Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. was born on December 2, 1924, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, and died at about 1:30 a.m. on February 20, 2010, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, at the age of 85; a hospital spokesman attributed his death to complications of an infection.¹ He was military adviser and then deputy to Henry A. Kissinger at the National Security Council, White House chief of staff to Richard Nixon, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, president of United Technologies Corporation, and Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan.¹² Nixon promoted him in 1972 from two-star to four-star rank, passing over 240 officers with greater seniority.¹

Kissinger's deputy and the 1969 wiretaps

On May 9, 1969, the New York Times reported on United States bombing raids in Cambodia. The following day, according to the findings recited by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Colonel Alexander Haig, Kissinger's assistant, worked out procedures to conduct the surveillance "with no record maintained" in the Bureau's normal files, and the Bureau then formally requested wiretap authorization from the Attorney General. Three other private telephones were tapped in the attempt to find the source of the article. The tap on the home telephone of Morton H. Halperin, a National Security Council staff member, ran from May 1969 to February 1971. At first the logs were kept at the Bureau in special files, where Kissinger and Haig reviewed them; later, summary letters went to Kissinger, to Nixon through John Ehrlichman, and occasionally to John Mitchell, and after May 1970 only to H. R. Haldeman. The investigation eventually included electronic surveillance of 13 government employees and four newspaper reporters.³

A memorandum from Haig to Kissinger dated June 4, 1969, supplied "talking points" for a meeting with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and recommended continuing the Halperin tap "so that a pattern of innocence can be firmly established," as the court quoted it. The report of the House Committee on the Judiciary on the impeachment of Nixon, H. Rept. 93-1305, concluded that the May 1969 wiretaps, including Halperin's, were established for "political purposes," as the court cited it.³ The Associated Press obituary states that Haig helped arrange the wiretaps of government officials and reporters on Nixon's behalf.¹

Halperin v. Kissinger

Halperin and his family sued in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in June 1973 (Civil Action No. 1187-73), within a month of the government's admission at the trial of Daniel Ellsberg that Ellsberg had been overheard on the tap. The defendants were Nixon, Mitchell, Kissinger, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Haig, Jeb Magruder, FBI Director Clarence Kelley, the FBI official William C. Sullivan and Assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian; the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company was also named. On cross-motions for summary judgment in December 1976 the district court ruled for all defendants except Nixon, Mitchell and Haldeman (424 F.Supp. 838), and in August 1977 it awarded $1 in nominal damages.³

On July 12, 1979, the court of appeals (606 F.2d 1192) reversed on the application of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, on damages and on the summary judgment for Kissinger.³ The Supreme Court affirmed in 1981 by an equally divided Court and dismissed certiorari as to Haldeman (452 U.S. 713). On remand the district court granted summary judgment to all defendants on qualified immunity (578 F.Supp. 231 (1984)). On December 5, 1986, in an opinion by Circuit Justice Antonin Scalia (807 F.2d 180), the court of appeals held that summary judgment was proper as to the initiation of the wiretap but not as to its continuation after May 1970, and remanded.⁴

Laos and Chile, 1970 and 1971

The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, the Church Committee, described Haig as "Kissinger's deputy" and recorded his contacts with Thomas Karamessines, the CIA's Deputy Director for Plans, in October 1970, during the CIA's effort to prevent the inauguration of Salvador Allende in Chile, the operation the Committee called Track II and the CIA's memoranda carried as Project FUBELT. Karamessines's calendar showed a lunch with Haig on October 8 and meetings on October 15, 19 and 22; on October 10 Karamessines told Haig by telephone, according to a CIA memorandum, that the Station had "made direct contact with a number of the senior military officers" and "received pessimistic reactions from all." At the October 15 meeting of Kissinger, Haig and Karamessines, the CIA memorandum recorded that General Roberto Viaux did not have more than one chance in twenty of a successful coup, that a message would be sent warning him against precipitate action, and that Kissinger instructed Karamessines to preserve Agency assets in Chile and keep up the pressure on Allende. The CIA cable sent to the Station on October 16 stated that it was "firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup."⁵

