US army officer and statesman, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He trained at West Point, studied at Georgetown University, and joined the US army in 1947, serving in Korea (19501) and in the Vietnam War (19667), and becoming a general in 1973. He then retired from the army to become White House chief-of-staff during the last days of the Nixon presidency. Returning to active duty, he was supreme NATO commander before returning again to civilian life, as president of United Technologies Corporation. He served President Reagan as secretary of state in 19812, and sought the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1988. He has been chairman of Worldwide Associates Inc since 1984.
Alexander Haig|
|
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| 59th United States Secretary of State | |
|---|---|
| In office | |
| January 22, 1981 – July 5, 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Edmund Muskie |
| Succeeded by | George Shultz |
| 5th White House Chief of Staff | |
| In office | |
| 1973 – 1974 | |
| Preceded by | H.R. Haldeman |
| Succeeded by | Donald Rumsfeld |
| Born |
December 2, 1924 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. (born December 2, 1924) was the U.S. Secretary of State from 1981 to 1982 under Ronald Reagan, and is a former Four-Star General in the U.S. Army. In 1973, Haig was appointed White House Chief of Staff where he remained until President Nixon's resignation in August 1974.
Education
Haig attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania and the University of Notre Dame for one year before transferring to and graduating from West Point in 1947.
Korea, MacArthur and Vietnam
As a young officer, Haig served on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur in Japan. Haig has stated that he was in the room when MacArthur famously stated to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "Gentlemen, we will land at Inchon on September 15 or you will have a new Supreme Commander in East Asia."
Haig later served as a staff officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (DCSOPS) at the Pentagon (1962-64), and then was appointed Military Assistant to Secretary of the Army Stephen Ailes in 1964.
During the battle of Ap Gu in March 1967, then Lt. Colonel Haig's troops (of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry) became pinned down by heavy gunfire behind enemy lines near the Cambodian border.
Henry Kissinger's military assistant, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army
Alexander Haig returned to the Continental United States at the end of his one-year tour to take command of the Cadet Regiment at the USMA, and Deputy Commandant as well. He retained these dual positions until 1969, when he was appointed as Military Assistant to the Presidential Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger, a position he retained until 1970, when President Richard Nixon promoted Haig to Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Haig continued in this position until 1973 when he was appointed to be Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, a post he held until the last few months of President Nixon’s presidency, when he served as White House Chief of Staff.
White House Chief of Staff for Nixon and Ford
Alexander Haig served as White House Chief of Staff during height of the Watergate affair from May 1973 until September 1974. In his 2001 book, "Shadow", author Bob Woodward describes Haig's role as the point man between Nixon and then Vice President Gerald Ford during the final days of Watergate. According to the book, Haig played a major behind the scenes role in the delicate negotiations of the transfer of power from President Nixon to President Ford.
Deep Throat
For many years, people speculated that Haig was Deep Throat, the anonymous source for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Authors Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin speculated in their 1991 book Silent Coup: The Removal of a President that Haig may have been "Deep Throat," noting Woodward and Haig knew each other when Woodward worked in naval intelligence.
Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and assassination attempt
From 1974 to 1979, Haig served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and Commander in Chief, US European Command (CinCUSEUR), and thus was effectively the Commander of NATO Forces. During the attack, a land mine blew up under the bridge on which Haig's car was travelling, narrowly missing Haig's car but wounding three of his bodyguards in a following car. While Haig was at NATO, Wesley Clark (then a Major) served as Haig's speechwriter..
In January 1981, Haig was tapped by Reagan to be Secretary of State and he began contentious confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Haig resigned in July 1982.
"I'm in control here"
In 1981, after the March 30 assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig asserted before reporters that "I'm in control here" as a result of Reagan's hospitalization. The full quotation is:
Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president and the secretary of state, in that order, and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, he will do so.
Haig is usually perceived as incorrect in his interpretation of the United States Constitution as far as both the presidential line of succession is concerned and in regard to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution which deals with what happens when a president is incapacitated. However, audio tapes made that day in the White House by National Security Advisor Richard Allen, and released in 2001, suggest that Haig was indeed under the erroneous impression that the U.S. Constitution placed him after the Vice President of the United States in the Presidential Line of Succession.
Haig later said:
"I wasn’t talking about transition. It was not, 'who is in line should the President die?'"
1982 Falklands War
The Falklands War (March-June 1982) occurred during Haig's tenure as Secretary of State and saw Haig attempt to conduct shuttle diplomacy in April 1982 following the Argentine invasion, but prior to the arrival of the British fleet in the war zone. Haig met with both the British government in London and the Argentine government in Buenos Aires, but talks broke down and Haig returned to Washington on April 19.
1982 Lebanon Invasion by Israel
Haig Critics have accused him of "greenlighting" the Israel Invaion of Lebanon in June of 1982.
Unsuccessful bid for 1988 Republican presidential nomination
Haig unsuccessfully ran for the Republican Party nomination for President in 1988.
Military decorations
Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster Bronze Star with "V" Combat Infantryman Badge Purple Heart Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf ClusterCurrent activities
Haig was the host for several years of the television program World Business Review and now hosts 21st Century Business, each program a weekly business education forum that includes business solutions, expert interview, commentary and field reports.
Haig is co-chairman of the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus, along with Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen J.
Haig was a founding Board Member of America Online
On January 5, 2006, Haig participated in a meeting at the White House of former Secretaries of Defense and State to discuss United States foreign policy with Bush administration officials.
On May 12, 2006, Haig participated in a second White House meeting with 10 former Secretaries of State and Defense.
Haig published his memoirs, entitled Inner Circles: How America Changed The World, in 1992.
Alexander Haig is the father of author Brian Haig.
Views on Iraq
In a recent (October 22, 2006) CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer , General Haig and others were engaged in a discussion about Iraq. In 1980, Spiro Agnew published a memoir in which he implied that, in 1973, Richard Nixon and Haig had planned to assassinate him if Agnew refused to resign the Vice-Presidency, and that Haig told him "to go quietly … or else."
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