Easy NixonAbout

Conversation: 329-032

Prev:  329-031 Next: 329-033

Start Date: 13-Apr-1972 2:00 PM

End Date: 13-Apr-1972 4:00 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Woods, Rose MaryKissinger, Henry A.White House operatorEisenhower, Julie NixonSanchez, Manolo[Unknown person(s)]

Recording Device: Old Executive Office Building

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:54:31

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 03:42:52

329a.mp3

329b.mp3

329c.mp3

329d.mp3

NARA Description:

On April 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 329-032 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 329-32
Date: April 13, 1972
Time: 2:00 pm - unknown before 4:00 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Weather

     The President's schedule
          -Organization of American States [OAS] Dinner
               -Statement
                      -Copies
               -Speech
                      -The President's delivery
               -Toast
                      -Statement to press
          -Speech to Canadian Parliament
               -Press embargo
                      -Time

     Canadian visit
         -Arrival statement
         -Toast
         -Dinner statement
         -Speech to Parliament
         -Ceremony speech
               -Brevity
         -Speeches
               -British custom
                     -Toasts
                     -Governor General
               -The President's 1953 trip
                                               27

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                      -Toasts
                           -Audience

     Unknown presentation ceremony
         -Certificate
         -Letter from the President
         -Richard Wilson
         -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
         -Ronald L. Ziegler
         -[Forename unknown] Ottoburger [sp?]
         -William L. Safire
         -Ziegler
               -Check with Rose Mary Woods
                     -Organizations
                          -Order of the Hound's Tooth
         -Previous events
               -1958 and 1960
               -Background
         -Helen Thomas
         -Photos

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods at an unknown time between 2:00 and 2:16 pm.

     [Conversation No. 329-32A]

     Trip to Canada in 1957
           -Paul Miller
                 -Harry F. Byrd
                 -Call from Woods
                       -Name of town visited
                            -Toast
                            -Mayor
                                 -Gifts to the President

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's stopover in Austria
          -Accommodations
               -Compared to Ireland
          -A meeting
          -A luncheon
               -Size
                                             28

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                 Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

               -Degree of formality
               -Length
         -Carl Gruber
               -Invitation to accompany the President
                     -Salzburg
         -Canadian ambassador
               -Accompanying the President
         -Gruber
               -Schedule
               -Invitation

    Charles W. Colson
         -Report on conversation with Albert E. Sindlinger
              -The President's meeting with John B. Connally
              -Return to Colson
              -Food prices

    The President's Canadian visit
         -Meeting with unknown man
              -Coaching the President in French
              -Unknown man's proficiency in French and English

    Vernon A. Walters
        -Proficiency in French
        -Unknown woman
              -Proficiency in French
        -Walters
        -Unknown woman
              -Translation


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 53s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

*****************************************************************
                                                29

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                         Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)



     International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] case
           -John N. Mitchell
           -Convention
           -Colson's report

     Vietnam
          -Critics of administration policy
                -White House response
                      -Henry A. Kissinger's views
                      -Edward M. Kennedy
                      -Hubert H. Humphrey
                      -Edmund S. Muskie
          -Kissinger's trip to Paris
          -Kissinger's trip to Moscow
                -William P. Rogers's reaction

Kissinger entered at 2:16 pm.

           -Kissinger's meeting with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                -Message from Moscow
                      -Kissinger's trip
                      -Kissinger's response
           -Vietnamese delegation
                -Visit to Moscow
           -Kissinger's schedule

     The President's trip to Canada
          -Speech
               -Rhetoric
               -Substance
               -Revisions
               -The President's reading of the speech for Kissinger
               -Copy to Kissinger

The President rehearsed a speech at an unknown time between 2:16 and 2:50 pm.

[A transcript of this speech, with slight variations, appears in PPP 1972, pp. 537-541]

     The President's speech
          -Kissinger’s revisions
                                         30

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                                 Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

Vietnam
     -The President's conversation with Haldeman
     -Attacks
          -US response
          -News summaries
                -Networks
                -Muskie
                -Interviews with soldiers
                       -Troops’ resistance
                             -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                             -Unknown commander's response
                                   -Commendation
     -Press reports
     -Foreign policy aspects
          -Domestic dissent
     -Expenditures
          -Democrats’ letter
     -North Vietnamese conditions
          -Message from Dobrynin
          -Plenary sessions
          -Bombing halt
     -Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
          -Message from Dobrynin
                -Soviet interests
                       -W. Averell Harriman's view
                -US position
                       -Kissinger’s statement to Dobrynin
                             -Military operations
                             -Negotiations
                                   -Truce
                             -Hanoi’s position
                                   -Soviet guarantee
                -US naval fleet
                       -Size
                       -Haig
                             -Deployment
                -Soviet position
                       -Compromise settlement
                             -Cessation of North Vietnamese military operations
                                   -Effect in North Vietnam
                       -Allies’ agreement to terms
                             -People’s Republic of China [PRC] position
                                   31

