Whenever these two pop up in alternate history they usually pop up it usually ends up in a dystopian world. So my question is who would have been a better president, Alexander Haig or Donald Rumsfeld?
Who Would Have Been Better Alexander Haig or Donald Rumsfeld?
- Thread starter Joseph Weaver
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I'll ask one of the mods to fix it
Whenever their best chance would have been.
Haigs experience included more gritty reality than Rumsfeld. The latter spent much more time at theory, law, and DC politics.
I'd also say Haig. He's pretty aggressive in my Power Without Knowledge TL but it's explicitly because he has untreated soft tissue damage stemming from the POD. Without it he wouldn't be great but still.
I've always wondered why Haig was portrayed in a dystopian sense. Rumsfeld I get (Iraq war and all) but Haig I don't get, I admit I don't know too much about Haig he seems like an interesting guy. Is it because of that "I'm in control" press conference? Or did Haig just come across as dystopian?
I picked him specifically because of that line but he also had a deliberate tendency to downplay atrocities committed by US allies. Also before he resigned he apparently suggested a nuclear warning shot in Europe to deter the Soviets.
Ah I see, though I did read that he tried to get peace between Argentina and the UK during the Falkland Islands War. Take that for what you will.
That willingness to side with Argentina over the UK is part of the reason in my TL that he gradually shifts focus toward Asia, laying the groundwork for a version of the EU that has it's own security umbrella from the ground up and is a Franco-British project rather than a Franco-German one.
Interesting, I was thinking about doing a timeline that has Al Haig as Vice President to President Robert McNamara in the 80s.
That could be cool 🤔. My divergence is a slightly different 1980 Republican primary where Haig becomes VP and Bush becomes Secretary of State. Haig's famous "I am in control here..." line is part of his speech given in the midst of the 1984 Reagan assassination.
Interesting as for President McNamara I won't spoil too much but the big POD is in the late 60s with a small POD in the late 50s. If your interested I could send you a link if I go through with it.
During his Army career he developed a confrontational push the limits attitude. A great thing for a brigade commander, not so much for the cloud land of global politics. Back in 1981 my GF was a former Army NCO/Tech who had worked the communications at NATO HQ. She saw him almost daily & observed that 1. Haig was not at all liked by the other officers there from top to bottom. 2. Haigs behavior on a couple occasions justified that dislike. Haig did not grow up to be a Wellington or a Eisenhower is a mother way to look at it.
Ah so let's just say that Haig was hard to get along with. Funny enough I think he got along fine with McNamara though that could be because he was an aid under him. Also, I wonder how Haig and Rumsfeld would feel about each other if they ever met.