Kissinger and Haig testified that the October 15 meeting turned off the Agency's coup efforts and that afterwards they were neither informed of nor authorized Track II activities; CIA officials testified that their activities after October 15 were known to and authorized by the White House, and the Committee reported that it could not resolve the conflict. Haig testified on August 15, 1975, that he left the October 15 meeting "with the impression that there was nothing authorized," that he was not familiar with the Valenzuela plan or "$50,000" and had no recollection of a meeting with Karamessines on October 19, the afternoon of the day the Station's cable outlining the plan arrived, that word of the shooting of General Rene Schneider on October 22 came as "a great shock," and, asked whether he was informed before the attempted abduction, "I don't believe I was at all."⁵

On February 3, 1971, Karamessines sent Brigadier General Haig, then Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, two "Top Secret Sensitive/Exclusively Eyes Only" messages for Haig from Ambassador William H. Godley in Laos, captioned "Operation Gold," received through CIA channels. One reported that a Lao official, Sisouk, had let Godley glance at the Royal Lao Government's draft declaration to be issued after the operation against Tchepone began, and that the Prime Minister had agreed on the need for discretion but wondered whether anything could be kept secret.⁶

On January 12, 1972, the CIA's Office of Legislative Counsel recorded that the Director of Central Intelligence had telephoned Haig about the nomination of a new Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. Haig said the nomination might be presented in the very near future, that he was unaware of plans to alert key senators in advance but thought Senator John Stennis might be advised, and that he would tell the Director the White House "game plan" once it was decided.⁷

Chief of staff and the August 1974 meetings with Ford

Haig succeeded Haldeman as White House chief of staff in 1973.¹ In sworn testimony to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice of the House Judiciary Committee on October 17, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford described two meetings with Haig on August 1, 1974, when Ford was Vice President. In the early morning Haig told him of additional tape evidence due to be delivered to Judge John Sirica on Monday, August 5. Haig came again at about 3:30 in the afternoon for roughly three-quarters of an hour and told him of the damaging nature of a June 23, 1972, conversation on one of the tapes, of which White House lawyers had told him. Ford testified that Haig outlined the courses under discussion in the White House, among them the President stepping aside under the 25th Amendment, a censure vote, "the question of whether the President could pardon himself," "pardoning various Watergate defendants, then himself, followed by resignation," and "a pardon to the President, should he resign"; that Haig "indicated he was not advocating any of the options"; and that, asked about the pardon power, Haig said it was his understanding from a White House lawyer that a President could grant a pardon before any criminal action was taken. Ford testified that on the morning of August 2 the Nixon lawyer James St. Clair told him he had not been the source of any opinion about the pardon power, and that late on August 2 he telephoned Haig to say that nothing they had discussed should be given any consideration in Nixon's decision, to which Haig replied that he was in full agreement. Asked whether Haig had discussed a pardon with Nixon or his representatives during the week of August 4 or afterward, Ford answered: "not to my knowledge."⁸

The Associated Press obituary states that Haig "suggested to President Gerald Ford that he pardon his predecessor," that he played a key role in persuading Nixon to resign, and that he repeatedly denied speculation that he was "Deep Throat."¹ It states that he stayed about six weeks with the Ford administration.¹ Donald Rumsfeld became Ford's chief of staff on September 27, 1974.⁹

Supreme Allied Commander Europe

Haig was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe from 1974 to 1979.² On December 5, 1975, George A. Carver Jr., the CIA's Deputy for National Intelligence Officers, informed Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in writing that, at General Haig's request, the CIA had arranged to provide him intelligence support tailored to his needs, concentrating on current political and economic developments and supplementary to the support he received through military channels, and that the arrangements had been endorsed by Rumsfeld's predecessor and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and set up with the knowledge of the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. A copy went to a CIA file labeled "HAIG SUPPORT."¹⁰ A CIA reminder of March 6, 1978, directed that General Haig be sent a personal copy of National Intelligence Estimate 4-1 when it came off the press.¹¹

