Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig has died at the age of eighty-five. The longtime Republican served as White House chief of staff during the Watergate scandal and secretary of state during the Reagan administration. After the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981, Haig declared he was in control of the country.

Alexander Haig: “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 of now, I am in control here in the White House, pending return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.”