Above, Al Haig in the White House press room after the assassination attempt on President Reagan.Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig has died today due to complications from an infection. He was 85.
Haig served as White House Chief of Staff under President Richard Nixon and basically ran the country as Nixon was in the midst of Watergate. Haig later served as Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan.
Haig famously declared in the White House on March 30, 1981, "I'm in control here" in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Reagan. Although his statement was clumsy, it was his intention to reassure the tense country.
Haig resigned as Secretary of State in 1982. This I remember well as I was in Washington, D.C. at the time for a White House reception for the California Reagan Delegation to the 1980 GOP National Convention.
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