                 NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. 10/06)
                                                           Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                  -Changes
                  -Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
                  -Coalition government
                  -Soviet intentions
                        -Cessation of fighting
                              -Compared with Cuban missile crisis
                                    -American losses
-Possible Hanoi proposal
      -Compromise
      -Bombing halt
-Air strike plans
      -Truck parks
      -Petroleum, oil and lubricants [POL] dumps
      -Kissinger’s recommendation
      -Truck parks
      -US fleet
            -The President's conversation with Haig
-Peace talks
      -Possible reasons for Hanoi’s involvement
      -Battles in South Vietnam
            -Soviet response
                  -US blockade
            -US responses
                  -PRC response
                  -Kissinger’s message to Dobrynin
                  -Laos and Cambodia
                        -Past operations
                              -Camp David strategy meeting with Kissinger
                  -Abrams
                        -Haig’s view
                              -Local commander
                              -Instructions from the president
                                    -Psychology
      -The President's message to John S. McCain, Jr.
            -Haig’s trip
      -Air strike
            -Effectiveness
                  -Soviets
                  -Hanoi
-Kissinger’s schedule
-April 24th meeting
      -Secrecy
                                          32

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                                Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

           -Rogers’s knowledge
     -Congressional pressure
           -Laird
                 -Conversation with Rogers
                 -B-52 strikes
                       -President’s meeting with Rogers and Laird
                             -Strategy
                             -Kissinger’s presence
           -Rogers
                 -Testimony before congress
                       -Reluctance
                 -John N. Irwin, II’s testimony
                 -Canada
                 -United Nations [UN]
                 -Meeting with the President at Camp David
                 -UN
                 -Knowledge of B-52 strikes
           -Laird
                 -Meeting with the President
                       -B-52 strikes
                 -Testimony before congress
     -Air strikes
           -Congressional response
           -Laird
                 -Strategy
           -Soviet position
           -Avoidance of October offensive
           -Rogers
                 -Diplomatic strategy
                 -The President's decision
                       -October offensive
                 -Testimony before congress

Polish visit
     -Public announcement

The president's trip to Soviet Union
     -Stopover in Austria
           -Luncheon
                  -Size
                  -Gruber
     -Kissinger’s meeting with Dobrynin
                                        33

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

           -Stopover in Poland
                -Connections with Catholic Church
                      -Unknown cardinal
                      -John Cardinal Krol
                           -Views
           -Vietnam

PRC
      -Visit by Hugh Scott and Michael J. Mansfield
            -The president's letter to Chou En-lai
            -Kissinger’s conversation with Ambassador Chien Yi
            -Meeting with Mao Tse-tung
            -Rogers
            -Letter to Chou
                  -Delivery
                  -Kissinger’s conversation with unknown person

Vietnam
     -Bombing

Kissinger's trip to Moscow
     -Itinerary
           -Arrival
     -Back-up plane
     -Advance party
           -Leaks
     -Dobrynin
           -Possible accompaniment
     -News leaks
     -Rogers’s knowledge
           -Secrecy
           -Purpose of trip
                  -Vietnam
                  -Advance of the President's trip
           -Kissinger’s Paris trip
     -Importance
           -The President's conversation with Ehrlichman
     -Impact on Vietnam negotiations

Vietnam
     -Negotiations
         -Humphrey, Muskie and Kennedy
                                              34

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                       Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                      -Possible handling of negotiations
                 -US strategy
                      -Middle East
                      -Mrs. Nixon
                      -The President's conversation with Dobrynin
                 -Rogers
                      -Speech in Chicago
                      -Speech at UN
                            -Forthcoming conversation with Kissinger
                            -Middle East

     Kissinger's trip to Moscow
          -Forthcoming press event
                -The President's possible attendance
          -Announcement
          -April 24th meeting

     Unknown reception
         -Length

     Vietnam
          -Air strikes
                -Public opinion
                -POL dumps
                      -Haiphong
                -Hanoi
                      -B-5’s
          -7th fleet
                -Impact on negotiations
                      -Message from US

Kissinger left at 2:50 pm.