Rowland Evans and Robert Novak wrote in a column printed in the Boston Globe on January 25, 1981, that in his last days as President, Jimmy Carter summoned General Robert Huyser, Haig's deputy at NATO whom Carter had sent to Tehran in January 1979 over Haig's objections, for a conversation the columnists described as an unsuccessful ploy against Haig's confirmation as Secretary of State; they cited "an intimate of both Huyser and Haig" as saying Huyser was "unshakable" in praising Haig.¹²

United Technologies

Haig's later corporate biographies give different dates for his presidency of United Technologies: the 2004 proxy statement of DOR BioPharma gives 1978 to 1981, and the 2002 proxy statement of SDC International gives 1979 to 1981 and states that he "remains as a consultant."²¹³ The Associated Press obituary places the move after he briefly explored a presidential run in 1979.¹ On August 15, 1980, "Haig, Alexander M Jr" of Farmington, Connecticut, employer United Technologies, gave $500 to the United Technologies Corporation political action committee.¹⁴

Secretary of State

A memorandum by Robert Gates records the subjects raised at a breakfast between Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey and Haig on March 20, 1981, among them NATO security, with State to work with NATO Secretary General Joseph Luns.¹⁵ On March 30, 1981, after the attempted assassination of Reagan, Haig told reporters in the White House briefing room: "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. As for now, I'm in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course."¹

Seymour Hersh wrote that Haig was present at a meeting of Reagan's high command following the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in June 1981 (the Osirak bombing), and that while the State Department formally condemned the bombing, Haig was privately forbearing.¹⁶

On June 29, 1981, the Supreme Court decided Haig v. Agee, in which Haig, as Secretary of State, was the petitioner. The Court upheld the revocation of the passport of Philip Agee, a CIA employee from 1957 to 1968 who had announced a campaign to expose CIA officers and agents; the revocation had been ordered in December 1979, before Haig took office.¹⁷

CIA scheduling memoranda record that Casey planned a meeting with Haig on October 1, 1981, at 3:30 p.m., and that Casey and his deputy, Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, were scheduled for breakfast with Haig on October 6, 1981, and again on January 26, 1982.¹⁸ The National Intelligence Officer for Latin America prepared Casey for the October 1 meeting with a memorandum listing four policy alternatives on Cuba and Central America, the third being increased support for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras "plus replacement of Sandinista Directorate by Third Force moderates to include the use of US forces to deter or interdict Cuban reinforcement of Nicaragua," and the fourth "direct pressure on Cuba," including an oil blockade. The memorandum stated that there was "virtual consensus among Defense, most of CIA and State" for the third alternative.¹⁹

On April 2, 1982, Casey sent Haig ("Dear Al") a quick intelligence assessment of the military aspects of the "Falkland affair" in the Falkland Islands, which referred to "the Argentine invasion Friday," with a copy to Vice President George H.W. Bush.²⁰ On April 14, 1982, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told the House of Commons that Haig had made two visits to the United Kingdom and one to Buenos Aires, praised his "tireless efforts," and said that on his second visit he had put forward ideas concerning the withdrawal of troops and an interim period for negotiations. On April 29 she said that Haig had put formal American proposals to the Argentine government, and on May 4 that he was pursuing initiatives through the Peruvian government.²¹

Reagan accepted Haig's resignation by letter on June 25, 1982. Haig's letter of the same date states that he and Reagan had agreed that "consistency, clarity and steadiness of purpose were essential to success" and that "in recent months, it has become clear to me that the foreign policy on which we embarked together was shifting from that careful course which we had laid out."²² George P. Shultz succeeded him.¹

Worldwide Associates and the CIA, 1984 and 1985

Worldwide Associates, a Washington international advisory firm, had Haig as chairman and president from 1984.² Deputy Director of Central Intelligence John N. McMahon wrote to Haig ("Al") on January 5, 1984, at 1155 15th Street, N.W., Suite 800, that a doctoral candidate and former military officer whose resume Haig had passed to the Agency, whose name is redacted, would join the CIA as a career trainee on April 16, adding: "We're always on the lookout for good people and appreciate your keeping us in mind."²³ The same address is given for Haig in the 2002 proxy statement of SDC International.¹³

