March 30, 1981
Ladies and gentlemen, I just wanted to touch upon a few matters associated with today's tragedy.
First, as you know, we are in close touch with the Vice President, who is returning to
Washington. We have in the Situation Room all of the officials of the Cabinet who should be here
and ready at this time.
We have informed our friends abroad of the situation, the President's condition as we know it --
stable, now undergoing surgery. And there are absolutely no alert measures that are necessary at
this time or contemplated.
Note: Secretary Haig spoke at 4:14 p.m. to reporters assembled in the Briefing Room at the
White House. Later in the afternoon, the White House announced that the President went into
surgery at approximately 4 p.m. and that doctors' preliminary reports to Mrs. Reagan, who was at
the hospital, indicated that the President's condition was good and stable.