Alexander Haig Biography Quotes 16 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. was born on December 2, 1924, in the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Raised in a Catholic family and educated in parochial and preparatory schools, he entered adulthood during the upheaval of World War II. After brief study at university, he gained admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1947 into a rapidly changing postwar Army. He would later strengthen his professional credentials with graduate study at Columbia University and Georgetown University in the early 1960s, and with senior service schooling, steps that prepared him for the blend of military command and high policy work that defined his career.

Early Army Career and the Korean War
Haig was commissioned into the Army's armored and cavalry forces and began the routine of troop leadership and staff assignments that built his reputation as a driven and capable officer. When the Korean War erupted, he served in combat and learned the practical demands of leading soldiers under fire. The experience sharpened his instincts for decision-making in crisis and launched him on a path toward higher command and sensitive staff roles in Washington.

Vietnam War and Rising Command
In the 1960s, Haig alternated between Pentagon and field assignments, including pivotal roles in Vietnam. He served there in command and staff posts during a period when U.S. strategy and tactics were under intense scrutiny. He commanded at battalion and brigade levels and earned decorations for valor and leadership. His Vietnam tours brought him into the orbit of senior commanders and policy officials wrestling with the war's strategic dilemmas, an exposure that made him an attractive choice for later White House work.

National Security Council and the Nixon Years
In 1969, Haig joined the staff of the National Security Council under National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during President Richard Nixon's administration. As deputy to Kissinger, he helped orchestrate interagency processes that supported detente with the Soviet Union, the complex diplomacy surrounding the Vietnam War, and the opening to China. Haig was valued for his organizational rigor and willingness to enforce decisions once made. Briefly, in early 1973, he returned to the Army as vice chief of staff, but the unraveling of the Watergate crisis soon drew him back to the White House.

White House Chief of Staff and Watergate
After the resignation of H. R. Haldeman in 1973, President Nixon named Haig White House chief of staff. In that turbulent period, he sought to impose order on a besieged presidency, managing day-to-day operations, sensitive legal logistics, and communications with investigators and Congress. Haig oversaw the turnover of tapes and documents and helped guide the transition as Nixon prepared to resign. He was a key intermediary with Vice President Gerald Ford and other senior figures. When Nixon resigned in August 1974, Haig worked to stabilize the executive branch in the early days of the Ford administration, though public debate persisted about his precise role in discussions that foreshadowed Nixon's subsequent pardon by President Ford.

NATO Command
In late 1974, Haig was appointed Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the top military post in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Over the next five years, he focused on alliance readiness, conventional-force improvements, and the political cohesion required to confront the Soviet Union in the late Cold War. His tenure coincided with debates over theater nuclear modernization and burden-sharing among European allies. In 1979, he survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded along the route of his motorcade near NATO headquarters in Belgium, an attack attributed to left-wing militants. He escaped unharmed and completed his command tour with enhanced stature as a steady transatlantic leader.

Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration
President Ronald Reagan selected Haig as Secretary of State in 1981, expecting a forceful manager who could integrate hardline rhetoric with disciplined diplomacy. Haig advocated a firm stance against Soviet influence, sought to coordinate policy across departments, and pressed for clarity in crisis procedures. After the attempted assassination of President Reagan in March 1981, Haig's televised statement, "I am in control here", intended to reassure, instead provoked controversy because it misstated the constitutional order of succession; despite the misstep, he continued to shape early administration foreign policy.

Haig's tenure was marked by intense bureaucratic struggle with White House aides such as James Baker and Michael Deaver, and with counterparts including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and National Security Advisor Richard Allen (and later William Clark). He played a central role in managing U.S. responses to the imposition of martial law in Poland, in addressing violence in Central America, and in an unsuccessful shuttle diplomacy effort during the 1982 Falklands crisis between the United Kingdom, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Argentina's junta. Frustrated by internal rivalries and policy direction, Haig resigned in June 1982 and was succeeded by George P. Shultz.

Business, Politics, and Public Voice
After leaving the State Department, Haig moved into the private sector, serving as a senior executive and board member in major corporations, including leadership roles at United Technologies Corporation, and later founding a strategic consulting firm. He remained a visible commentator on national security, blending practitioner's insights with pointed critiques of policy. His memoir "Caveat" offered a candid account of the early Reagan years, and later writings reflected on Cold War statecraft and the practice of presidential decision-making. In 1988 he briefly sought the Republican nomination for president, emphasizing experience and toughness, but withdrew early in the primary season.

Personal Life
Haig married Patricia (Pat) Fox in 1950. The couple raised three children and maintained a family life that adapted to the rhythms of command postings, international travel, and Washington schedules. Known for his intense work ethic, Haig also cultivated long-standing ties with mentors and colleagues from the Army and the foreign policy community, among them Henry Kissinger and senior officers with whom he had served in Asia and Europe. His public demeanor could be brusque, but friends and associates often noted his loyalty to subordinates and his readiness to shoulder responsibility in crisis.

Death and Legacy
Alexander Haig died on February 20, 2010, in Baltimore, Maryland, from complications of a staphylococcal infection. He was 85. His career spanned battlefields, alliance headquarters, and the highest levels of American government at moments of extraordinary consequence. Admirers regarded him as a disciplined strategist who stepped into the breach when institutions faltered, most notably during Watergate and early Reagan-era crises. Critics pointed to a penchant for overcentralization and sharp-edged bureaucratic combat. Both views capture elements of a figure forged in the crucible of mid-20th-century conflict and Cold War competition. Above all, Haig's life illustrates the interplay of military leadership and civilian policy in the American system, and the outsized impact that determined public servants can have when history accelerates.

Our collection contains 16 quotes who is written by Alexander, under the main topics: Motivational - Justice - Leadership - Freedom - Sports.

Other people realated to Alexander: Henry A. Kissinger (Statesman), Gerald R. Ford (President), George Schultz (Public Servant), Lawrence Eagleburger (Diplomat), Paul Wolfowitz (Celebrity), Jeane Kirkpatrick (Diplomat), Brent Scowcroft (Public Servant), Richard V. Allen (Public Servant)