Welcome to our collection of quotes by Alexander Haig. We hope you enjoy pondering them and please share widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Alexander Haig
Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (December 2, 1924 – February 20, 2010) was the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and the White House chief of staff under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to these cabinet-level positions, he retired as a general from the United States Army, having been Supreme Allied Commander Europe after serving as the vice chief of staff of the Army. In 1973, he became the youngest four-star general in the U.S. Army's history.
Born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Haig served in the Korean War after graduating from the United States Military Academy. In the Korean War, he served as an aide to General Alonzo Patrick Fox and General Edward Almond. After the war, he served as an aide to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. During the Vietnam War, Haig commanded a battalion and later a brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. For his service, Haig was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart.
In 1969 Haig became an assistant to National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. He became vice chief of staff of the Army, the second-highest-ranking position in the Army, in 1972. After the 1973 resignation of H. R. Haldeman, Haig became President Nixon's chief of staff. Serving in the wake of the Watergate scandal, he became especially influential in the final months of Nixon's tenure, and played a role in persuading Nixon to resign in August 1974. Haig continued to serve as chief of staff for the first month of President Ford's tenure. From 1974 to 1979, Haig served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, commanding all NATO forces in Europe. He retired from the Army in 1979 and pursued a career in business.
After Reagan won the 1980 presidential election, he nominated Haig to be his secretary of state. After the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, Haig asserted "I am in control here," allegedly suggesting (erroneously since 1947, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives was designated the second in the line of succession after the Vice President) that he served as acting president in Reagan's and Bush's absence, later iterating that he meant that he was functionally in control of the government. During the Falklands War, Haig sought to broker peace between the United Kingdom and Argentina. He resigned from Reagan's cabinet in July 1982. After leaving office, he unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination in the 1988 Republican primaries. He also served as the head of a consulting firm and hosted the television program World Business Review.
The loss of candor is grievous, and in my opinion it may yet prove to be mortal, because if we cannot discuss our problems in plain speech that describes reality, it is unlikely that we will be able to solve them.
There are contingency plans in the NATO doctrine to fire a nuclear weapon for demonstrative purposes, to demonstrate to the other side that they are exceeding the limits of toleration in the conventional area.
Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier, and is located in a critical region for American national security.
That's not a lie, it's a terminological inexactitude.
I am in control here, in the White House.
What the fundamentalists are doing is a total negation of their own faith -- encouraging and lionizing suicide bombers and killing women and children, hardly in keeping with the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.
I probably carry more scar tissue on my derrière than any other candidate-that's political scar tissue.
In Desert Storm, we had too many troops; in Afghanistan probably not enough for the major commitment we have made.
More often than not, Americans and Westerners overestimated the power and capability of the Soviet Union.
I think the new generations in America, the America's youth, no longer care about Vietnam. They don't want to hear any more about it.
I think that perhaps the classic propagandists of the -- in the Second World War was Winston Churchill. He was extremely skilled and adept at it.
I wasn't happy with the outcome in Vietnam. Now, I've never said that, but, you know, I'm getting to an age where I think I'd better start saying it... And I don't mean that to sound that I'm being critical of somebody or blaming somebody.
I started out as a Cold Warrior, even my last years in grade school.
Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes.
We didn't lose Vietnam. We quit Vietnam.
Those who are seeking ways to tap into the potential of e-mail will find themselves in a position to capitalize on the pending explosion in Internet usage.
Then came the hostage crisis during which Carter did nothing to rattle the ayatollahs who hung tough until Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, when they suddenly backed down.
Syria is a terrorist state by any definition and is so classified by the State Department. I happen to think Iran is too. Iraq, Iran, Syria, they're all involved.
Sooner or later something had to give. But President Bush, faced with the unprecedented affront of 9-11, could not wait to take action. So he had to do what we were capable of doing, and he did it brilliantly.
It didn't take long for the world to realize that the Shah was an enlightened liberal next to the bloody reactionary regime that followed, and which executed more people in three months than the Shah had done in 30 years.
A durable, long-term U.S.-China strategic relationship is even more important now than in previous decades. The relationship will continue to grow and prosper to the mutual benefit of all peoples.
If they analyze the situation as thoroughly as they should, Muslims will realize they are the first targets. What are the fundamentalists really after? Simply taking over Islam and then turning its back on modernity.
The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood.
I'm the only American alive or dead who presided unhappily over the removal of a vice president and a president.
The world awaits Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympics, an occasion which will bring into the global spotlight the dramatic advances China is making in enhancing the quality of life for its people.
You have to look at the history of the Middle East in particular. It has been one of failure and frustration, of feudalism and tribalism.
To declare the Cold War over, and declare democracy has won out over totalitarianism, is a measure of arrogance and wrong-headedness.
As of now, I am in control here in the White House.
Practice rather than preach. Make of your life an affirmation, defined by your ideals, not the negation of others. Dare to the level of your capability then go beyond to a higher level.