DEPUTY SELECTED TO SUCCEED CASEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260060-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 60
• Publication Date: February 3, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260060-1
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
3 February 1987
Deputy Selected
to Succeed Casey
Reagan Picks Gates as CIA Chief
After Hospitalized Director Quits
By JAMES GERSTENZANG. Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON?William J. Casey, hospitalized for 61/2 weeks after
surgery for a brain tumor, has resigned as CIA director and President
Reagan has chosen Deputy Director Robert M. Gates 0 -year veteran of
the agency, to replace him, the WhiteHouse announced Monday.
. The nomination of Gates raises
the likelihood that during his con-
firmation hearings, which are to
start Feb. 17, Senate committees
may delve deeply into his role in
the Iran-contra controversy, even
though no evidence has been made
public that is damaging to him.
But his nomination avoids a long
search for a new director and the
potential embarrassment of the
Administration being turned down
again?as it was. by former Sen.
Howard H. Baker Jr. ( R -Tenn.) ?
while the Iran-contra investiga-
tions are unfolding.
Casey, 73, submitted his resigna-
tion Thursday in a meeting at
Georgetown University Hospital
with White House Chief of Staff
Donald T. Regan and Atty. Gen.
Edwin Meese UI. Casey was offered
the post of White House counselor,
White House spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater said, effective "whenev-
er Mr. Casey feels his recovery is
sufficient to assume those respon-
sibilities,"
Youngest Director
Fitzwater said that Reagan of-
fered Gates the director's job Fri-
day morning. At 43, Gates, who has
been acting director since Casey
became ill, would become the
youngest executive to head the
agency.
Fitzwater said that the decision
to step down was Casey's, and
added: "He saw that it would be
some time before he would be able
to return to duty and undertake full
activities at the CIA. He realized
the need for on-the-job leadership
in the intelligence community."
The CIA post carries the title of
director of central intelligence and
involves overseeing the collection
of intelligence by, and the budgets
of, about a dozen intelligence agen-
cies, including the CIA, the Nation-
al Security Agency and the De-
fense Intelligence Agency.
Brain Tumor Removed
Casey entered the hospital on
Dec. 15 after being stricken at his
office and a malignant brain tumor
was removed three days later.
Fitzwater said that Casey is mak-
ing progress. and "is alert and has
visited fellow patients."
Another Administration official
said that Casey's "thought process-
es are unimpaired, but his ability to
communicate is just not there and
he can't deal with day-to-day
problems."
The transition comes at a crucial
time for the agency, as it finds itself
a key target of Multiple. investiga-
tions into the Iran scandal.
According to a report made pub-
lic last week by the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee, Gates was told
last Oct. 1 by a CIA analyst about
concerns that some proceeds of the
Administration's secret arms sales
to Iran were being diverted to the
Nicaraguan rebels at a time when
Congress had banned U.S. military
aid to the contras.
"Gates was surprised and dis- ?
tinted and told the analyst to see
Casey," the report said. But the
information was not provided to
Congress until almost two months
later, when details ofthe diversion
were made public.
Inaddition, Gates, as the deputy
director of the agency since last
April ? and as deputy director for
intelligence for four years before
that; prepared briefing material on
the Soviet military threat to Iran
far use in the Administration's
contacts with the Tehran regime.
Looking ahead to Gates' appear-
ancebefore the Senate Intelligence
Committee later this month in the
confirmation process, Chairman
David L Boren (D-Okla.) said: "It
%Vann* a 30-minute hearing." But
doren said he is certain that Gates
%till be confirmed.
; Boren, who has been meeting
With Gates weekly, said that the
deputy has been "very candid"
with the committee since becoming
acting director,
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy ( D- Vt. ),
who is about to relinquish his
position on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, praised Gates' nomina-
tion, saying that the selection of a
political appointee rather than an
intelligence community profes-
sional "would almost have guaran-
teed a long, drawn-out contentious
confirmation process."
But, on the other hand, he noted
that Gates, when confirmed for the
second-ranking CIA post last year,
promised to keep the congressional
oversight committees fully in-
formed of covert activities. He said
he would like to know whether
Gates was aware "the CIA was
involved in illegally helping" for-
mer National Security Council staff
member Lt. Col. Oliver L. North in
the arms sale arrangements and
assisting the contras.
The CIA is said to have provided
extensive transportation and intel-
ligence aid for the arms sales, even
bOore President Reagan signed a
"tiding" explicitly making that aid
I4gal. And at least one CIA opera-
tive recently admitted aiding
pVeils secret military supply
e to the contra&
, Senate Majority Leader Robert
C, Byrd (D- W.Va.) said that Gates'
confirmation hearings "could very
well be some kind of forum" on the
entire Iran-contra affair?provid-
ing another potentially trouble-
some challenge for an Administra-
tion already faced with probes by
special committees in the House
and Senate and an investigation
being conducted by independent ?
counsel Lawrence E. Walsh.
"He'll be worked over," one
Administration official said.
On the other hand, said another
official, Gates offers distinct bene-
fits: As a longtime CIA employee,
his appointment should "make mo-
rale a lot better" at the agency,
and, because he brings 20 years of
intelligence expertise to the job, he
will not need to be brought up to
speed on current operations.
"This way is the least disruptive
way of all." a senior Administration
official said.
Although he was widely praised
as an able successor, Gates appar-
ently was not the first choice for
the job. Baker, a former Senate
majority leader, recently rebuffed &
feeler on the job, saying he was not
interested.
neclassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260060-1
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/21 CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260060-1
Casey's work in intelligence op-
erations began during World War
II, when he served in the Office of
Strategic Services, the pre-CIA
intelligence unit. He was chairman
of the Securities and Exchange
Commission under former Presi-
dent Richard M. Nixon and a
member of former President Ger-
ald R. Ford's Foreign Intelligence
Advisory Board. He managed Rea-
gan's 'successful presidential cam-
paign in 1980.
In a two-sentence letter of resig-
nation, he said - to Reagan: "It has
been a great honor serving you."
In a much lengthier message,
Reagan wrote to Casey: "I have
been fortunate to have you by my
side. Your commitment and your
achievements will continue in the
institutions of government which
you led. so well and in the cause of
liberty-you so proudly served."
Gates joined the CIA in 1966,
after receiving a masters degree in
history from Indiana University.
He received a doctorate in Russian
and Soviet history from George-
town University in 1974. From 1974
to 1979, he was assigned to the
White House's National Security
Council staff. He returned to the,
CIA in 1979, serving in a number of
administrative posts and as nation-
a1 intelligence officer for the Soviet
Union, before his appointment as
deputy director for intelligence in
January, 1982.
Staff writers Karen Tumufty and
Sara Fritz contributad to this story.
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