The appointment log of Director of Central Intelligence Casey for 1985, as released, lists under Haig a reception and screening of "That's Dancing" hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Haig at the Motion Picture Association, 1600 I Street, N.W., on January 22; a breakfast with Haig at the Madison Hotel on April 10; a reception and screening of "A View to a Kill" at the same address hosted by General and Mrs. Haig on May 31; a breakfast with General Haig at CIA headquarters on November 13; and a cocktail buffet hosted by General and Mrs. Haig on December 20.²⁴

No registrant named Worldwide Associates, and none named Haig, appears in the Foreign Agents Registration Act registrant lists, active or terminated, retrieved from the Justice Department's FARA e-file interface on October 1, 2026; the only near matches are the law firm Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens and related Haight registrants.²⁵ The Senate and House lobbying disclosure database, which begins in 1999, returns no registrant named Worldwide Associates and no lobbyist named Haig.²⁶

Corporate boards

The proxy statement of MGM Mirage filed March 27, 2001, lists Haig as a director since 1990 and a consultant to the company since May 1990, holder of options on 10,000 shares, and recipient in 2000 of $50,000 in consulting fees; it describes him as chairman of Worldwide Associates, host of the weekly television program "World Business Review," and a director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., CompuServe Interactive Services and Interneuron Pharmaceuticals. Tracinda, of which Kirk Kerkorian was sole director and stockholder, owned 91,221,432 MGM Mirage shares.²⁷

SDC International named Haig a director in January 2002; he had been its strategic advisor since May 1999. Its proxy statement filed December 6, 2002, discloses that SDC paid him $85,000 in September 2001 for past services, issued him fully vested options on 300,000 shares at $0.40 when the agreement was renewed on September 9, 2001, and agreed to pay him "between one and two percent of the total gross contract amount of any contract entered into by SDC or any of its subsidiaries which was obtained through the efforts of General Haig." SDC's principal operating entity was its Czech subsidiary Tatra; Terex Corporation, which had received shares as a strategic advisor, held 12 percent. Haig held 505,000 shares, 2.47 percent, and was one of the two persons named to vote stockholders' proxies.¹³

DOR BioPharma entered into a letter agreement with Haig on December 23, 2002, making him chairman of its board for a retainer of $50,000 a year and options on 2,000,000 shares; its 2004 proxy statement adds that he received a further $50,000 a year for consulting services. The company had executed licence agreements for ricin and botulinum toxin vaccines in January 2003, and its 2003 private placement was handled by Paramount Capital, an investment bank affiliated with its largest stockholder, Lindsay Rosenwald. The statement lists Haig, then 79, as a director of MGM Mirage, Indevus Pharmaceuticals, SDC International and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and gives Worldwide Associates' address as 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia.²

Political contributions and the 1988 campaign

Haig for President (FEC committee C00214189), with treasurer Dominic J. Saraceno of Virginia, reported receipts of $2,633,083 for the 1988 cycle, including $140,442 in federal matching funds, and remained registered through 2000.²⁸ Rumsfeld gave it $1,000 on January 27, 1988.¹⁴ The Associated Press obituary records that Haig ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988.¹

Federal Election Commission records list contributions by entries in the name of Haig giving Worldwide Associates as employer, among them $750 to the Republican National Committee on January 11, 1994, $1,000 to Pete Wilson for President on May 1, 1995, $5,000 to the RNC on July 19, 1996, November 10, 1998, and February 1, 2000, and $2,300 to John McCain 2008 on April 10, 2007. A $1,000 contribution to McCain 2000 dated June 15, 1999, comes from "Haig, Alexander M. Mr. Jr." of Palm Beach with no employer listed. The records list contributions to the MGM Mirage political action committee of $500 on December 19, 2000, $1,000 on January 31, 2002, and $1,000 on May 4, 2004.¹⁴