Alexander Haig

Alexander Haig (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2 December 1924) is a retaired four star general who served as White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (1973-74) and Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan (1981-82). He also served a NATO commander from 1974-1979. In 1988 Haig unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

In 1981, after President Reagan was injured during a failed assassination attempt, Haig told reporters:

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.

Haig had incorrectly stated the presidential line of secession in the 25th amendment to the United States Constitution, bypassing the Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro-Temper. Although Haig's statement was legally false, it may had been the case in the White House given that Vice President Bush was airborne at the time.

Alexander Haig resigned the Reagan administration in 1982 after apparent disagreements in foreign policy.