Edward L. Rowny
I was in the White House on the day the President was shot and was able to
observe at first hand what happened. The initial word from the hospital was that
the President was not hurt badly. Nevertheless, the entire cabinet was assembled.
Reassuring messages kept coming from the hospital, but it made one wonder if it
was true that the President's wound was really a minor one. Only Mrs. Reagan
and the President's close California friends like Deaver and Raker were allowed to
go to the hospital. This made us more suspicious that something was awry. Jim
Brady, the President's spokesman, had been seriously wounded.
Brady's assistant briefed the press but didn't sound very assuring. The impression
he was creating was that there was no one in control of the U.S. government. I
was not present at the cabinet meeting but I learned that there was a sharp
exchange between Weinberger and Haig about the order of succession. At any
rate, Haig felt that the world was not getting a reassuring picture that someone was
in charge. He came to the press room and made his famous "I'm in charge"
speech, obviously upset and not very assuring himself. He probably suspected that
the President was seriously hurt and also upset because he was being kept away
from the hospital. The "I'm in charge" speech did Haig an inestimable amount of
harm; the 30-second bite was played again and again on TV. His talk was played
up by the California Mafia as another attempt by Haig to overstep his authority.
It was the beginning of the end; only a matter of time before the White House
decided to let Haig go.
I was in with Secretary Haig the night before he was fired. If he knew he was
going to be dismissed, he didn't give any indication of it. The next day I attended
the cabinet luncheon where several arms control issues were discussed. Haig
presented the recommendation I had made to him well, and I was pleased that no
one seriously opposed him.
After the luncheon Haig and several others were called into the Oval Office by the
President. I went home to finish packing, since I was leaving for Geneva that
evening. I received a phone call from my office saying that I should turn on my
TV. I was surprised. Haig had just resigned. I knew things had not been going
well, but I didn't think things had gone that far. It was Haig's swan song.
Q ..
I gather you consider Haig was competent and made a good Secretary of State.
A ..
Yes, I consider him a competent official and think he was an excellent Secretary
of State. He's a positive, take-charge person, the kind we needed as secretary at
that time. I believe he felt that he had the confidence of President Reagan and
wanted to be his "vicar" -as he put it-in foreign affairs. But as I have said
earlier, I saw something others didn't see. I saw a President in the hands of a
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