Conversation 322-028

TapeTape 322StartTuesday, March 7, 1972 at 2:35 PMEndTuesday, March 7, 1972 at 3:00 PMTape start time01:15:24Tape end time01:38:56ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ziegler, Ronald L.;  Kissinger, Henry A.Recording deviceOld Executive Office Building

President Nixon met with Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler to coordinate White House messaging on domestic policy, the upcoming busing decision, and the ITT controversy. Following Ziegler's departure, Henry Kissinger joined the President to discuss foreign policy strategy, specifically addressing ongoing frustrations with Secretary of State William P. Rogers. The two leaders explored the potential for replacing Rogers and debated the political risks of personnel changes within the State Department during delicate international negotiations.

White House Press StrategyBusingITT ControversyWilliam P. RogersForeign PolicyPersonnel Changes

On March 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:35 pm to 3:00 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 322-028 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 322-28

Date: March 7, 1972
Time: 2:35 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     Press briefing
           -The President’s schedule
                 -Congressional leadership meeting
           -Busing
                 -Meeting

                     -Timing
               -Camp David
                     -Purpose
               -Meeting with Cabinet
                     -Timing
               -Possible message
                     -Timing
                          -Ziegler’s talk with John D. Ehrlichman
                                      -Decision
                                           -Timing
                                           -Florida primary
                                           -Influence
          -Domestic issues
          -Foreign policy
               -William P. Rogers
                     -Meeting
                          -Testimony
                          -General topics
          -Domestic issues
               -Revenue sharing
               -George W. Romney
          -Dinner
               -Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]
                     -Award to Dr. Thomas E. (“Doc”) Morgan
                          -Bipartisan foreign policy
          -New Hampshire primary

******************************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/10/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[322-028-w001]
[Duration: 33s]

     The President’s schedule
          -Sleep schedule
               -Bring news to residence

******************************************************************************

Press briefing
      -New Hampshire primary
            -Press coverage
            -Timing
                  -Gerald L. Warren
                  -The President’s previous conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
            -Questions
                  -Primary
                  -John N. Mitchell
                       -Press referrals
                             -White House press practices
                             -Comment on the primaries
      -Economic matters
            -Herbert Stein
                  -Previous conversation with Ziegler
            -Progress report
                  -Wage and price freeze
                  -Raymond K. Price, Jr.

International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
      -Press briefing
            -White House response
            -Television networks
            -Dita D. Beard
                  -White House response
                  -Memorandum
                  -Hugh Scott’s statement
      -Rogers
      -Revenue sharing
      -Busing message
            -Timing
      -Price, Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz
      -Rogers
            -Washington story
            -Time for foreign leaders
                  -Mao Tse-tung
                  -Leonid I. Brezhnev
                  -Mao Tse-tung
                  -Chou En-lai

     Ziegler’s schedule
          -Disney World
          -Orlando paper
          -Miami Herald

     ITT
           -Press coverage
                 -Washington Post
                 -Washington Star
                 -New York Times

Ziegler left and Henry A. Kissinger entered at 2:46 pm.

     Meeting with Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Rogers
               -Press conference
               -White House position
                     -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]

     John B. Connally
          -Kissinger’s meeting
          -Communiqué
               -Criticism
          -Taiwan, Republic of China

     Rogers
         -State Department
         -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
               -Trade
         -Conduct
               -Differences
                     -Azores
         -President’s work habits
         -State Department
         -November 1972
         -Vietnam negotiations
               -Perception of the President
                     -Politics
               -State Department
         -PRC trip

                -Hangchow
                -The President’s efforts
                       -Concessions
           -Foreign policy
                -Connally’s view
           -Possible replacement

******************************************************************************

[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 10/10/2019.]
[Unintelligible]
[322-028-w006]
[Duration: 2m 10s]

     William P. Rogers
          -Possible replacement
                -Timing
                -Briefing
                -Department of State [DOS]
                -Unknown person [Alexander M. Haig, Jr.] [?]
                      -Ability
                -Henry A. Kissinger’s opinion
                -John B. Connally

******************************************************************************

     William P. Rogers
          -USSR trip
                -Timing

     The President’s schedule
          -Quadriad meeting, March 8, 1972

     Kissinger’s schedule
          -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                -Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]

