Althouse: "She rekindled the relationship at the funeral" — for his wife of 56 years

September 9, 2025

"She rekindled the relationship at the funeral" — for his wife of 56 years — "They started spending time together.”

From "Iran-Contra figures Oliver North and Fawn Hall secretly marry 40 years after scandal: report" (NY Post).

Hall had been married Danny Sugarman, the manager of The Doors, from 1993 until his death in 2005.

56 comments:

Humperdink said...: I remember Lt. Col. North testifying before congress. He made them look like fools. Just like Trump administration officials do today.; 9/9/25, 10:09 AM
CJinPA said...: You can't explain love. Hope they're happy.; 9/9/25, 10:20 AM
Big Mike said...: Not much of a secret.; 9/9/25, 10:25 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Good on them both.; 9/9/25, 10:42 AM
Lazarus said...: Iran-Contra, like Watergate, was what happened when the appointees tried to do things on their own that the intelligence agencies get away with all the time. People got indignant because they didn't realize that the massively televised scandals were only the tip of the iceberg.
¨
I remember turning on the TV and seeing a massive throng of reporters on Oliver North's street and thinking, "That "Platoon" movie was bad, but was it really a crime?"
¨
Did Fawn smuggle out documents in her boots? Maybe Sandy Berger would have been a better match. So much in common ...; 9/9/25, 10:42 AM
Dave Begley said...: Big hair.; 9/9/25, 10:43 AM
Eva Marie said...: Oliver North’s testimony was fantastic. Congrats to them both. Happy story of the day.; 9/9/25, 10:48 AM
Achilles said...: A decent happy person.

Unlike the scum that persecuted him and destroyed his marriage.; 9/9/25, 10:49 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: That's nice. North should have been elected to the Senate. IRC, Reagan more or less disowned him. Looking back to the 80s, it was actually two wings of the Uniparty fighting each other. What difference did it make. Reagan, Mondale, Bush, Dukakais. Peas in a pod on most issues.; 9/9/25, 11:01 AM
Readering said...: How was North's first marriage destroyed? They remained married more than five decades until her recent death. Now Hall, who attended the funeral, should eventually get the surviving spouse benefits, after caring for new husband, turning 82.; 9/9/25, 11:03 AM
Iman said...: May the Lord bless the happy couple!; 9/9/25, 11:05 AM
Joe Bar said...: Wow! Blast from the past!; 9/9/25, 11:08 AM
mccullough said...: Ortega is still running Nicaragua. Romantic comedy at its best.; 9/9/25, 11:37 AM
NKP said...: Ollie’s long-time rival, Jim Webb DID win a Senate seat. Wonder how he felt about that?

“The Nightingales Song”. Fabulous book about some notables at Naval Academy.; 9/9/25, 11:51 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I find the NYP more fact-based than some of Althouse's sources, which were also my preferred sources long ago as well.; 9/9/25, 12:30 PM
hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...: 'Echelon' was word of the Day during that episode; 9/9/25, 12:34 PM
Earnest Prole said...: To get a sense of Oliver North’s caper, imagine Lt Col Alexander Vindman conspiring with some Biden Administration neocons to sell arms to Iran and then secretly using the proceeds to fund the Ukrainian resistance after Republicans in Congress had persuaded their Democratic colleagues to terminate all assistance to Ukraine in a unanimous vote.; 9/9/25, 12:37 PM
boatbuilder said...: Does "secretly" marrying mean that you don't have your publicist put out a press release?; 9/9/25, 12:43 PM
Psota said...: My mother the DC insider said during the Iran-Contra hearings that she thought Hall and North had a thing going. Total vindication!; 9/9/25, 12:50 PM
rehajm said...: I was living on an island and had a day date with a beautiful girl. We were briefly at the pool but thunderstorms drove us inside for pizza and turning on the hearings. I made the mistake of one comment that suggested knowledge and interest in the proceedings. I regret that error…; 9/9/25, 12:53 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Fawn Hall. Such a great nineteen eighties kind of name.; 9/9/25, 1:17 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Things and old acquaintances do come around. A close high school friend dated two different girls in high school. He married one of them, divorced her twenty years later and married the other--and was with the second until she died age 75 or so. Being a serial sort of marrier he's found yet a third wife.; 9/9/25, 1:20 PM
RMc said...: Hall had been married Danny Sugarman, the manager of The Doors, from 1993 until his death in 2005.

