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Alexander M. Haig, Jr. Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974
3620257  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography/Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms
  • Additional collection guides

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Alexander M. Haig, Jr. Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974
    Dates: 1969-1974
    Collection Number: 3620257
    Creator/Collector: Haig, Alexander Meigs, 1924-2010
    Extent: 5 linear feet, 8 linear inches; 13 boxes
    Online items available
    Repository: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
    Abstract: The materials of Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. cover the period from December 1968 to August 1974 when General Haig served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff for President Richard Nixon. The records include congratulatory messages to General Haig and a date book maintained by General Haig of President Nixon's daily activities.
    Language of Material: English

    Access

    Collection is open for research. Some materials may be unavailable based upon categories of materials exempt from public release established in the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.

    Publication Rights

    Most government records are in the public domain; however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings, that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.

    Preferred Citation

    Alexander M. Haig, Jr. Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974. Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

    Acquisition Information

    These materials are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-526, 88 Stat. 1695) and implementing regulations.

    Biography/Administrative History

    Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. was born on December 2, 1924 in the Philadelphia suburb Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Alexander Meigs Haig, an assistant city solicitor of Philadelphia, and Regina Anne (née Murphy). Haig attended the University of Notre Dame for two years before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy in 1944. Upon graduation in 1947, Second Lieutenant Haig served in Japan with the First Calvary Division, then as an aide to Lt. General Edward “Ned” Almond in Europe. He also served on General Douglas Macarthur’s staff in Japan before and during the Korean War. While in Japan, Haig was assigned as an aide to General Alonzo P. Fox, MacArthur’s deputy chief of staff. In 1950, Haig married Maj. Gen. Fox’s daughter, Patricia Antoinette Fox. After the Korean War, Haig left the military for two years to study business administration at Columbia University. Soon thereafter, Haig returned to the military and he was a student at the Naval War College from 1959 to 1960. He then studied at Georgetown University for a master’s degree in International Relations, which he received in 1962. In 1962, General Haig was selected as a staff officer to the deputy chief of staff for military operations in the Pentagon. Soon Secretary of the Army Cyrus Vance named Haig his military assistant. In 1964, he was appointed deputy special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara. In 1965, he left the Pentagon to attend the Army War College for a year. After graduating, Haig was deployed to Vietnam. When his tour of duty ended in 1967, Haig was appointed regimental commander of cadets at his alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy. In January 1969, Haig became the senior military adviser to Henry Kissinger, the assistant to the President for national security affairs. General Haig became deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon for national security affairs in 1970. Haig was promoted to full general in 1972 and, a year later, left the White House to become the vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army. In May 1973, Haig was brought back to the White House to replace White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, who had resigned on April 30, 1973. After President Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974, Haig served temporarily as chief of staff under President Gerald Ford. President Ford appointed Haig to the post of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in late 1974. Haig left the military in 1979 to become the president of United Technologies Corporation, a defense contractor. On January 22, 1981, Haig was sworn in as President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State. He left the position after serving for 18 months. In 1984, Haig founded Worldwide Associates Inc., a global consulting firm. That same year, he wrote about his time with the Reagan administration in Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy. In 1988, Haig was a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination. He pulled out of the race after the Iowa caucuses. In 1992, he wrote his autobiography, Inner Circles: How America Changed the World. Haig appeared on television programs such as World Business Review, on which he replaced Caspar Weinberger as the program’s moderator, and 21st Century Business. In addition, he was an advisor to Newsmax Media, a member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and a founding board member of American Online. General Haig died of complications from an infection on February 20, 2010 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The materials of Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. cover the period from December 1968 to August 1974 when General Haig served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff for President Richard Nixon. The materials are arranged into two series, personal correspondence and President’s activities. The materials in the personal correspondence series begin in December 1968 during the transition period of President-Elect Richard Nixon. The subjects of these correspondences are primarily congratulatory letters to General Haig on his promotion to the rank of General in the United States Army and on his initial position with the Nixon Administration as senior military adviser to Henry Kissinger. The series also contains congratulatory messages to General Haig when he obtained his positions as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff. Additional subjects of this series consist of correspondence to General Haig from individuals seeking positions with the Nixon Administration, requests for speaking engagements by General Haig, and requests for autographed photographs. When General Haig becomes Chief of Staff for President Nixon in 1973 through when President Nixon resigns from office in August 1974, the materials in this series contain letters from acquaintances and the general public indicating their support or disapproval of President Nixon. The series also contains General Haig’s responses to these inquiries. The materials in the President’s activities series consist of a date book maintained by General Haig of President Nixon’s daily activities. The date book covers the period January 1, 1973 to July 28, 1974 and portions of the date book appear to contain General Haig’s handwriting. The subjects in the date book pertain to either meetings that President Nixon was involved with or indicating President Nixon’s location on a particular day. Locations include the White House, Camp David, the Western White House in San Clemente, California or trips abroad.

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