Alexander Haig Trivia Quiz

Answer: He was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Alexander M. Haig was born in 1924 in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Haig's father was a lawyer who passed away when Haig was only ten years old. Haig was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and attended a parochial college prep school in Philadelphia for part of his secondary education period.

Answer: Notre Dame

Alexander Haig attended the University of Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Indiana, for the first two years of his collegiate life. Haig transferred from Notre Dame in 1943. Notre Dame is famous for its NCAA sports teams, particularly its football team. Butler University is located in Indianapolis; Indiana State University is situated in Terre Haute; and Valparaiso University is located in Valparaiso.

Answer: Army

Alexander Haig served in the U.S Army for more than thirty years after graduating from West Point in 1947. Haig took part in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, earning several medals for bravery in combat. He also helped to formulate U.S. military policy and strategy while he worked at the Pentagon at various points in his career. Haig's rank in the Army was a four-star general when he retired from military service in 1979.

Answer: H.R. Haldeman

In late April 1973, President Richard Nixon fired White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, as the Watergate political scandal tightened its noose around Nixon's neck. Bob Haldeman worked in the White House from 1969 to 1973. Alexander Haig replaced Haldeman in May 1973 and remained at this post until after Nixon had resigned the presidency in August 1974. Haig was generally praised for his service to Nixon; his forceful style was seen as an asset to the President during the tumultuous final days of the Watergate period. John Ehrlichman was the White House Domestic Counsel, John Dean was the White House Counsel, and Fred Buzhardt replaced Dean as the counsel to the White House in 1973.

Answer: NATO

From 1974 to 1979, Alexander Haig worked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), serving as the Commander of NATO military forces in Europe. In his job as NATO commander, Haig strongly opposed the actions of the Soviet Union; he maintained that NATO's role was to protect the interests of Western Europe and the rest of the "Free World."

Answer: Belgium

On June 25, 1979, Alexander Haig was the presumed target of an assassination attempt in the city of Mons, Belgium. This city is located about 65 kilometers from Brussels, on the east-central region of the Belgian border with France. According to police officials, terrorists placed a land mine on a bridge over which Haig's car was crossing. Haig was not seriously injured in the explosion, but three of his bodyguards were wounded in the blast.

Answer: Secretary of State

In 1979, Alexander Haig retired from the military and took a civilian job as CEO of United Technologies Corporation in Hartford, Connecticut. After two years at this position, Haig was summoned back to Washington, DC, to serve in President Reagan's Administration. Haig was selected to be the 59th Secretary of State in U.S. history; he served State from January 1981 until July 1982. Haig alienated many top officials inside the Beltway because of his "hawkish" foreign policy views. According to insiders, for example, Haig and Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, had an extremely frosty relationship.

Answer: in control

"I am in control here..." With these words at a March 30, 1981, White House press conference, Alexander Haig stirred up a hornet's nest of protest. President Reagan lay wounded in a hospital bed, having just survived an assassination attempt. Vice-President George H.W. Bush was in Texas at the time of the attack; he was promptly summoned back to Washington but would not arrive for several hours. Haig's actual words were, "As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice-president and in close touch with him." Unfortunately for Haig, most news reports failed to quote the second half of his remarks. Haig emerged from this incident as an overly ambitious cabinet member.

Answer: Robert Dole

Alexander Haig made a brief attempt at becoming the Republican Party's nominee for U.S. President, but he didn't fare well in public opinion polls or at the ballot. In February 1988, Haig withdrew his name from the presidential race. He then campaigned for Senator Robert Dole, a veteran Republican from Kansas. Haig felt that Dole's strong personality and conservative philosophy would enhance the future of the USA. Dole ended up losing the nomination to moderate Republican George H.W. Bush.

Answer: Pompous

Alexander Haig's supposedly "pompous" attitude alienated many insiders within the Washington Beltway. Haig's critics coined a new term, "Haigspeak", to depict "language characterized by pompous obscurity resulting from redundancy and verbosity." One such example of Haigspeak was to call a "lie" a "termalogical inexactitude." Haig's integrity and patriotism were not questioned, even by his sharpest critics.