By Roger Stone

Haig: Patriot

My friend Chris Ruddy was justifiably sadden by news that former Reagan Secretary of State, and Nixon White House Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, had passes at 85. Haig had been an advisor to Rudy’s wildly successful conservative news organization, Newsmax. The Newsmax column on Haig is must reading,
http://newsmax.com/Headline/haig-death-obituary/2010/02/20/id/350406?s=al&promo_code=97B5-1

I have no doubt that it was Haig who engineered Ford’s unconditional pardon of Nixon, maneuvering around Ford Aides who opposed such a move and showing loyalty to the man who given him his fifth star and elevated him from Kissinger Deputy (the most thankless job in the Administration) to the White House Chief. Haig did so largely without fingerprints.

Loyalty is rare in politics today. Nixon would repay the debt by convincing Reagan (and Nancy Reagan) that Haig was up to the Secretary of State job. Once the most skilled bureaucratic in-fighter in Washington, post triple bypass, Haig became more of a bumbler. Extreme personality changes are common with traumatic bypass surgery and so I think it was with Haig, leading to his “I'm in charge here” claim in the wake of Reagan’s attempted assassination.
Above all, Al Haig was a patriot of courage who loved his country.