     Meeting

Kissinger left at 3:00 pm.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

I'm going to brief you, sir.
I'm going to, in terms of your activities, your morning activities, but I'm going to say that in addition to Detroit, you've been to Kansas.
continuing your review of the .
Right.
And I'd like to say that you have another meeting with some .
We have another meeting, right.
No, should I mention that you indicated to me, should I say you played on .
No.
No, I said that he's .
The camp they were trying to defend in Saturday and Sunday there.
The purpose of that will be to do some of this conclusion.
And I want to announce it right away that, well, it will take some time to get the preparation done.
I talked to him a little bit.
I think, too, you say on Monday or Tuesday that you made a decision.
I really wish you said you made a decision.
On Monday, you could say that the president has made his decision.
He is not, however, issuing it today.
I don't say it because I haven't written it.
Or you want to indicate today that...
that I will make a final decision, but not issue a collective order.
Say it's not me, that I made my final decision, and that I have now reduced it to writing, and then re-producing it to, you know, my paperwork on it, but I will not announce the decision until after the court is on there, because I do not want to influence it in any way.
This decision has been made, and we hope to create a conversation with you.
I do not want to end this permanent practice, or the timeline, and I've made it before, and because I do not want the decision to be enforced by me, I do not want to end it.
We can do that, Mark.
The decision will not be used to enforce the timeline, and the decision will not be enforced by the timeline.
That's a good line, I can see.
I'd also say that I'm working this week on domestic problems.
I'm working on the Secretary Rogers assassination, prior to his testimony.
I wouldn't say I'm challenging general foreign policy.
This is a foreign policy.
whatever it is, whatever it is.
But I bet also that I've been concentrating on, say, on weapons, revenue sharing, and domestic issues.
They know I have it wrong, but that's pretty wrong, isn't it?
No, but that was yesterday.
We didn't want to announce it.
I was going to say, for example, we had the secretary of government for an hour yesterday.
That's good.
I won't give him the final decision.
Good.
And I'll announce it on Monday, maybe.
Yeah, that would be profound.
Okay.
Is it all right if I ask the attendant to drop off the vehicle?
Yeah, he would say that we are going by the dinner at 9 o'clock.
For the purpose of making the award, the attendant should send this letter to Doc Martin.
And I appreciate it.
Bye-bye, partner.
We'll speak to you later.
Hey, I've already worked it out.
Nobody, I'm not going to stay up to get any results.
Right.
If they ask me about this, I'm just going to say that it's not going to come up.
It didn't come up.
I don't know.
I didn't say much to say tonight.
Thank you.
Yeah, I was just going to say, I was talking.
Yeah.
I'm not going to have any comment about it tonight.
I don't know.
When they call tonight, no comment at all.
Tomorrow, at the morning briefing, we'll have Warren put it out.
I don't think he's ready to do anything.
Warren could just go over to the actual column.
There was about 50% of the time that he was supposed to be there, and so forth and so on.
But I did.
I did something at the morning briefing.
That's it.
Any comments on that?
I'll refer you to Chairman Mitchell.
I think that there should be any comments from the Board of Iowa and the Secretary of State.
I can't refer you to the President.
The President mentioned the President.
You're going to follow the practice of the White House.
The President is not going to comment on the primaries as they go.
I'll send it to the primaries.
I think that's their mind, too.
The President is in the fingers of the Press Secretary.
What else?
That's really it.
They asked me a long time ago.
They asked me a long time ago.
I talked to her and she said, you know, some things there.
Also, you meet with Detroit and talk about general economic matters.
Yeah, I'm sure.
We've got a progress report on the economy.
And it includes the wage price, the fashion, and the general, you know, momentum.
At the present time, we're at one of those
IT&T.
I just say, I'm not going to make any comment on that while I hear it.
I don't think we should write it.
We have to realize, of course, that those are all three networks living in this state.
But they're not sitting present.
And they're not sitting white house.
And people are, I don't think, associated with it.
Yeah, well, we get a little rub off, but the point is that yesterday's stuff didn't seem to me particularly, I thought the doctor sort of screwed it, screwed it, but what did you think?
It didn't come off pretty well.
Well, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he,
Well, no.
No, I think...
I don't know.
I don't think Ray would.
Early in the month?
Early in the month.
Early in the month.
Early in the month.
It's about winning or losing.
I mean, basically, we're trying to make it not a loser.
You might say it's a downer, but it's a loser.
In the name of Rogers, we're going to have to cut the trouble.
They asked me a question about the downer, and I just said, well, it's the secretary.
I said, well, maybe not today.
I said, well, you're going to have to do an excellent job.
I said, well, you're going to have to do an excellent job.
I said, well, maybe not today.
He referred to the fact that this is a normal procedure.
in the past five, seven years.
No, never did.
This time he did.
But it just doesn't work that way.
And he said, I don't agree.
We're in a very different situation now, Gresham.
He will spend time with Gresham.
