Conversation: 055-001
Prev: 054-003 Next: 055-002Start Date: 20-Apr-1971 5:17 PM
End Date: 20-Apr-1971 6:21 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Goldwater, Barry M.; Bellmon, Henry L.; Tower, John G.; Baker, Howard H., Jr.; Dole, Robert J.; Gurney, Edward J.; Boggs, J. Caleb; Curtis, Carl T.; Hansen, Clifford P.; Miller, Jack R.; MacGregor, Clark; Timmons, William E.; BeLieu, Kenneth E.; Cowen, Eugene S.; Dent, Harry S.; Kissinger, Henry A.;Recording Device: Cabinet Room
NARA Description:
On April 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Republican senators, including Barry M. Goldwater, Henry L. Bellmon, John G. Tower, Howard H. Baker, Jr., Robert J. Dole, Edward J. Gurney, J. Caleb Boggs, Carl T. Curtis, Clifford P. Hansen, Jack R. Miller, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Kenneth E. BeLieu, Eugene S. Cowen, Harry S. Dent, and Henry A. Kissinger, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 5:17 pm to 6:21 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 055-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 55-1
Date: April 20, 1971
Time: 5:17 pm - 6:21 pm
Location: Cabinet Room
The President met with Barry M. Goldwater, Henry L. Bellmon, John G. Tower, Howard H.
Baker, Jr., Robert J. Dole, Edward J. Gurney, J. Caleb Boggs, Carl T. Curtis, Clifford P. Hansen,
Jack R. Miller, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Kenneth R. BeLieu, Eugene S. Cowen,
Harry S. Dent, and Henry A. Kissinger
[General conversation/Unintelligible]
Gordon L. Allott
Greetings
Goldwater
Tower
Abraham A. Ribicoff
[General conversation/Unintelligible]
President’s meeting with John L. McClellan
-Republicans
-John N. Mitchell
-Republicans
-Defections
-National defense
-Voting in Congress
National security issues
-Support for President
-End-the-war resolutions
-Presidential powers
-Defense budget
-War-making powers
-Jacob K. Javits bill
-John Sherman Cooper and Frank F. Church amendment
-State Department
2
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-Defense Department
-Legislation
-Senate bill
-J. William Fulbright
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Preparedness
-David Packard’s speech in San Francisco
-Popular reaction
-William Proxmire and Javits
-Vietnam War
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 7m 55s ]
JAPAN
GERMANY
AFRICA
SOVIET UNION
Allott entered at an unknown time after 5:17 pm
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[To listen to the segment (29m15s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-518.]
******************************************************************************
-Loss of primacy
-Vietnam
-Political problem of continued war
-Popular opinion
-Need for ending war
3
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-Public opinion mail
-Erosion of support
-Support for President
-Reaction
-Mail
-Erosion of support
-Withdrawal
-United States’ preeminence
-Withdrawal from Vietnam
-Polls
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Opinion Research Corporation [ORC] poll
-Gallup poll
-Mail
-Popular opinion
-Kent State proposals
-Congressional resolution
-Iowa State University
-Reaction
-POWs issue
-Vietnamization policy
-Loss of primacy
-American people
-Preeminence
-Kissinger
-Sufficiency
-Melvin R. Laird
-Declassification of information
-Goldwater
-John F. Kennedy’s announcement on atmospheric testing
-Sufficiency issue
-Sufficiency
******************************************************************************
Soviet Union
[To listen to the segment (17s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-518.]
******************************************************************************
4
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-Laird
-Proxmire
-Briefing
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Trade restrictions
-United States’ foreign policy
-Domestic issues
-Executive reorganization
-President’s policies
******************************************************************************
People’s Republic of China
[To listen to the segment (19s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-518.]
******************************************************************************
Aviation
-James H. Doolittle
-Barry M. Goldwater, Jr
[General conversation/Unintelligible]
The President, et al. left at 6:21 pm