![]() ![]() He looked perfectly flushed and frazzled…. He walked into the press room breathless. I remember watching this on TV from my office. There was of course great public anxiety, and someone had to go up and make a press statement.Įither Haig nominated himself or someone nominated him but in any event he walked into the press room breathless. HUGHES: When the assassination attempt on President Reagan occurred,… Al Haig came to the White House and he convened a meeting of the NSC to go over the situation with Reagan’s advisors. Go here to read about the events that led to his resignation. policy in El Salvador, and his yelling match with an FSO who quit because of disagreements on bombing Cambodia. You can also read about Haig’s embarrassment after a Nicaraguan soldier recanted regarding Cuban involvement in El Salvador, his run-in with the ambassador over U.S. Reagan’s would-be assassin, John Hinkley Jr., was released in July 2016. Kelly was interviewed by Thomas Stern beginning in December 1995. Gammon was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in February 1989. Hughes was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in August 1997. Philip Hughes, the Vice President’s Deputy Foreign Policy Advisor, Samuel Gammon, the Executive Assistant in Management, and John Kelly, at the Secretariat at the Department of State, all watched the Haig incident unfold and tell their respective stories leading up to Haig’s misinterpreted declaration of power. Unaware of just how serious the President’s condition really was, key officials began to do their best damage control and keep not only the reporters calm but the country and the world at large. In an attempt to keep everyone calm, Al Haig, Reagan’s Secretary of State, committed a PR faux pas - and showed a glaring lapse in basic knowledge of the Constitution - by telling the press that he was in control while the President was in surgery. With no real protocol in place for such a situation, everyone involved had to improvise and hope that everything would turn out right. When President Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, chaos ensued behind the scenes at the White House. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |