William J. Casey

William J. Casey

13th Director of Central Intelligence
In office January 28, 1981 – January 29, 1987
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Adm. Stansfield Turner
Succeeded by	William H. Webster
Personal details
Born	March 13, 1913(1913-03-13) Elmhurst, Queens, New York
Died	May 6, 1987(1987-05-06) (aged 74) Roslyn Harbor, New York
Religion	Roman Catholic

William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

1 Biography
- 1.1 Director of Central Intelligence
2 Personal life
3 Death
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Biography

A native of Elmhurst, Queens, New York, Casey graduated from Fordham University in 1934 and earned a law degree from St. John's University School of Law in 1937. During World War II, he worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) — the predecessor to the CIA — where he became head of its Secret Intelligence Branch in Europe.^[1] He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement. Casey ran for New York's 3rd congressional district as a "Javits Republican" in 1966, but was defeated in the primary by former Congressman Steven Derounian. [1] After practicing corporate law in New York, he served in the Nixon Administration as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1971 to 1973;^[2] this position led to his being called as a prosecution witness against former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans in an influence-peddling case stemming from international financier Robert Vesco's $200,000 contribution to the Nixon reelection campaign.^[3] He then served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs for 1973-74. He was a co-founder of the Manhattan Institute in 1978. He is the father-in-law of Owen Smith, the president of Friends of the Planting Fields Aboretum State Historic Site in Oyster Bay.

Director of Central Intelligence

See also: Operation Cyclone

Casey was campaign manager of the successful presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and served on the transition team following the election. After Reagan took office, Reagan named Casey to the post of Director of Central Intelligence.^[4] Stansfield Turner dubbed it the 'Resurrection of Wild Bill', referring to Bill Donovan, the brilliant and eccentric head of OSS in WWII whom Casey greatly admired.^[5] During his tenure at the CIA, Casey played a large part in the shaping of Reagan's foreign policy, particularly Reagan's approach to Soviet international activity. Based on the book, The Terror Network, Casey believed that the Soviet Union was the source of most worldwide, terrorist activity in spite of CIA analysts providing evidence that this was in fact black propaganda by the CIA itself. Casey obtained a report from a professor who agreed with his view. Casey also turned to DIA for a competing analysis, that was ultimately reconciled with the CIA analysts to produce the estimate circulated within the government as "The Soviet Role in Revolutionary Violence."^[6] This, in turn, convinced Reagan that there was a threat.^[7] After records from the collapsed Communist governments became available in the 1990s it became clear that the disputed report under-estimated Communist involvement in terrorist activity.^[8]

Casey oversaw the re-expansion of the Intelligence Community to funding and human resource levels greater than those existing before the preceding Carter Administration; in particular, he increased levels within the CIA. During his tenure, restrictions were lifted on the use of the CIA to directly and covertly influence the internal and foreign affairs of countries relevant to American policy.

This period of the Cold War saw an increase in the Agency's global, anti-Soviet activities, which is started under the Carter Doctrine in late 1980.

Notably, Casey oversaw covert assistance to the mujahadeen resistance in Afghanistan, with a budget of over $1 billion, by working closely with Akhtar Abdur Rahman, the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan. He also oversaw assistance to the Solidarity movement in Poland; and was associated with a number of coups and attempted coups in South- and Central America.

Hours before Casey was scheduled to testify before Congress related to his knowledge of Iran-Contra, he was reported to have been rendered incapable of speech, and was later hospitalized. In a 1987 book, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987, Washington Post, reporter, and biographer, Bob Woodward, who had interviewed Casey on a number of occasions for the biography, said that he had gained entry into Casey's hospital room for a final, four-minute encounter—a claim which was met with disbelief in many quarters as well as an adamant denial from Casey's wife, Sofia. According to Woodward, when Casey was asked if he knew about the diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan Contras, "His head jerked up hard. He stared, and finally nodded yes."^[9]

Personal life

Casey was a devout Catholic and a member of the Knights of Malta.^[10]

Death

Casey died of a brain tumor in 1987 at the age of 74. His Requiem Mass was said by Fr. Daniel Fagan, then pastor of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Roslyn, New York. It was attended by, (among others) President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan. Casey is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York. He was survived by his wife, the former Sophia McDaid, and his daughter, Bernadette Smith.