     Richard G. Kleindienst

     The president's Canadian trip
          -Publicity
                -Compared with a theoretical trip to France
                -American television coverage

     The President's schedule
          -Publicity
                                               35

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                         Tape Subject Log
                                           (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                -Haldeman
                -Ziegler
                -Camp David
                -Florida
                -California
                -Rose Mary Woods
                      -Possible appearance on TV
                            -The President's trips
                                 -Staff
                                 -Florida
                                 -Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Tricia Nixon Cox
                                 -Florida
                                       -The President's work during good weather
                -Camp David
                      -The President's amount of work
          -Nellie L. Yates
          -Woods
          -Unknown secretary [Beverly J. Kaye?]
          -Moscow trip
                -Yates
                      -Dwight L. Chapin
                -Woods
                -Marjorie P. Acker
                -Unknown secretary [Kaye?]
                -Amount of work
                      -Yates
                      -Woods
                      -Unknown secretary [Kaye?]

The White House operator talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman at 2:56 pm.

[Conversation No. 329-32B]

[See Conversation No. 22-122]

Haldeman conferred with the President.

     Call from Julie Nixon Eisenhower

Julie Eisenhower talked with the President between 2:56 and 2:57 pm; one item has been
withdrawn from the conversation.
                                              36

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

[End of telephone conversation]


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 14s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11

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

     Public relations assignment

     ITT
           -Peter M. Flanigan's issue
                 -John [Surname unknown]
                 -Administration position
                 -Congressional committee vote
                      -Scott's absence
                      -Possible loss of vote
                      -Clark MacGregor
                            -Call from Haldeman

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 2:57 pm.

     Food order

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:00 pm.

     Unknown person
         -Withdrawal from presidential race

     Connally
         -Conflicts with White House
              -Focus
              -Reasons
         -Cancellation of meeting
         -Dinner party
              -Ehrlichman
                                            37

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

              -Connally's demeanor
              -Zsa Zsa Gabor
              -Idanell B. (“Nellie”) Connally
              -Guests


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
[Privacy]
[Duration: 3s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12

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


         -Calls to George P. Shultz and Ehrlichman
               -Johnnie M. Walters
                    -Meeting with the President
                    -Press event
                    -Misunderstanding
                          -Message to Connally
                          -Briefing
                          -Meeting with Connally
         -Haldeman's call to Connally
               -Value
               -The President's trip to Canada
         -Meeting
               -Possible cancellation
               -Non-attendance
         -Briefing of the President on misunderstanding
               -Timing
               -Walters
         -Conflict with White House staff
               -Kissinger
                    -National Security Council meeting
                          -Agenda
                                -Chile
               -Walters issue
               -National Security Council meeting
                                         38

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                    -Washington Special Action Group [WSAG] meeting
         -Compared with Lyndon B. Johnson
         -Conflicts with White House staff
              -Herbert Stein
                    -Mid-year economic report
                          -Conversation with Shultz
                    -Consultation with the President
                    -Troika meeting
                          -Connally's attendance
              -Unknown person's assessment of conflicts
                    -Duration
              -Ehrlichman
              -Shultz
         -Meeting with the President
              -Connally's cancellation
                    -Reason
                    -Health
                          -Dr. Walter R. Tkach
                          -Johnson's health
                          -Appearance
         -The President's Canadian trip
              -Connally’s attendance
                    -Media coverage
                    -Major concerns
              -Pierre E. Trudeau
                    -Forthcoming conversation with the President
         -Defense of administration
         -Possible departure from administration
              -Reasons


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 17
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 7s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 17

*****************************************************************
                                            39

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)



              -Effect
         -The President's instructions to Alexander P. Butterfield
              -Butterfield's calls to Connally
              -Camp David
                    -Haldeman's calls to Idanell B. (“Nellie”) Connally


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 18
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 21s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 18

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


         -Conversations with Haldeman
         -Meeting with Kissinger
         -Walters issue
         -Economic meeting
              -Conversation with Ehrlichman
              -Scheduling
                    -Conversation with Haldeman
                    -Conversation with Shultz
                    -David N. Parker
              -Council of Economic Advisors meeting with the
               President
                    -Attendees
         -Relationship with the President and Haldeman
         -Conflicts with White House staff
              -Kissinger
         -Dinner with the President
         -Connally dinner parties
              -Haldeman's attendance at one
              -Ehrlichman's attendance, April 12, 1972
                    -Nellie Connally
                                            40

