Alexander Haig

Nixon's Chief of Staff, 1973-74. Finally urged Nixon to resign. NATO Commander from 1975 to 1979. Secretary of State for Ronald Reagan. Got himself in hot water after the assassination attempt against the President in March 1981 when he appeared in the Press Room in the White House and announced "As of now, I'm in charge here." Vice-President George Bush was on an airplane en-route from Texas at this time. Constitutionally, the next in line in the order of succession is the Vice-President, then the Speaker of the House, then the Senate Pro Tempore, THEN the Secretary of State. His tenure as Secretary of State ended in June 1982, after his unsuccessful attempts to broker a peace settlement between Britain and Argentina in the Falklands War.