Was Alexander Haig “the real power”?

OPEN THE RECORD

Sources & limits.

Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.

1. NBC News: excerpt from Bob Woodward’s The Secret Man, 6 July 2005 ↗

   Woodward’s own account of his Navy service, his clearances and how he met Mark Felt. A first-person account by the person whose background is in question.

2. State Department historical documentary edition: Moorer–Radford affair, FRUS volume II, document 164 ↗

   Official editorial note citing contemporary White House tapes, diaries and other records. Establishes the earlier spying episode independently of the 2026 commentary.

3. Washington Post: “Haig Tells of Theories on Erasure”, 7 December 1973 ↗

   Contemporary report of Alexander Haig’s court testimony on the tape gap and “some sinister force”. The gap was then described as 18¼ minutes.

4. Gerald Ford: statement and congressional questions on the Nixon pardon, October 17, 1974 ↗

   Ford’s own explanation and answers, rather than independent proof of every private conversation. A denial is documented; absence of a proven bargain is not proof that every contact is known.

5. ABC News: Deep Throat is identified, May 31, 2005 ↗

   Read this source in its dated context; statements, evidence and conclusions are distinguished in the article.

6. TIME: “James Schlesinger”, obituary note, 3 April 2014 ↗

   Later summary of Schlesinger’s 1974 instruction that military orders from the White House be cleared with him or Kissinger. A retrospective account, not the order itself.