Why Is This Man Running?

Monday, Jan. 18, 1988 By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
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Haig had left the White House and was back at the Pentagon when the Watergate scandal broke. Nixon appointed him White House chief of staff after John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman resigned. Unswervingly loyal to Nixon, Haig nevertheless established a good relationship with Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski. Many credit Haig with running the country while Nixon fought impeachment.

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By the time he left NATO in 1979, Haig had won praise from initially skeptical allies for restoring the morale and readiness of allied troops. Upon his return to the U.S., he briefly contemplated a run for the White House, then settled down to make money as president of United Technologies Corp. for a year before becoming Secretary of State.

He had run a White House and a business, formulated policy and fought wars, and he wanted to run Reagan's foreign policy without interference. But his aggressive manner alienated Reagan's laid-back Californians. David Stockman called him a "bully." The ruling troika of James Baker, Edwin Meese and Michael Deaver, which Haig later took to calling the "three-headed hydra- monster," never trusted him. Haig hotly denies that his disputes with the White House staff were based on personality. "My problems were substantive from day one." After several threats of resignation, Haig's offer was accepted by Reagan in June 1982.

Haig has become wealthy since he left public office. His international consulting firm, Worldwide Associates Inc., has done so well that he paid himself $2.7 million over the past two years. He advises such companies as Boeing and Amway Corp. and serves on the boards of half a dozen major companies. Early on, some of his advisers and aides expected him to take a leave from his business and focus solely on campaigning. "I had hoped he'd make a 110% commitment," said one former staffer.

Haig insists he has cut back on his private endeavors while running for President, and he estimates that he has given up $500,000 in speaking fees alone. But he sees no reason to curtail other business activities, including acting as a paid consultant to a South Korean conglomerate. "It's ludicrous to say that because you're running for President you can't eat," Haig retorts, eyes smoldering.

Long accustomed to deference and heavy staff support, Haig campaigns more like a front runner than a financially strapped dark horse. He careers through the South behind police motorcades. His staff tries to rent official-looking black limousines. In New Hampshire, Haig prefers suites in cozy inns to more practical, less costly motels. His aides refer to him as "the general."

Haig rarely misses his Sunday game of doubles tennis, and refuses to skip a board meeting. He is too proud to prostrate himself to politics. In a way, his business activities are a hedge against embarrassment. Whenever Haig is asked about losing, he defiantly retorts, "I'll smile all the way to the bank."