"As of now, I am in control here in the White House pending the return of the vice president. I am in close touch with him. If something came up I would check with him of course," said Alexander Haig, former Secretary Of State on March 30, 1981.
Haig ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988.
He also served as Supreme Commander over NATO forces in Europe and was a four star general.
Haig died at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.
He was 85 years old.