Poindexter, John Marlane (1936- )

US rear admiral and Republican government official. In 1981 he joined the Reagan administration's National Security Council (NSC) and became national security adviser in 1985. As a result of the Irangate scandal, Poindexter was forced to resign in 1986, along with his assistant, Oliver North.

Poindexter had sanctioned Oliver North's illegal operations to use money from arms sales to Iran to fund the Contra rebels of Nicaragua. In April 1990, he was sentenced to six months in jail for five felony counts of obstructing justice and lying to Congress, but his convictions were overturned on appeal in November 1991.

A doctor in nuclear physics, Poindexter served in the navy, rising to become deputy head of naval educational training 1978-81. From 1983 he worked closely with the NSC head, Robert McFarlane, and took over when McFarlane left in December 1985. Poindexter retired from the navy in December 1987.