Early career Following his admission to the bar, he was a partner in the New York–based Buckner, Casey, Doran and Siegel from 1938 to 1942. Concurrently, as chairman of the board of editors of the Research Institute of America (1938–1949), Casey initially conceptualized the
tax shelter and "explained to businessmen how little they need[ed] to do in order to stay on the right side of
New Deal regulatory legislation."
World War II & OSS During
World War II, he worked for the
Office of Strategic Services, where he became head of its
Secret Intelligence Branch in Europe. He was a lecturer in
tax law at the
New York University School of Law from 1948 to 1962. 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. He then served as
Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1973–1974) Casey was on the Board of Directors of the
Committee on the Present Danger.
Reagan campaign and transition As
campaign manager of
Ronald Reagan's successful presidential campaign in 1980, Casey helped to broker Reagan's unlikely alliance with vice presidential nominee
George H. W. Bush. Shortly before the final presidential debate on October 28, 1980, the Reagan campaign acquired President
Jimmy Carter's briefing papers, classified top secret, that Carter used in preparation for the debate. The importance of these documents is still subject to debate, but the leak of campaign papers was not divulged to the public until late June 1983.
James Baker has claimed that he had received the briefing book from Casey, who vehemently denied this before his death. According to
Ben Barnes, Casey met with Barnes and former Texas Governor
John Connally in September 1980 to discuss Connally's trip to the Middle East. During the trip, Connally asked Arab leaders to convey to the Iranian government that Iran should wait to release
American hostages until after the election of 1980 was concluded. Barnes claimed that Casey discussed with Connally if the Iranians "were going to hold the hostages," possibly corroborating the
October Surprise theory. The hostages were released minutes after Reagan was inaugurated as president. Casey then served on the transition team following the election.
Director of Central Intelligence After Reagan took office, Reagan named Casey to the post of
Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). Outgoing Director
Stansfield Turner characterized the appointment as the "Resurrection of Wild Bill," referring to
Bill Donovan, the brilliant and eccentric head of
Office of Strategic Services in
World War II, whom Casey had known and greatly admired. Despite Casey's background in intelligence, the position was not his first choice; according to Rhoda Koenig, he only agreed to take the appointment after being assured that "he could have a hand in shaping foreign policy rather than simply reporting the data on which it was based." Ronald Reagan used prominent Catholics in his government to brief
Pope John Paul II of developments in the
Cold War. Casey would fly secretly to Rome in a windowless
C-141 black jet and "be taken undercover to the Vatican. 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, post-
Watergate and
Church Committee restrictions were controversially 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 started under the
Carter Doctrine in late 1980.
Iran–Contra affair lobby. Casey was suspected, by some, of involvement with the controversial
Iran-Contra affair, in which Reagan administration personnel secretly traded arms to the Islamic Republic of
Iran, and secretly diverted some of the resulting income to aid the rebel
Contras in
Nicaragua, in violation of U.S. law. Casey was called to testify before Congress about his knowledge of the affair. On 15 December 1986, one day before Casey was scheduled to testify before Congress, Casey suffered two seizures and was hospitalized. Three days later, Casey underwent surgery for a previously undiagnosed brain tumor. While hospitalized, Casey died less than 24 hours after former colleague
Richard Secord testified that Casey supported the illegal aiding of the Contras. In his final report (submitted in August 1993),
Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh indicated evidence of Casey's involvement: There is evidence that Casey played a role as a Cabinet-level advocate both in setting up the covert network to resupply the contras during the Boland funding cut-off, and in promoting the secret arms sales to Iran in 1985 and 1986. In both instances, Casey was acting in furtherance of broad policies established by President Reagan. There is evidence that Casey, working with two national security advisers to President Reagan during the period 1984 through 1986—
Robert C. McFarlane and Vice Admiral
John M. Poindexter—approved having these operations conducted out of the
National Security Council staff with Lt. Col.
Oliver L. North as the action officer, assisted by retired Air Force Maj. Gen.
Richard V. Secord. And although Casey tried to insulate himself and the CIA from any illegal activities relating to the two secret operations ... there is evidence that he was involved in at least some of those activities and may have attempted to keep them concealed from Congress. the
outcome of the investigation, the response of Casey's family to the
task force's closure of the investigation, and Walsh's
final Independent Counsel report. ==Personal life==