Nomination of Alexander M. Haig, Jr., To Be Secretary of State

The President today nominated Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr., of Hartford, Conn., to be Secretary of State.

General Haig is president and chief operating officer of United Technologies Corp., a position he has held since December 24, 1979.

General Haig was born on December 2, 1924. He received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy in 1947 and a M.A. from Georgetown University in 1961. He was graduated from the Naval War College in 1960 and the Army War College in 1966.

He received his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1947. He served as staff officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Department of the Army, from 1962 to 1964 and as Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army in 1964. From 1964 to 1965, he served as Deputy Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967 and as Regimental Commander and Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Military Academy from 1967 to 1969. From 1969 to 1970, General Haig served as Military Assistant to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and from 1970 to 1973 served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.

In 1973 General Haig was commissioned general and served as Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Later in 1973 he returned to the White House as Chief of Staff, a position in which he served until 1974 when he was appointed Commander in Chief of the U.S. European Command. He served in that capacity as well as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe SHAPE, until his retirement from the Army in 1978.

A trustee of Loyola College, General Haig is married to the former Patricia Antoinette Fox. They have three children: Alexander P., Brian F., and Barbara E.