[Responsibility2nd]

I remember Haig took a load of grief for this. But I don't remember why.

[Cecily]

Haig said that after President Reagan was shot. The person in charge (acting president) would have been VP Bush, not Haig.

[Sacajaweau]

He said he was next in line as Speaker. The da forgot the VP is next in line.

[rhombus10]

I remember Haig took a load of grief for this. But I don't remember why.

1. He was a Republican
2. He was a General
3. He worked for Reagan

The media made it into something it wasn't - same then as it is now.

[cgbg]

Al Haig had no authority to make such a claim.

He wasn’t even in charge of White House garbage collection. ;-)

[mware]

The line of command did not go through Haig.

[a little elbow grease]

A. Haig -- "The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood."

____________

"a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood" --- sweet.

[al baby]

IMHO How he responded that day was perfect

[Beowulf9]

LOL!!!

[G Larry]

While Haig was not Constitutionally next in line, he felt it necessary to present the world with the image of control in the midst of chaos.

He took heat because he was not Constitutionally next in line, as it would have been the House Speaker, until the VP got back to town.

[wastoute]

Reagan was shot.

[Hulka]

I read his book. There was much confusion at the time and Haig was the senior ranking official in the White House at that time. VP was out of touch and couldn’t be reached. Technically, he was in charge and rightfully so.

[oldvirginian]

“I remember Haig took a load of grief for this. But I don’t remember why.”

It was the day Reagan was shot.
VP Bush was out of town, Reagan’s Chief of Staff (James Baker) had been wounded in the shooting and no one in the cabinet wanted to step up to the plate until VP Bush got back to town.
Haig, knowing a chain of command was crucial, made an agreement with the cabinet that he would be in charge of speaking to the press until VP Bush got back.
At the next press briefing some reporter asked Haig who was in charge considering the VP was out of town. That was when Haig said he was in charge.
The press roasted him because technically the Secretary of State, Haig at that time, is fourth in the line of succession behind the VP, Speaker of the House and President Pro-Tem of the Senate.

The rest is history.