William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1981 to 1987.

A native of Queens, New York, Casey graduated from Fordham University (1934) and St. John's University School of Law (1937). Casey directed the successful presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan in 1980. After Reagan was elected president, he named Casey to the post of Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During his tenure at the CIA, Casey played a large part in the shaping of Reagan's foreign-policy, particularly its approach to Soviet expansionism. Casey rebuilt the Intellicence Community with money and human resources to the level needed to reverse the cripplng resource cuts and restrictions of the Carter Administration.

This period of the Cold War saw a ramping up of the Agency's anti-Soviet activities around the world. Casey was the principal architect of the arms-for-hostages deal that became known as the Iran-Contra affair. He also oversaw covert assistance to the mujahadeen resistance in Afghanistan by working closely with Akhtar Abdur Rahman The Director General of ISI in Pakistan, the Solidarity movement in Poland, and a number of coups and attempted coups in South- and Central America.

In 1985, Casey authorized the assassination of Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent anti-American Hezbollah cleric, in Beirut.[1] The operation was accredited by then president of the United States Ronald Reagan. The venture was however a failure of dramatic proportions as the Ayatollah escaped unharmed while the car bomb, placed outside a mosque in proximity to the home of the intended target, exploded during rush hour, killing at least 85 civilians while injuring at least 175.[2]

Prior to heading the CIA, in the 1960s, Casey served as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In World War II, he was a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

William Casey died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age of 74. He is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.

He was survived by his wife, the former Sophia McDaid, and his daughter, Bernadette Smith.

Hoaxers concocted a story to the effect that William Casey orchestrated a deal in 1980 with Iran to refrain from releasing the hostages until after the presidential elections, in order to embarass President Carter. Congress investigated and proved that Casey was in London when, according to the hoaxers, he was in Madrid cutting the deal. If they lied about Madrid, then no part of the hoax was credible.

• List of notable brain tumor patients

• Joseph E. Persico. Casey: The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey-From the Oss to the CIA (1991)
• Casey was featured prominently in Bob Woodward's book Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA (ISBN 0671601172).
• Casey's role in the Afghanistan War in Steve Coll's book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (ISBN 1594200076).