Bala Cynwyd Native Alexander Haig Dies

haigYou knew that Haig was Reagan’s Secretary of State, but did you know that he went to St. Joe’s Prep and Lower Merion High School and worked at Wanamakers? Haig is a fascinating political figure. He worked for MacArthur in the Korean War and essentially ran the country when the Nixon presidency crumbled in 1974. He then had a brief, controversial reign as Reagan’s Secretary of State. Here is his obit in the New York Times.

5 thoughts on “Bala Cynwyd Native Alexander Haig Dies

  1. Hell yeah, he went to Lower Merion, like Kobe Bryant, Chuck Barris and Steve Odabashian.

    In fact, when he was voted captain of the tennis team, he loudly exclaimed to his teammates, “I'm in charge now!”

    I remember when he ran for President in 1988, and in an early Republican debate, several of the players (Bush, Dole, Kemp, Dupont) were arguing over some military point. They all basically shut up and turned to Haig for clarification of what it was that they were arguing in the first place.

  2. I never knew General Haig went to St. Matthias for grade school. That school holds the dubious distinction of being the first team to ever lose a basketball game to the Armenian Sisters Academy (22-21). In the same season, Waldron Academy beat us 73-4. (I talk about that game somewhere else on your website in a comments section).

  3. Yeah, I remember that “I'm in charge” quote. It was made in the immediate aftermath of the Reagan shooting, and was seen by Haig's critics as evidence of megalomania and an attempt to subvert the order of presidential succession. It could more generously be interpreted as a take charge kind of guy trying to impose some order on the chaotic situation that reigned in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attermpt. It's extremely doubtful that Haig was actually making a power grab, but the remark was widely misinterpreted.

    I wasn't aware that Haig went to LMHS. Wow! All those greats and even Steve O. Must be something in the air or water out that way.

  4. And MUCH more importantly, what's up with that picture? Looks like he's breaking through a backyard hedge in Lower Merion somewhere. “A thousand pardons, but did I hear a cocktail shaker?”

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