Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who served Republican presidents and briefly pursued the presidency in 1988, has died today at the age of 85 according to Fox News.com. He died at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications associated with an infection. President Obama praised Haig as a public servant who "exemplified our finest warrior-diplomat tradition of those who dedicate their lives to public service. He enjoyed a remarkable and decorated career, rising to a four-star general and serving as Supreme Allied Commander of Europe before also serving as Secretary of State." "I think of him as a patriot's patriot," said George P. Shultz, who succeeded Haig as the country's top diplomat in 1982. "No matter how you slice him it came out red, white, and blue. He was always willing to serve." The four-star general served as a top adviser to three presidents and had presidential ambitions of his own. President Richard Nixon appointed him to White House Chief of Staff in 1973, succeeding H.R. Haldeman. As the Watergate Scandal deepened in 1973, Haig had the responsibility to help the president prepare his impeachment defense and handled many of the day-to-day decisions normally made by the chief executive.
It was said in 1974 that Haig had urged Nixon to resign from the presidency. In later years Haig spoke of Nixon in cautious terms. "I found with President Nixon--and I'm sure there are similarities today--that these are very political beings," he told Fox News in 1998. "They wouldn't be in that office if they weren't politically astute." Haig had considered making a run for the presidency in 1979, but later decided against it. In 1981 following the election of Ronald Reagan as president, Reagan appointed Haig as Secretary of State. He held that post for seventeen months. He resigned due to bureaucratic infighting. He had conflict with both Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and National Security Adviser William Clark.
When Reagan was assassinated in March 1981, Haig uttered these famous words, "As of now I am in control of the White House." Some critics have misconstrued that statement as Haig was trying to usurp power because according to presidential succession, the Secretary of State isn't next in line for presidential succession. In 2001 Haig remarked that "Everybody in that room was familiar with the fact that this wasn't a discussion of transition, but rather authority within the executive branch."
In 1988, Haig campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination but was forced to drop out of the race before the end of February. He published two memoirs, profited in the private sector, and spent much of his later years defending his unique, storied, and controversial career. Born on December 2, 1924, Alexander Meigs Haig spent much of his boyhood dreaming of a military career. He was born on the Philadelphia surburb of Bala CynWyd. With the help of his uncle who had congressional contacts, he secured an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1943. He saw combat in Korea and Vietnam. He had worked alongside General Douglas MacArthur in the Korean War. Haig was tapped by Henry Kissinger to be the military adviser on the National Security Council under President Nixon. In 1972 Nixon promoted Haig from a two-star to a four-star rank, passing over 240 high-ranking officers with greater seniority. He helped arrange wiretaps of government officials and reporters during his tenure as Chief of Staff under Nixon. After Nixon resigned, he stayed for six weeks as Chief of Staff under President Ford. For years Haig was dogged by speculation that he was "Deep Throat". It was speculated that Haig anonymously leaked the Watergate story to the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. A few years ago it was revealed that former FBI agent Mark Felt was "Deep Throat."
Following his resignation as the White House Chief of Staff under President Ford, Haig went back into the military as the Commander in Chief of U.S. forces in Europe and the supreme allied commander of NATO forces. He was in that position for four years and resigned during the Jimmy Carter administration due to frustration over the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Then Haig went back into the private sector and worked for United Technologies. When Haig was Secretary of State under Reagan, he was involved in Shuttle diplomacy between British and Argentine Islands in an unsuccessful attempt to avert a war over the Falkland Islands.
Three years ago I had the privilege to hear Dr. Michael Savage of the Savage Nation interview Alexander Haig on his radio program. Haig was giving his comments in regards to the Iraq War that was floundering at that time. Haig stated the problem was there was a lack of commitment to win that war and that then President Bush needed to invest his assets to concentrate on winning the war in Iraq. Haig also believed the national draft needed to be reinstated as well. Haig wasn't too thrilled over the report the "Iraq Study Group" gave about the war in Iraq. The "Iraq Study Group" was a dog-and-pony show. Haig also was opposed to the policies of the neoconservatives or "neocons" in the Republican Party. Haig stated President Reagan invited those formerly disenfranchised Democrats into the Republican Party due to the neoconservatives disgust with the leftward direction of the Democratic Party. However, Haig remarked that the neocons didn't embrace the conservative tenets of the Republican Party. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Gen. Haig speak on the Savage Nation. He was thoroughly knowledgeable about national and military affairs. Haig is survived by his wife Patricia, three children, and eight grandchildren.
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