Initially unable to secure his desired appointment to the United States Military Academy, though one of his teachers opined that "Al is definitely not West Point material", Haig studied at the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a "string of A's" in an "intellectual awakening"[6] for two years before securing a congressional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1944 at the behest of his uncle, who served as the Philadelphia municipal government's director of public works.

[6] Haig was enrolled in an accelerated wartime curriculum at West Point that deemphasized the humanities and social sciences, and he graduated in the bottom third of his class[7] (ranked 214 of 310) in 1947.

[8] Although a West Point superintendent characterized Haig as "the last man in his class anyone expected to become the first general",[9] other classmates acknowledged his "strong convictions and even stronger ambitions".

On 22 May 1967, General William Westmoreland rewarded Haig with the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second-highest medal for valor, in recognition of his actions during the Battle of Ap Gu in March 1967.

Although his force was outnumbered three to one, Colonel Haig succeeded in inflicting 592 casualties on the Viet Cong ... HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No.

In the spring of 1972, the North Vietnamese armed forces (PAVN) launched a multi-prong attack, known as the Easter Offensive, on every region of South Vietnam.

[14] Nixon, in his reflexive suspicion,[15] and Kissinger, in his boundless ambition,[16] opted to bypass the Departments of State and Defense, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS), in any advisory or decision-making capacity relating to what would become known as Operation Linebacker.

He was dispatched, to the Pentagon as well as Saigon, to critique field commanders and military procedure, and provide an independent information channel to the White House.

He was a member of a national security triumvirate, along with Nixon and Kissinger, that both scapegoated and ignored the military command running the daily operations in Vietnam.

During the Saturday Night Massacre, Haig attempted to make acting-Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

[22] Retaining his Army commission, he remained in the position until 21 September 1974, ultimately overseeing the transition to the presidency of Gerald Ford following Nixon's resignation on 9 August 1974.

This was due to his concern that Ford's speech would expose Haig's role in negotiating Nixon's resignation supposedly in exchange for a pardon issued by the new president.

I don't have a pistol, Al."[27] Following Nixon's resignation, Haig remained briefly as White House Chief of Staff under Ford.

[29] Haig resigned from his position as White House Chief of Staff and returned to active duty in the United States Army in September 1974.

[25] In December 1974, Haig was appointed as the next Supreme Allied Commander Europe by President Ford, replacing General Andrew Goodpaster and returning to active duty in the United States Army.

Haig also became the front-runner to be the 27th U.S. Army Chief of Staff, following the death of General Creighton Abrams from complications of surgery to remove lung cancer on 4 September 1974.

[25] Haig retired from his position as Supreme Allied Commander Europe in July 1979 and was succeeded by General Bernard W. Rogers, who previously served as Army Chief of Staff.

Ambassador to NATO William Tapley Bennett Jr.[25] In 1979, Haig joined the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute as director of its Western Security Program, and he later served on the organization's board of trustees.

[36] Several days earlier, on 2 December 1980, as Haig faced these initial challenges to the next step in his political career, four U.S. Catholic missionary women in El Salvador, two of whom were Maryknoll sisters, were beaten, raped and murdered by five Salvadoran national guardsmen ordered to follow them.

Despite this diplomatically awkward atrocity, the Carter administration soon approved $5.9 million in lethal military assistance to El Salvador's oppressive right-wing government.

[38] In justifying the arms shipments, the new administration claimed that the Salvadoran government of José Napoleón Duarte had taken "positive steps" to investigate the murder of four American nuns, but this was disputed by U.S.

Haig, who described himself as the "vicar" of U.S. foreign policy,[40] believed the human rights violations of a U.S. ally such as El Salvador should be given less attention than the ally's successes against enemies of the U.S., and thus found himself diminishing the murders of the nuns before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March 1981: I'd like to suggest to you that some of the investigations would lead one to believe that perhaps the vehicle the nuns were riding in may have tried to run through a roadblock, or may have accidentally been perceived to have been doing so, and there may have been an exchange of fire, and then perhaps those who inflicted the casualties sought to cover it up.The outcry that immediately followed Haig's insinuation prompted him to emphatically withdraw his speculative suggestions the very next day before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

[42] Similar public relations miscalculations, by Haig and others, continued to plague the Reagan administration's attempts to build popular support at home for its Central American policies.

In December 2012 documents released under the United Kingdom's 30 Year Rule disclosed that Haig planned to reveal British classified military information to Argentina in advance of the recapture of South Georgia Island.

The information, which contained the plans for Operation Paraquet, was intended to show the Argentine military junta in Buenos Aires that the United States was a neutral player and could be trusted to act impartially during negotiations to end the conflict.

After finishing with less than 1 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses and trailing badly in the New Hampshire primary polls, Haig withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Senator Bob Dole.

[63] On 5 January 2006, Haig participated in a meeting at the White House of former secretaries of defense and state to discuss U.S. foreign policy with Bush administration officials.

According to The New York Times, his brother, Frank Haig, said the Army was coordinating a mass at Fort Myer in Washington, D.C., and an interment at Arlington National Cemetery, but both had to be delayed by about two weeks owing to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"[7] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Haig as a man who "served his country in many capacities for many years, earning honor on the battlefield, the confidence of presidents and prime ministers, and the thanks of a grateful nation.

[71] In 2009, Haig was recognized for their generous gift in support of academic programs at West Point by being inducted into the Eisenhower Society for Lifetime Giving.