Gresham is the man.
He runs the government.
Now he's gone.
Show him now how to do it.
Now he's going to do it.
I agree.
Three days down at Disney World.
And read the Orlando folks down there.
Great.
Read the Orlando paper.
And the Miami Herald.
And it's surprising how many of the IDD people moved its back on paper.
Here, it's all paid for.
Oh, it's because the Washington Post are in the sky.
So we tend to, we tend to...
But even the people in New York Times doesn't put it up on the side of the people.
It's all on the side.
Fine.
Okay, good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Well, uh, Doctor, incidentally, I talked to Haley, and she said, Doctor, she's very interested in your work.
Would you please...
I think that his game is now what we're coming to build a position for housing.
So if we're working with the Russians, that's what we're going to develop.
That's what we're going to handle.
Of course, we're going to do a lot of housing and a couple of other things.
But first we need to breathe in.
Breathe in.
That's interesting.
Oh, yeah.
He's much more, he's been, you know, he said, he said, he said, it's all of that.
Oh, yeah.
And I've noticed the fact that he's not even going to do it, not going to do it, not going to do it.
That, uh, that fast, and then you get a little bit of what he was doing.
How did you get a list?
Did you get the Rogers stuff?
Yeah.
Well, he said he was going to write it.
Yeah.
All right.
Uh, his view is that, uh, you know, he would like to talk to you about it.
He said, do you want to replace George?
There is no law except the truth of the law.
Everything can be done.
There is no negative acting in the face of the truth of the law.
There is no positive feeling of struggle in the face of the truth of the law.
There is no negative acting in the face of the truth of the law.
I said it was President DeMoss who made this morning's difference in the Air Force.
where, in effect, the president did what he always does.
He made the patient feel, and then he worked out, that he felt that he would have to be thankful to you on some level, but you said you did work till 3.30, 4.00, 5.00 this morning.
You said he wasn't thankful, but he should be.
He did.
Oh, yeah.
His view feels that he was injured by the rocket, but his view is that you're running an enormous risk.
not so much because of, because of the combination of branches of weakness and the State Department's disloyalty, that they'll, at some time, that we now know when they're going to be sampling, and we'll encourage, I'm really quoting what he's saying, uh, and why we do it now, and he said the other issue I have is, is that all this double negotiation is going on.
in the services which will be supported by the intervention of music companies in the country.
But if you play with that arm, it will reinforce the momentum of the United States in a way which it has never been able to, which is totally unavailable right now.
If your political position has never been better, and the politics of your government are strong, and you want to find strength in the United States,
I didn't ask him what to do about it.
I asked him what to do about it.
And I didn't put it on his face.
I gave him a little bit before he went through.
How do you think of that?
Must have been a shock.
You were out there.
I said, you're good.
I said, five of them.
I said, you're good.
I said, you're good.
Every concession that was made was made on the other side.
I must really do the best I can by the way.
They like to say that people
Well, that weather should have been done by the second of the state.
But you see, they helped me to be though, and we got properties in the North Pole.
That is not going to wash.
But the way, what he said also, is he's noticed the fact that if you were iced with three other people who were rich, you should still go to the surface of the surface, and he's missing the statement.
from the unnamed officials who always thought they were able to be very effective.
You know, he says there's no jurors as unnamed officials who would use him about their minding of foreign policy, and he doesn't want to hear about that.
But it's a question, a question to you.
Yeah.
It's a question to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He has no questions about the fact that he has a 900 pounds.
And that can be considered as he continues to work with other individuals.
He has no questions about the fact that he has a 900 pounds.
He has no questions about the fact that he has a 900 pounds.
He has no questions about the fact that he has a 900 pounds.
You see, I've paid him.
what are you going to say or do to a person who also has a problem?
That would be much more important than just replacing someone and accepting them.
This is not the time for you to expect that treatment, you know.
It's getting there as well.
It's not just about somebody who is being adopted.
The state department is trying to deal with it better.
How the hell did he do it?
I don't know.
But he thinks the threat, you know, he says they're the threat of the COVID game, but it's true.
Yeah.
And there's an obligation to the nation to stay there.
And sometimes France will end it.
That's how it is.
That's how it will end up.
Then we'll have to know what we're paying for then.
I don't know.
As soon as we can, we can raise the money.
Sometimes we can't.
Sometimes we can't.
And he's a bigger man.
He's kind of a bigger man.
And he doesn't do the work you did before you got here.
I thought he was going to be telling me to leave and all that.
I didn't know what he was talking about.
I didn't know what he was talking about.
I didn't know what he was talking about.
I didn't know what he was talking about.
I think my own view, Mr. President, is if you do it, you should do it by the first of April.
I don't do it.
I don't do it.
Come on, come on.