Thread by @rlocker12

Forty-five years ago today, @washingtonpost reporters @realBobWoodward and @carlbernstein went to the NW Washington home of White House chief of staff Alexander Haig. It was 11:30 p.m. and two days after President Ford had pardoned Richard Nixon. 1/6

Haig had engineered the pardon from Ford, although he denied it. He told the two reporters that he knew it was inevitable that Nixon would leave office prematurely from the time he took the chief of staff job on May 3, 1973.
@ccwhip @djusatoday @USATODAY
2/6

Near the end, Nixon was drinking, on pills and unstable. Haig said Nixon said the military had a tradition of leaving an officer in an empty room with a pistol in the drawer. "I don't have a pistol," Nixon said, and Haig told the doctor to hold the pills. 3/6

Haig was in charge at the White House during the 15 months he was chief of staff. Nixon delegated him to attend meetings in the president's stead. Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski called Haig the 37 1/2th president. 4/6
@washingtonpost @ccwhip

Haig had been a "deep background" source for Woodward for months, according to notes at @ransomcenter. On Sept. 10, Haig told @realBobWoodward @carlbernstein their book, The Final Days, needed to cover the 15 months Haig was chief of staff. 5/6
@ccwhip @myHNN

Haig told the two reporters that he had extensive documentation and could reconstruct everything that had happened during the previous 15 months. It was a boon to the authors seeking to write an instant history. The price was that they took Haig's self-serving version. 6/6