Great Casey's Ghost

Author Craig Unger presents new evidence for the 1980 'October Surprise,' Reagan campaign operative Bill Casey's plot with Iran to deny Jimmy Carter's reelection

Former top OSS operative William Casey became Reagan’s CIA Director after carrying out secret missions to deny Jimmy Carter reelection with the help of Iran, author Craig Unger insists with new evidence. (CIA photo)

Craig Unger’s latest investigative book, Den of Spies, is important, and not only for its dogged detailing of what one can now reasonably conclude was the stealing of the 1980 presidential election by Republican Ronald Reagan’s campaign team.  Before reading the book, I assumed that the main takeaway would come from its provocative subtitle “Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House.” But there is so much more here.

The idea of a 1980 fix now appears to be very probable (at least for me), but, in truth, as a fellow investigative author and documentarian, I came away moved even more by Unger’s personal story of the ups-and-downs, the inexact science and paradoxes of our chosen profession, not to mention the relevance of Reagan’s election to what’s happening today.