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                    Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19
[Privacy]
[Duration: 9s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19

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


         -Conversations with the President
               -Role in administration
                     -Conversation with Haldeman
                     -Value
         -The President's orders concerning conflicts with White House staff
               -Kissinger
               -Ehrlichman
               -Shultz
               -Haldeman's role
         -Haldeman's mediation
         -Staff


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 20
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 38s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 20

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


         -Possible briefing by Kissinger
               -Moscow trip
         -Walters issue
               -Reaction
         -Internal Revenue Service [IRS] event
                                          41

                       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

          -Ehrlichman
     -Government Accounting Office [GAO] official
          -Testimony before Congress
                -Lockheed case
                      -White House denial of involvement
                      -A plot
     -Role in administration
     -Conflicts with White House staff
     -Rogers
          -Possible removal from office
                -Feasibility
          -Compared with Kissinger

ITT case
     -Damage to administration

Vietnam
     -Current situation
          -Press coverage

Kissinger's trip to Moscow
     -Rogers
           -Explanation of trip
                  -Haldeman
                  -Hangchow
                  -Paris
                        -Message regarding negotiations
                  -Timing
     -Schedule
     -Rogers
           -Press coverage of trip
           -Kissinger’s explanation of trip to Rogers
                  -Meeting with North Vietnamese
                  -Timing
                  -Paris
                  -Moscow
                  -Call to the president
                  -Leonid I. Brezhnev's message to the president
                        -Vietnam
                        -Summit
                  -Full disclosure
                  -Haldeman’s presence
                                             42

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

               -Meeting with the president
          -Secrecy
               -Soviet guarantee
                    -Reasons
               -The President's schedule
                    -Meeting with editors
                    -Camp David
                    -Florida
                          -Kissinger’s absence
                                -Diversion from news about trip
               -Rogers
                    -Appeal to Haig
                    -Explanation of trip
               -Kissinger
                    -Florida cover story

     The President's Canadian trip
          -Connally
          -Meeting with Trudeau
               -Talking points
                      -Connally’s handling of economic matter

     Connally
         -Disenchantment with Democrats
         -Commitment to the President

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 2:57 pm.

     Food order

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:00 pm.

     Connally
         -Position as Secretary of State

     Ehrlichman
           -Position as Attorney General
                 -Qualifications
                 -Appointment
                      -Timing
           -Statements
                 -Timing
                                             43

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

                -Length
                -Topics

The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 2:57 and 4:00 pm.

[Conversation No. 329-32C]

     Republican Senators' activities
         -News summary report
         -White House knowledge

     Crime
         -Administration reports
              -Record
         -Rehabilitation
         -Minimum wage for prisoners
              -MacGregor's work

     Administration statements
         -Frequency
         -Topics
               -Food prices
         -Value

     Busing
          -Rev. Theodore S. Hesburg
               -Position
          -Ohio situation
          -Media problem
          -Constitutional amendment

[End of telephone conversation]

     Domestic affairs
         -Coordination between Colson, Ehrlichman and MacGregor
               -The President's attention to other issues
         -Major issues
               -Focus
               -Ehrlichman
                      -Delegation of authority
                           -Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
                           -Shultz
                                         44

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                           Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

          -Kleindienst issue
          -Vietnam

Connally
    -Realization of responsibility
    -Conflicts
    -Johnson
    -Resignation
    -Call from Haldeman
          -William E. Simon

Foreign policy
     -Canadians and Europeans
          -Kissinger

The President's schedule
     -Trip
           -Rose Mary Woods's presence

Connally
    -Handling by White House
         -Compared with Kissinger
    -Meeting with the President
         -Frequency
         -Vietnam
              -Briefing by the President
                    -North Vietnamese
                    -B-52S

The President's schedule
     -Easter vacation
     -Florida trip
     -Soviet trip
           -Church attendance
                 -William F. (“Billy”) Graham's comments
                 -Kissinger’s conversation with Dobrynin
                 -Baptist church in Moscow
                       -Interdenominationality
                             -Unknown Catholic priest
                       -Number of services
                       -Format of service
                                                45

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 329-32 (cont.)

Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 2:57 pm.

     Request for razor

     Unknown person
         -Letters [?]

Haldeman and Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:00 pm.