Alexander Haig, a retired four-star general who served as White House chief of staff under Richard Nixon and secretary of state under Ronald Reagan, died early Saturday morning. He was 85.
The Haig family says he died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications associated with an infection, according to The Associated Press.
Haig had a long career — in the Army, at the highest levels of government and in private industry. But the one moment that most people remembered from that career came on a March day in 1981, after President Reagan had been wounded by a would-be assassin.
Vice President George H.W. Bush was flying back from an out-of-town engagement, and Haig, who was then the secretary of state, was asked by reporters who was making decisions for the government:
"As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the vice president and in close touch with him," Haig said. "If something came up, I would check with him, of course."
That statement — "I am in control here" — was lampooned mercilessly, in part because Haig mistakenly thought he was next in the line of succession. Critics said Haig was overly ambitious.
From Military Man To Presidential Adviser
A West Point grad, Haig earned the rank of captain in the Korean War and took part in the Inchon landings. In the 1950s, he studied war, business and international relations. He became an assistant to Deputy Defense Secretary Cyrus Vance and fought as the commander of a battalion and then a brigade in Vietnam.
In 1969, Haig attached his star to that of Henry Kissinger, who was then national security adviser to President Nixon. Haig won Nixon's trust and was promoted from two-star to four-star general, superseding many more senior officers.
At the White House, Haig became a special assistant to the president and eventually succeeded H.R. Haldeman as Nixon's chief of staff. In 1974, Haig played a key role in persuading Nixon to step down when the president's impending impeachment in the Watergate scandal threatened to become a constitutional crisis. He later said it was a tough sell:
"First, he was ready to do it," Haig said of Nixon, "and he would meet with the family. And the family, understandably, would be very much opposed to his quitting — and that's the term he used, quit. And so he delayed."
Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, appointed Haig supreme commander of NATO. In 1979, Haig retired from the military to become head of defense contractor United Technologies.
With Reagan's election in 1980, Haig returned to Washington as secretary of state. He battled with the national security adviser over control of foreign policy.
Such infighting within the administration led to Haig's resignation in 1982. In 1988, he decided to make his own run for the Republican presidential nomination. During a GOP candidate debate, Haig challenged the party's eventual nominee, then-Vice President Bush, to reveal his advice to Reagan regarding the Iran-Contra affair.
"I think the American people do want to know what you said," Haig said, "and sooner or later, you're going to have to do it. And if you can't answer your friends, what in heavens is going to happen next November if you are standard-bearer and these Democrats get after you on this subject?"
But Haig's campaign never gained traction, and he withdrew from the race, returning to the private sector. He gave speeches, wrote, and hosted television programs.
Asked once what he saw as his greatest achievement, Haig said it was the privilege and honor of leading American troops under fire.
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