Alexander Haig passed away today.

[Nick Gromicko]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/...t/us_obit_haig

[Bob Elliott]

Wow ,I remember him always for claiming to take charge of the country,I think when serving under Regan while he was having surgery.
Scared people the Military was taking over.

[Doug Edwards]

That was how it was reported, but Haig never said "I am in charge", he simply went upstairs to a emergency press conference to quell fear that no one was running things when President Reagan was put under for surgery and VP Bush was somewhere over Texas. Haigs exact words were, "I am in control HERE in the White House." he went on to say the VP would be arriving soon and assume the responsibilities. You have understand what was going on behind the scenes. The Soviets were getting very jittery. While the WH was saying everything was under control, Casper Weinburger has put the military on DEFCON 2 due to some things the Soviets had been doing right up to the assassination attempt. You also have to remember we did not know that Hinckley was just some deranged nut who was trying to impress Jodie Foster. As far as anyone knew it could have been foreigners attempting to kill our President. The Soviets had been running missile and attack subs up and down the Eastern Seaboard very close to our shores. Haig got blamed for something he did not say and if you go back and look at the tape you can see he did not claim to be in charge. At the same time our people were trying to get the launch codes in case we did need to defend the country. Bush was probably down in Texas fishing again. Seems he was always fishing when the **** hit the fan. Haig's response was appropriate for the circumstances.

[Joseph A. Ferry]

Only delusional lefties were "scared" that "the Military was taking over."

No sensible person was.

[Bob Elliott]

Originally Posted by jferry1

Only delusional lefties were "scared" that "the Military was taking over."

No sensible person was.

....and that has never happened anywhere before right.

[William J. Decker]

Originally Posted by belliott

....and that has never happened anywhere before right.

Not in the U.S.

It's called the Constitution.

Hope this helps;

BTW: When you have served as well, and as long, as Mr. Haig, then you will be entitled to have a critical and slamiming opinion. Until then, learn and try to understand.

Heck of a General. Heck of a NSA and heck of a Sec State.

He, always, did his best. Sure, he made mistakes, but he did good, in the final analysis.

I didn't like him, at the time, but then I learned and grew up.

Good guy. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.

[Bob Elliott]

May he rest in peace but at the time he misspoke in not understanding the line of power after Vice President.
Here is the line of succession as it would go today, Will.

Good to know if this helps you any.
1 Vice President Joe Biden 2 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 3 President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd 4 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 5 Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner 6 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates[2] 7 Attorney General Eric Holder 8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar 9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack 10 Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke 11 Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis 12 Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius 13 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan 14 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood 15 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu 16 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki 18 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

[Nick Gromicko]

When the Soviet Union questioned him as to whether the U.S.'s submarine-guided cruise missile systems really worked or not, Haig replied something like: I can send one into the Kremlin without scratching the door frame.

He was great.

[Bob Elliott]

Originally Posted by gromicko

When the Soviet Union questioned him as to whether the U.S.'s submarine-guided cruise missile systems really worked or not, Haig replied something like: I can send one into the Kremlin without scratching the door frame.

He was great.

Haha

I hope that got translated to them well.
Just glad he was not Dr Strangelove.

[Nick Gromicko]

A little know secret: The guided cruise missile system was originally predicted to never work (scientifically impossible) and was only funded to make it appear to be a real weapons system that later the U.S. could trade away with the Soviet Union as a bargaining chip. To make the fake project appear real to the USSR, researchers were given lots of funding. Funny thing happened. They got the thing to work, and work very accurately. It was then, of course, never bargained away.

[Bob Elliott]

So it was meant to be a Star Wars ploy.
interesting.

[Nick Gromicko]

Reagan and Thatcher figured that they'd eventually get a space-based missile defense system to work, or the USSR would go broke trying to keep up the West's spending. Either would be fine. The latter of course happened. They defeated the USSR without firing a shot.

[William J. Decker]

Actually, "Star Wars" does work, and was cheaper than anyone thought. They now use the Aegus crusiers and GM destroyers to shoot down ballistic missles all the time. Not a ploy, a reality.

Seems like Reagan wasn't so dumb after all.

[George A. H. Luck]

Actually the Germans beat America to the cruise missile by 40 years. Remember the V1 / "Buzz Bomb"? That is where the concept came from and it worked pretty well. Ask the English.

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by belliott

Haha

I hope that got translated to them well.
Just glad he was not Dr Strangelove.

Swear... I watched that film yesterday in his honor.