William Casey (1913-87) served as Ronald Reagan’s campaign director in 1980. He then became head of the CIA and was known for his extensive use of a private intelligence network and off-the-book operations.

As described by Susan Trento in The Power House, “Covert action, once reserved for the professionals in the Central Intelligence Agency, became the province of conservative ideologues working for an Administration that did not play by constitutional rules and did not trust the entrenched professionals.”

Casey appears to have worked primarily through:

• The rogue CIA figures of the “Enterprise”
• Private firms like Gray and Company
• The groups established under the National Endowment for Democracy in 1983
• Anti-communist groups like the World Anti-Communist League and Jack Abramoff’s International Freedom Foundation