Haig Dies

Washington (CNN) -- Alexander Haig, the former military officer, secretary of state and adviser to presidents, has died, a Johns Hopkins Medical Center spokesman said.

Haig, 85, was admitted to the Baltimore, Maryland, hospital on January 28 and died at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, hospital spokesman Gary Stephenson said.

Haig was a top official in the administrations of three presidents -- Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

As Reagan's secretary of state, Haig famously (and incorrectly) declared, "As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president," he declared shortly after President Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981. Vice President George H.W. Bush was en route from Texas after the shooting in Washington.

Haig served as Nixon's deputy assistant for national security affairs beginning in 1970, then in January 1973 became vice chief of staff of the Army.



As of now, Obama is in full control in the White House, pending the outcome of the next election - edgarblythe