Casey, William J.

Casey, William J. (Joseph)

(1913–87) lawyer, government official; born in Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y. A lawyer, he supervised spy missions for the Office of Strategic Services in Europe (1941–46). Returning to corporate law, he focused on his stock investments, then served as a tough chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1971–73). As President Reagan's director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1981–87), he was known for extremely aggressive and sometimes questionable policies when it came to pursuing communists; he allegedly supported illegal aid to the Nicaraguan Contras, but died before giving formal testimony.