Word: haig
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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ALEXANDER HAIG, President Reagan's erstwhile Secretary of State, probably won't be remembered for his command of the English language. In fact, short of outright translation, careful scrutiny of his every utterance was required to decipher precisely what the Secretary was trying to say. But one infamous remark of Haig's came across loud and clear. Seeking to reassure the American public in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Reagan two years ago, Haig stated at a nationally televised press conference. "I'm in control here...
That the Secretary's words elicited vivid protests from the press, government officials and the general public was not surprising. After all, Haig had conveniently boggled the line of succession to place himself ahead of the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. And Americans are sticklers for procedure. As citizens of constitutional democracy, we are convinced that the game of government must be played in strict adherence to the rules, particularly in times of crisis. At any given moment, we expect to find that the person who should be in charge really is running the show. That person...
...been peaceful: demonstrations in front of the American consulate in Frankfurt, or the display in a Lübeck storefront of quotes designed to portray the U.S. as a warmonger. (Example: "We don't want war, but. . ." attributed to former NATO Commander and Secretary of State Alexander Haig.) Occasionally the mood has turned ugly. When U.S. Vice President George Bush visited the city of Krefeld last June, his car was stoned by so-called chaotics, militant rabblerousers who have attached themselves to the peace movement. In Wiesbaden last month, a member of the Green Party poured...
Clark's loyalties are steadfast only to Reagan. They seem to shift according to circumstance when other Administration officials are involved. For instance, after he moved to the NSC, Clark helped engineer the ouster of his former boss, Haig. In encouraging the President to vent his anger about the nuclear freeze movement and El Salvador, Clark prevailed over James Baker and his aides, whom Clark dismisses privately as "political types" and "civilians." In January, Clark interceded against a White House reorganization that would have diminished Meese's role. That intervention strained his relations with his old friend Deaver...
...degenerated quickly into an argument over illusory, mutually exclusive panaceas. Liberals have tended to favor responding with money, self-criticism and tolerance for radicalism of the left; conservatives have leaned toward guns, toughness and tolerance of the extreme right. Early in the Reagan Administration, former Secretary of State Alexander Haig struck just the wrong note with his tough talk about "going to the source." He meant Cuba. He seemed to be suggesting that if the U.S. could just clobber Fidel Castro, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua would behave, or better yet, go away. He also inadvertently aroused suspicion that...