Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who held a series of high-profile posts in the military, government, and business during a long career, died Saturday at the age of 85.
Haig lived in a Farmington mansion when he made the short commute along Interstate 84 during the days he served as president at Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. He moved in and out of government service through his career, but he came to Connecticut for the high-level, private-sector post at the major contractor that makes jet engines, helicopters, air conditioners, and elevators.
Haig was recruited by legendary UTC chieftain Harry Gray, a fellow Farmington resident who offered Haig the highest salary of his life in an attempt to make Haig his eventual successor at the conglomerate. Haig, though, left about a year later to become Secretary of State under then-President Ronald Reagan.
Despite his decades-long career, Haig is perhaps best known for a single incident for saying that “I am in control here, in the White House” after Reagan was shot in 1981 outside a hotel in Washington, D.C.
The national security writer for the Associated Press has the full details on Haig’s life at http://www.courant.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-obit-haig,0,5628333.story