Casey: The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey: from the OSS to the CIA

Mr. Casey has turned out to be the most interesting person I've read about recently. While I may not agree with all of his choices, he demonstrates time and time again that one can manifest his own destiny - almost.

So informative!

This was a great view of an interesting character in American history. The life of Casey is full of drama - entertaining, sad, tragic and rich. The insight into his control of politics and foreign policy alone make reading the book worth it.

I was interested in this book after I had finished a book on Pres.Reagan. In that book I learned Casey had died just as the Iran/Contra congressional probe began. So I was curious to see if this book offered a correlation between his death and the scandal. I found no correlation.Prior to starting the book I was unbiased about Casey. As I continued to read I found myself not liking the man. The author states in the beginning that Casey is a devout Catholic and an anti-communist. But later I learn Casey is well known to push the law to its limits and seeks to undermine it whenever he deems necessary. He is chairman of the SEC and later becomes the CIA director. And we learn he becomes a mutli-millionare and Congress threatens to investigate his finances. Gee, I wonder if he recieved any insider information as head of the CIA. Congress also votes down a bill financing the contras and yet he does everything to undermine that decision. Consider also, he along with Col. North not only ignore Congress directly, he is indirectly snubbing his nose at the American people.My dislike for the man may have tainted my impression of this book. But, I do believe the book is not an interesting read, and to be quite honest, I was ready for it to end.On a positive note, if one wants to learn more about the people involved in Iran/Contra, this is a good place to start.

Good Read, received in great condition as indicated.

A+

Satisfied

Casey is probably the most controversial person to ever lead the CIA. Persico does a fantastic job on this biography, building up from the various parts of his life that made him the man he was. He covers everything from college sports, to OSS service, to his financial brilliance.Casey was a devoted public servant and incredibly smart. While he had a rough demeanor, he was still able to get Ronald Reagan elected president and later lead the CIA (since he couldn't get the State Dept). His view of intelligence was shaped partly by his days in the OSS, when covert action was king. Casey wanted to reverse the trend started by his predecessors to rely on technology instead of humans. He also wanted to use covert action to force US policy abroad.What remains most fascinating about Casey was his premature death sealed a certain mystique about his role in the Iran-Contra affair. To this day, no one knows what Casey really knew about it. Without question he was the true mastermind and must have known more about the dirty deal than anyone else, even Oliver North. And there are without question secrets that he took to the grave.This book tells the tale of a flawed patriot, a fierce believer in the American Way and in the role of espionage in the modern world. Casey may have had little regard for the rule of law, but he brought US intelligence to a new level. He was such a unique person; this book is a great read.