Former secretary of state and presidential adviser Alexander Haig is in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Alexander Haig, the retired four-star general who advised three United States Presidents, was admitted to Johns Hopkins on January 28th with an undisclosed condition. Haig, 85, was White House Chief of Staff under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, appointed to Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and ran for the highest office himself in 1988, losing the nomination to George Bush, Sr, who he fiercely opposed.
I will update the diary at details become available and with more bio.
Alexander Haig in critical condition
Alexander Haig served as White House Chief of Staff during the height of the Watergate affair from May 1973 until September 1974, taking over the position from H.R. Haldeman, who resigned on April 30, 1973, while under pressure from Watergate prosecutors.
Haig played a large "crisis management" role as the Watergate scandal unfolded. Haig has been largely credited with keeping the government running while President Nixon was preoccupied with Watergate.[1] Haig also played an instrumental role in finally persuading Nixon to resign. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Nixon had been assured of a pardon by Ford if he would resign. In this regard, 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.
In 1981, after the March 30 assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig asserted before reporters "I am in control here" as a result of Reagan's hospitalization.
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. He has not done that. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.
—Alexander Haig , Alexander Haig, autobiographical profile in TIME Magazine, April 2, 1984
It was assumed by many who heard this that Secretary Haig had an antiquated familiarity with the order of succession to the presidency. Rather than being seen as an attempt to allay the nation's fear, the quotation became seen as a laughable attempt by Haig to exceed his authority.
Haig, a veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War, is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart.