour for the Star Wars Missile Defense initiative, trying to drum up support. And a plan was introduced to keep the MX Missile program going, despite a Nuclear Freeze Initiative introduced in the House. Also on Capitol Hill, a fight was underway over the confirmation of Kenneth Adelman as Director of Arms Control.

The Space Shuttle Challenger was heading back to Cape Canaveral to ready for its next launch, after a successful landing the day before.

And all roads were closed in London and traffic was snarled for miles in every direction as a World War 2 era bomb was being defused.

Just one of those kinds of days.

As heard on The CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (Pacific Coast) network news for April 11, 1983.