On November 3, a pro-Syrian Beirut magazine had broken the story that members of the Reagan Administration had been engaging in secret talks with Iran, in what we would come to know as "Iran-Contra." In the U.S. elections on November 4, the Republicans lost control of the Senate, which they had held for the first six years of Ronald Reagan's Presidency. By December 11, John Poindexter and Oliver North were household words, and critics were asking of the President, What did he know and when did he know it? A crackling discussion among four experienced observers, each with his own perspective--for example, Mr. Clurman dissecting the title question: "One, if it turns out he knew about the Contra operation ..., then he's lied about it;... secondly, if it turns out he just didn't know about it at all, then he's wounded because he's not in charge of his government... ; thirdly, if he was inattentive, then, forgive me, he sounds dumb;... or, fourth, if he was told and he forgot about it, that's rather alarming."