William Casey at 100: Herbert Meyer’s Brilliant Lecture

[Valin]

Power Line:

Steven Hayward

3/26/13

 

I made a brief reference here the other day to a lecture Herbert Meyer recently gave to the Young Americas Foundation on the occasion of the 100th birthday of William Casey, Ronald Reagan’s extraordinary CIA director. Meyer was a special assistant to Casey from 1981 to 1985. This lecture, along with Meyer’s contribution to the end game of the Cold War, deserve more attention.

 

(Snip)

 

The entire lecture is a riveting tour of the end game of the Cold War, told without a single note, in the compass of about 50 minutes to a group of students for whom the Cold War is pure history. It’s 50 minutes well spent, but if like most you’re pressed for time, we’re going to offer a series of short highlights here on Power Line. In this first five-minute segment, Herb describes the situation of the Cold War in the late 1970s, the “miraculous” simultaneous arrival on the scene of Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Reagan, and why Reagan turned to Bill Casey to run the CIA:

 

 

Watch the whole thing...but forward to the 44 minute mark, for a short view of what is really happening....and why I am a optimist.

 

HISTORY! It's not just for breakfast anymore.

[Valin]

Worst Job in the World: Politburo Member

 

This next installment from Herb Meyer’s YAF lecture on Bill Casey features a hilarious description of Casey explaining why being a member of the Soviet Politburo in the 1980s was “not a lot of fun.” Having read some translations of transcripts of Politburo meetings (not available to the CIA at the time), I can see what he meant. They came to resemble faculty meetings run by worn-out left-wingers.