I had to re-read this because I thought it was saying that The Doors were still around from 1993-2005. (They actually reunited several times after breaking up in 1973, in 1978, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2011–12 and 2012–13.); 9/9/25, 1:35 PM
Joe Bar said...: Fawn Liebowitz > Fawn Hall.; 9/9/25, 1:50 PM
Political Junkie said...: Joa Bar - No way - You need help. Fawn Hall rules.; 9/9/25, 2:02 PM
RMc said...: North should have been elected to the Senate.

Good Lord, hadn't the man been punished enough...?; 9/9/25, 2:08 PM
BG said...: My only claim to contact with the "famous" was through the spouse. The first Mrs. North ordered a sweater from the company I worked for via phone. I was the phone rep. It was for his Christmas present.; 9/9/25, 2:13 PM
MadisonMan said...: Well, those are two names I've not read in a long time! I hope they find happiness.; 9/9/25, 3:30 PM
Josephbleau said...: If I write a novel, the first line will be, “ She rekindled the relationship at the funeral.”; 9/9/25, 3:38 PM
Dr Weevil said...: A friend of a friend met Fawn Hall back when she first became famous. I forget the verb he used, but he said she "seethed" or "glowed" or "practically exploded" or something like that "with sex appeal". He was, needless to say, impressed.; 9/9/25, 3:55 PM
lonejustice said...: Love finally consummated at your wife's funeral. How romantic is that? What a fucking scumbag, even though Trump and MAGA still eulogize him.; 9/9/25, 4:55 PM
Jim at said...: What a fucking scumbag, even though Trump and MAGA still eulogize him.

Proving beyond all doubt - once again - there's not a single subject upon which you won't show yourself to be a complete ass.; 9/9/25, 5:00 PM
Dr Weevil said...: They didn't consummate the relationship (have sex) at the funeral, they just met for the first time in years and commiserated on their respective widowhoods, and decided to get in touch more often. Jeez!; 9/9/25, 5:00 PM
lonejustice said...: Not a singe one of his 4 children attended the marriage. That should tell you something.; 9/9/25, 5:06 PM
Hassayamper said...: A friend of a friend met Fawn Hall back when she first became famous. I forget the verb he used, but he said she "seethed" or "glowed" or "practically exploded" or something like that "with sex appeal".

Well duh, my college roommates and I said the very same thing, in somewhat coarser terms. So did every red blooded young man who happened to tune in to the hearings. I can remember almost nothing else about them, in fact.; 9/9/25, 5:11 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Well, duh? My point was that she was apparently even sexier in person than on television, if you can even imagine that possibility.; 9/9/25, 5:14 PM
lonejustice said...: All 4 of his children knew that he was unfaithful to their mother, and that he was an adulterer as well as a liar. That is why they never attended his marriage. But let us all celebrate this, because Trump did the same to his former wives. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN FOR ADULTERERS!!!! (not yet published on Truth Social); 9/9/25, 5:15 PM
lonejustice said...: I forgot to add that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a self-admitted serial adulterer, fully supports Oliver North.; 9/9/25, 5:21 PM
Disparity of Cult said...: Best wishes for them both.

The article doesn't say so, but a wake (if there was one) would have been more opportune for the rekindling than the actual funeral.

For worse or for better (depending on individual perspective) traditional memorial services have become less common, often replaced with the mention of a "Celebration of Life" gathering that might never occur.; 9/9/25, 5:26 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Does 'lonejustice' have any evidence that North cheated on his late wife, other than his children not showing up at his remarriage? I can think of another obvious possible explanation. If his children thought they were each going to inherit a quarter-share of a substantial estate in the next few years, they might naturally be disappointed, even angered, to find that it will probably go the second wife instead. Of course, North could, and can, leave his stuff to anyone he pleases, but that's the most likely way it would turn out, with vs. without a second marriage.; 9/9/25, 5:54 PM
Narr said...: "Does 'lonejustice' have any evidence . . . ?"

One of the things that surprised me about the Althouse commentariat was how expert many of them claimed to be on the romantic, sexual, and family lives of the people they see in public life. And that it's so important to them.

Hell, the lives of my closest family and friends are only slightly less mysterious to me than Ollie North's and Fawn Hall's, and they actually matter.

