Reagan was not the first President to increase the national debt -- in fact, the nation's first debts were incurred during the Revolutionary War. Nor did his Presidency see the largest increases -- while the debt increased by 160% during his two terms in office, it increased as a greater rate during World War II. However, the recent history of the national debt is intimately tied to Reagan. Fueled by tax cuts and a large defense build-up, the debt grew to record-setting levels during his tenure, and his administration saw the beginning of the current, relaxed attitude towards large deficits, offset by large cuts in Federal Government spending. By the end of Reagan's second term, the national debt had reached $2.6 trillion, or 53% of GNP, its highest level since WWII.
===Iran-Contra===
The Iran-Contra Affair was the largest political scandal in the United States during the 1980s, considered by some to be one of the largest political scandals in history.[1] Large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan Administration officials.[2] The affair is still shrouded with secrecy and it is very hard to discover the facts. It involved several members of the Reagan Administration who in 1986 helped sell arms to Iran, an avowed enemy, and used the proceeds to fund the Contras, an anti-communist guerrilla organization in Nicaragua. [3]