William Casey

William Casey

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“”I cannot conceive now of any circumstance… which… would result in my not being able to provide this committee with the information it requires.[better source needed]

William Joseph Casey (1913–1987) was a politician most famous for his role as the director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Ronald Reagan administration. Before Reagan was elected, Casey played an important role in the campaign, creating an alliance between Reagan and the more moderate Republican George H.W. Bush, a decision which almost did not occur given the personal dislike that Reagan and Bush had for one another at the time of the convention. He is also responsible for founding the Manhattan Institute, a neoconservative think tank.

Time in the CIA

Like many of Reagan's appointees, his tenure was filled with scandals and controversies. Within his first year in office, a man he appointed name Max Hugel was forced to resign after "allegations of fraud in connection with certain of his transactions in the early 1970s" came to light.

Like many others in the Reagan White House, his most famous work in the Executive Branch comes from his actions during the Iran-Contra scandal. Casey was a notable supporter of the Contras, a right-wing guerrilla group trying overthrow the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua, to the point where leader Adolfo Calero even started calling him "Uncle Bill.") Of note was his decision to add "thrust and purpose" to a CIA manual "advising Nicaraguan rebels how to blackmail unwilling citizens into supporting their cause, how to arrange the deaths of fellow rebels to create martyrs and how to kidnap and kill (or, as the manual puts it, 'neutralize') government officials" in hopes he could "improve the effectiveness of the Nicaraguan rebels in 'face-to-face communication.'" (Reagan, who claimed to have never read the manual, defended the use of the word "neutralize" through saying it meant "remove from office" and not "assassinate.")

The publication of the manual caused a White House investigation regarding whether this violated the law against the CIA providing help to overthrow the government of Nicaragua, which was banned at the time. Said investigation found "no violation" occurred.

Deathbed interview with Bob Woodward

In Bob Woodward's 1987 book Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA the famous journalist claims to have gotten a four minute deathbed interview with Casey where he confirms to have known about Iran-Contra. Reagan (already had a bit of a bone to pick with Woodward after he reported that the Administration was lying to the media about what was going on in Libya the previous year, in hopes of destabilizing the Qaddafi regime) specifically denied this interview occured, as did Casey's daughter.

Those who attempt to discredit the interview argue that Casey was unable to speak at the time of the interview. However, Casey was able to talk, and Robert Gates—Casey's second-in-command at the time—even said that, although his words were slurred, one could still understand "enough to get sense of what he was saying."