First Lady Phones Ailing Casey’s Wife
First Lady Nancy Reagan spoke to the wife of hospitalized CIA Director William J. Casey by telephone Wednesday, but White House officials refused to divulge information about Casey’s condition.
At Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, officials also declined to issue details about Casey, saying only that he remained in stable condition and that he was able to sit in a bedside chair occasionally.
Casey, 73, is recovering from surgery for removal of a malignant brain tumor. Officials have said little about his condition since the Dec. 18 operation.
White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Mrs. Reagan, vacationing near here with the President, “called Mrs. Casey to wish her a happy new year and ask about her husband’s situation and so forth.”
Asked what response Mrs. Reagan received, Speakes said he did not know.
Speakes said that while Casey is hospitalized, “The work of the CIA continues . . . just as if the director were there.”
Asked if Reagan felt Casey would be able to resume his duties, Speakes said: “The President will leave the medical judgment to the physicians.”
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