Oliver North’s Pack of Lies
“Oliver North’s Pack of Lies” produced to help defeat Oliver North in his bid for Senator of Virginia, USA, 1994.
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This limited-edition pack of cards titled "Oliver North Pack of Lies" was created and published by a group called "Clean Up Congress," an environmental advocacy group promoting pro-environmental legislation and policies. The pack was distributed only in the state of Virginia as part of an active campaign against Oliver North's Senatorial bid (Oct. '94). In the end, North was defeated.
Each of the cards quotes a public statement of North at one end, and then, at the other end, following the word "Actually . . ." a statement of what "Clean Up Congress" believes to be the reality/ truth. There are 52 cards, plus 2 Jokers. The cards measure 90mm x 64mm. There is no box.
Oliver North was dismissed by then president Ronald Reagan in 1986 following the Iran-Contra affair. In 1988 he was indicted for conspiracy to defraud the government and resigned from the Marine Corps. At his 1989 trial, he was found guilty of obstructing the U.S. Congress, destroying documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity and was sentenced to two years’ probation. In 1991, after a prosecution witness claimed that his testimony had been tainted, all charges against North were dropped.
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Above: “Oliver North’s Pack of Lies” published by environmental advocacy group “Clean Up Congress” in 1994. 52 cards + 2 jokers, no box. Packs originally came packaged with a rubber band around them.
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By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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