`Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey’ an excellent book

THE LIVES AND SECRETS OF WILLIAM J. CASEY: From the OSS to the CIA, by Joseph E. Persico, Penquin Books, 601 pages, $14.95, paperback.

Joseph E. Persico paints a flattering picture of William J. Casey in his new book about the venture capitalist and World War II intelligence operative who became President Reagan’s director of central intelligence.

In a simple and straight-forward manner, Persico brings Casey to life as few writers can. He shows Casey as an astute behind-the-scenes wheeler-dealer with a brilliant mind and sharp tongue. Without getting bogged down in too many details, the reader gets the best and worst of Casey, from his college days to his losing battle with brain cancer.

Casey is best known for his role at the CIA but as Persico points out, Casey was involved in the birth of the agency. Casey’s hero was Gen. William Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. At 31, Casey served in England as chief of the OSS division in the European theater. It was Casey’s job to send agents behind enemy lines to gather intelligence. When the war ended, Donovan was uncertain what would become of the OSS. A month later, President Truman ordered Donovan to disband his organization. Truman later realized the country needed an intelligence unit to win the Cold War, and in 1947 he established the Central Intelligence Agency.

After the war, Casey returned to the Research Institute of America, practiced law and promoted new enterprises. People learned quickly that Casey was a can-do individual. He became involved in Republican politics and worked behind the scenes for many candidates. In 1966, however, Casey decided to run for Congress. He was unsuccessful in his bid for public office, but he learned an important lesson that would reappear in the 1980 presidential race — people vote for the candidate who sounds the best, not the one with the sharpest mind.

After helping Richard Nixon win the presidency in 1968, Casey hoped for a role in his administration. He either expected to head the CIA or be secretary of state or defense. When he got no word on those choices, he hoped at least to head a major embassy. Still Casey heard nothing. Finally he was offered the post of deputy director of the Internal Revenue Service. Casey was shocked. The next offer was more disappointing: deputy director of the CIA.

Finally in 1969, Nixon named Casey to serve on the Arms Control and Disarmament Commission, an advisory panel. In 1971, Casey was appointed to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. The appointment was quickly criticized in the media and on Capitol Hill, and Casey had to fight to get through the confirmation process.

At Washington’s annual Gridiron Dinner, Sen. Edward Kennedy said the Casey appointment “was the second most outrageous in the history of the SEC. The first was the appointment of my father (Joe Kennedy) as the commission’s first chairman.”

SEC Chairman Casey proved the critics wrong.

Although Casey had to beg for a job in the Nixon administration, he was guaranteed a position after successfully leading Reagan’s campaign against Jimmy Carter in 1980. Reagan offered Casey the position of director of central intelligence and promised to give the post Cabinet rank.

During the Carter years the CIA was demoralized and broken, but Casey soon turned things around. The veteran intelligence officer increased the budget, hired more staff and boosted morale.

It didn’t take long, however, for Casey to get himself and the agency into deep trouble with Congress. There was a brouhaha over the mining of Nicaragua’s harbors. Then Casey found himself in the hot seat over the Contra assassination booklet.

Casey’s attitude toward his overseers didn’t help matters.

It was well-known that Casey didn’t trust Congress with America’s secrets. He once told an aide, “I have to deal with guys on those committees who couldn’t get a security clearance for a job in a post office.” His philosophy was, “Tell them everything you think they ought to know.”

During an investigation of Casey, Sen. Joseph Biden said, “He has displayed a consistent pattern of omissions, misstatements and contradictions in his dealings with (the Senate Intelligence Committee) and other committees of Congress.”

Had Casey lived to face Congress about the Iran-Contra affair it would have been an interesting showdown. Casey died of pneumonia May 6, 1987, on the second day of Richard V. Secord’s testimony. Casey’s health had been failing since December 1986, when doctors removed a tumor from his brain.

Although many people believed Casey was the mastermind behind the Iran-Contra affair, Persico makes a strong case that the masterminds were Oliver North and Robert C. McFarlane. Persico says Casey must share some of the blame, but “no evidence exists that he was the mastermind.”

Persico’s examination of Casey is thorough and fair. His book not only looks at one of America’s most controversial figures, but also sheds light on events currently in the news. If you have to pick one book to read this fall, make it “The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey.”

Jim Emple is an assistant design editor on the NEWS display desk.