References

^ Pace, Eric (May 7, 1987). "Obituary of Mr William Casey". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE4DC153EF934A35756C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. "Mr. Casey, after serving as chief of secret intelligence in Europe for the Office of Strategic Services in World War II,"
^ http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00136875
^ Woodward, Bob (1987). VEIL: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 51.
^ http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC07312471
^ Burn Before Reading, Stansfield Turner, Hyperion, 2005, first page of chapter on Ronald Reagan
^ Robert Gates, From The Shadows, 1996 (pp. 203-205 of Simon & Shuster 2006 paperback edition)
^ The Power of Nightmares Part 1 'Baby it's cold outside'
^ Gates, p. 206
^ "Did A Dead Man Tell No Tales?" by Richard Zoglin, Time, October 12, 1987
^ Phelan, Matthew (2011-02-28) Seymour Hersh and the men who want him committed, Salon.com

Joseph E. Persico. Casey: The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey-From the Oss to the CIA (1991)
Casey was featured prominently in Bob Woodward's book Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA (ISBN 0-671-60117-2).
Casey's role in the Afghanistan War in Steve Coll's book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (ISBN 1-59420-007-6).

External links

Government offices
Preceded by Hamer H. Budge	Securities and Exchange Commission Chair 1971–1973	Succeeded by G. Bradford Cook
Preceded by Thomas C. Mann	Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs February 2, 1973 – March 14, 1974	Succeeded by Charles W. Robinson
Preceded by Stansfield Turner	Director of Central Intelligence January 28, 1981 – January 29, 1987	Succeeded by William H. Webster

Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)

Cabinet

Secretary of State	Alexander M. Haig, Jr. (1981–1982) · George P. Shultz (1982–1989)

Secretary of the Treasury	Donald T. Regan (1981–1985) · James A. Baker, III (1985–1988) · Nicholas F. Brady (1988–1989)

Secretary of Defense	Caspar Weinberger (1981–1987) · Frank C. Carlucci (1987–1989)

Attorney General	William French Smith (1981–1985) · Edwin Meese III (1985–1988) · Richard L. Thornburgh (1988–1989)

Secretary of the Interior	James G. Watt (1981–1983) · William P. Clark, Jr. (1983–1985) · Donald P. Hodel (1985–1989)

Secretary of Agriculture	John R. Block (1981–1986) · Richard E. Lyng (1986–1989)

Secretary of Commerce	Malcolm Baldrige, Jr. (1981–1987) · C. William Verity, Jr. (1987–1989)

Secretary of Labor	Raymond J. Donovan (1981–1985) · William E. Brock (1985–1987) · Ann Dore McLaughlin (1987–1989)

Secretary of Health and Human Services	Richard S. Schweiker (1981–1983) · Margaret M. Heckler (1983–1985) · Otis R. Bowen (1985–1989)

Secretary of Education	T. H. Bell (1981–1985) · William J. Bennett (1985–1988) · Lauro F. Cavazos (1988–1989)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. (1981–1989)

Secretary of Transportation	Andrew L. Lewis, Jr. (1981–1983) · Elizabeth H. Dole (1983–1987) · James H. Burnley IV (1988–1989)

Secretary of Energy	James B. Edwards (1981–1983) · Donald P. Hodel (1983–1985) · John S. Herrington (1985–1989)

Cabinet-level

Vice President	George H. W. Bush (1981–1989)

Director of Central Intelligence	William J. Casey (1981–1987) · William H. Webster (1987–1989)

Ambassador to the United Nations	Jeane Kirkpatrick (1981–1985) · Vernon A. Walters (1985–1989)

Trade Representative	William E. Brock, III (1981–1985) · Clayton K. Yeutter (1985–1989)