Quien es mas guapo? Fawn Hall or Hope Hicks?; 9/9/25, 6:08 PM
Iman said...: lonejustice is vying for d-bag of 2025. You be you… don’t pay any attention to the naysayers… what do THEY know that you don’t.; 9/9/25, 6:11 PM
Hassayamper said...: Quien es mas guapo? Fawn Hall or Hope Hicks?

Ni la una ni la otra. Ambas son guapAs.

Obviously Hope Hicks takes the prize if you had to pick from how they look today. She's stunning, no doubt. But Fawn Hall in her prime? No contest.; 9/9/25, 6:26 PM
lonejustice said...: My father was a combat veteran during WWII and served under General George Patton. He was disgusted about what Oliver North did. So say whatever you want. Oliver North was a disgrace to those in uniform who actually served in combat.; 9/9/25, 6:33 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Oliver North "actually served in combat" himself, and was decorated for it. Wikipedia: "a platoon commander during the Vietnam War, . . . he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal with Combat V, and two Purple Heart medals".

Writing as if he hadn't makes you look like a jerk, particularly when you have to lean on your father's combat service, since you apparently haven't served yourself. (I assume you would have mentioned it if you had.)

Whatever his faults in Iran-Contra, you can't just make up shit about him, claiming he cheated on his wife of 56 years with, so far as I can tell, no evidence whatsoever. Or rather, you can do that - it's a free country - but we can also conclude that you're filthy lying swine for doing so.; 9/9/25, 6:46 PM
lonejustice said...: The thing that amazes me the most is how Trump/MAGA people are always supporting men who engage in adultery. Adultery was one of the original 10 commandments by God to not engage in. But Trump and MAGA think that adultery is OK; 9/9/25, 6:56 PM
Dr Weevil said...: One thing that amazes me about 'lonejustice' is that he has accused Oliver North of adultery without offering any evidence whatso-fucking-ever. Another thing that amazes me is that he can't bring himself to correct his imputation of 'stolen valor' to North, and admit that the man had in fact served in combat, with distinction. What is the problem here?; 9/9/25, 7:05 PM
lonejustice said...: I guess wanting to fuck your secretary at your wife's funeral is considered normal in your life. But not mine.; 9/9/25, 7:13 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Nothing in the story implies that North 'wanted to fuck' Hall at the funeral, much less that he did so, as 'lonejustice' said at 4:55pm (assuming he even knows the meaning of "consummate"). Does 'lonejustice' not know that a "relationship" is not necessarily sexual, and that a chaste friendship can be "rekindled" without any sex occurring? (It is a poor choice of metaphor for a non-sexual relationship, but that's incompetent journalism.) I see no evidence that North and Hall ever had sex until they married, long after his first wife died - not that that's any of our business.

Wanting to tell bald-faced lies seems to be considered normal in lonejustice's life. But not mine. His lies disgust me.; 9/9/25, 7:22 PM
Narr said...: OK, 'lonejustice' gets a merit badge.; 9/9/25, 8:03 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Would that be the merit badge for Journalism, as currently practiced?; 9/9/25, 8:07 PM
Narr said...: Hassayamper--the ladies at their best. It's only fair.

Not sure which merit badge is appropriate . . . is there one for Smarmy Prurience?; 9/9/25, 8:23 PM
John henry said...: Josephbleau

The place to rekindle a relationship would be at a cremation ceremony

U; 9/9/25, 8:47 PM
Jim at said...: Oliver North was a disgrace to those in uniform who actually served in combat.

You do not speak for me, asshole. Nor do you get to speak for anybody else who served.

You seriously need to go fuck yourself.; 9/9/25, 10:13 PM
Narr said...: I should acknowledge Hassayamper's correction to my Spanish last night. I forgot to feminize.; 9/10/25, 9:49 AM
MacMacConnell said...: Dr Weevil said...
"Well, duh? My point was that she was apparently even sexier in person than on television, if you can even imagine that possibility."
That's often the case. I've met two actresses in person who were jaw dropping beautiful. The first was Bob Dole's guest at an early 80s Republican function in Topeka, Donna Douglas. The other was Brooke Shields in Topeka on a movie set. The camera just can't see beauty like the human eye.; 9/10/25, 6:51 PM