Reagan Assassination Attempt - "I Am in Control Here"

"I Am in Control Here"

A few days before the shooting, Vice President George H. W. Bush received the assignment of running crisis management in case of emergency despite Secretary of State Alexander Haig's objection. When the White House learned of the assassination attempt, however, Bush was over Texas aboard Air Force Two, which did not have secure voice communications, and his discussions with the White House were intercepted and given to the press. White House Counsel Fred Fielding immediately prepared for a transfer of presidential powers under the 25th Amendment, and Chief of Staff James A. Baker and Counselor to the President Edwin Meese went to Reagan's hospital.

Members of the Cabinet and others, including Haig, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and National Security Advisor Richard Allen, met in the White House Situation Room to discuss various issues, including the location of the nuclear football, the apparent presence of more than the usual number of Soviet submarines unusually close off the Atlantic coast, a possible Soviet invasion of Poland against the Solidarity movement, and the presidential line of succession. Although normally no tape recorders are allowed in the Situation Room these meetings were recorded with the participants' knowledge by Allen, and the tapes have since been made public.

The group obtained a duplicate nuclear football and Gold Codes card, and kept it in the situation room. (Reagan's football was still with the officer at the hospital, and Bush also had a card and football.) The participants discussed whether to raise the military's alert status, and the importance of doing so without changing the DEFCON level, although the number of Soviet submarines proved to be normal. Upon learning that Reagan was in surgery, Haig declared, "the helm is right here. And that means right in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here." The Secretary of State is not second in the line of succession but fourth, after the Vice President, Speaker of the House (Tip O'Neill), and the President pro tempore of the Senate (J. Strom Thurmond). O'Neill and Thurmond would have been required under 3 U.S.C. § 19 to resign their positions in order for either of them to become Acting President. Although others in the room knew that Haig's statement was constitutionally incorrect, they did not object at the time to avoid a confrontation.

At the same time, a press conference was underway in the White House. CBS reporter Lesley Stahl asked deputy press secretary Larry Speakes who was running the government, to which Speakes responded, "I cannot answer that question at this time." Upon hearing Speakes' remark, Haig scribbled out a note which was passed to Speakes, ordering him to leave the dais immediately. Moments later, Haig himself entered the briefing room, where he made the following controversial statement:

Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president and the secretary of state, in that order, and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, he will do so. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.

Those in the situation room reportedly laughed when they heard him say "I am in control here". Haig's statement reflected political reality, if not necessarily legal reality. He later said,

I wasn't talking about transition. I was talking about the executive branch, who is running the government. That was the question asked. It was not "Who is in line should the President die?"

Although Haig stated in the briefing room that "There are absolutely no alert measures that are necessary at this time or contemplated", while he spoke Weinberger raised the military's alert level. After Haig returned to the Situation Room, he objected to Weinberger doing so as it made him appear a liar. Weinberger and others accused Haig of exceeding his authority with his "I am in control" statement, while Haig defended himself by advising the others to "read the Constitution", saying that his comments did not involve "succession" and that he knew the "pecking order".

"Despite brief flare-ups and distractions," Allen recalled, "the crisis management team in the Situation Room worked well together. The congressional leadership was kept informed, and governments around the world were notified and reassured." Reagan's surgery ended at 6:20 pm, although he did not regain consciousness until 7:30 pm, so could not invoke Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to make Bush Acting President. The vice president arrived at the White House at 7:00 pm, and did not invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. He stated on national television at 8:20 pm:

I can reassure this nation and a watching world that the American government is functioning fully and effectively. We've had full and complete communications throughout the day.