Directors of Central Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence	Sidney Souers Hoyt Vandenberg Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter W. Bedell Smith Allen W. Dulles John A. McCone William Raborn Richard Helms James R. Schlesinger William Colby George H. W. Bush Stansfield Turner William J. Casey William H. Webster Robert Gates R. James Woolsey, Jr. John M. Deutch George Tenet

Central Intelligence Agency	Porter J. Goss Michael Hayden Leon Panetta David Petraeus

Chairmen of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission

Kennedy · Landis · Douglas · Frank · Eicher · Purcell · Caffrey · Hanrahan · McDonald · D Cook · Demmler · Armstrong · Gadsby · Cary · Cohen · Budge · Casey · B Cook · Garrett · Hills · Williams · Shad · Ruder · Breeden · Levitt · Pitt · Donaldson · Cox · Schapiro

Cold War

Participants and notable figures ANZUS NATO Non-Aligned Movement SEATO Warsaw Pact

1940s	Yalta Conference Operation Unthinkable Potsdam Conference Gouzenko Affair War in Vietnam (1945–1946) Iran crisis of 1946 Greek Civil War Corfu Channel Incident Restatement of Policy on Germany First Indochina War Truman Doctrine Asian Relations Conference Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Western betrayal Iron Curtain Eastern Bloc Chinese Civil War (Second round)

1950s	Korean War 1953 Iranian coup d'état Uprising of 1953 in East Germany 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état Partition of Vietnam First Taiwan Strait Crisis Geneva Summit (1955) Poznań 1956 protests Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Suez Crisis Sputnik crisis Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Cuban Revolution Kitchen Debate Asian–African Conference Bricker Amendment McCarthyism Operation Gladio Hallstein Doctrine

1960s	Congo Crisis Sino–Soviet split 1960 U-2 incident Bay of Pigs Invasion Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War 1964 Brazilian coup d'état United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–1966) South African Border War Transition to the New Order Domino theory ASEAN Declaration Laotian Civil War Greek military junta of 1967–1974 Six-Day War War of Attrition Cultural Revolution Sino-Indian War Prague Spring Goulash Communism Sino–Soviet border conflict

1970s	Détente Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Black September in Jordan Cambodian Civil War Realpolitik Ping Pong Diplomacy Four Power Agreement on Berlin 1972 Nixon visit to China 1973 Chilean coup d'état Yom Kippur War Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Rhodesian Bush War Angolan Civil War Mozambican Civil War Ogaden War Sino-Albanian split Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Iranian Revolution Operation Condor Bangladesh Liberation War Korean Air Lines Flight 902

1980s	Soviet war in Afghanistan 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics boycotts Solidarity Soviet reaction Contras Central American crisis RYAN Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Able Archer 83 Star Wars Invasion of Grenada People Power Revolution Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 United States invasion of Panama Fall of the Berlin Wall Revolutions of 1989 Glasnost Perestroika

1990s	Democratic Revolution in Mongolia Breakup of Yugoslavia Dissolution of the Soviet Union Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

Foreign policy	Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan Containment Eisenhower Doctrine Domino theory Kennedy Doctrine Peaceful coexistence Ostpolitik Johnson Doctrine Brezhnev Doctrine Nixon Doctrine Ulbricht Doctrine Carter Doctrine Reagan Doctrine Rollback

Ideologies	Capitalism Chicago school Keynesianism Monetarism Neoclassical economics Supply-side economics Thatcherism Reaganomics Communism Marxism–Leninism Castroism Eurocommunism Guevarism Juche Left communism Maoism Stalinism Titoism Trotskyism Liberal democracy Social democracy

Organizations	ASEAN CIA Comecon EEC KGB MI6 Stasi

Propaganda	Active measures Izvestia Pravda Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Red Scare TASS Voice of America Voice of Russia

Races	Arms race Nuclear arms race Space Race

See also	Brinkmanship NATO–Russia relations Soviet and Russian espionage in U.S. Soviet Union–United States relations US–Soviet summits

Category Portal Timeline

Persondata
Name	Casey, William
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 13, 1913
Place of birth	Queens, New York
Date of death	May 6, 1987
Place of death	Roslyn Harbor, New York