Conversation No. 371-19

Date: October 23, 1972
Time: 8:34 am - 9:17 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

        File of messages between Henry A. Kissinger and the White House
             -The President’s request
                 -The President’s schedule
                     -Nassau

        Vietnam
            -Peace settlement negotiations
                -Haig's conversation with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, October
                 22, 1972
                     -Possible additional changes
                         -Kissinger's Message
                -Kissinger’s relations with Haig
                     -Haig’s conversation with the President
                -Possible bombing halt and reduction of bombing
                     -The President's telephone call to William P. Rogers, October 22, 1972
                -1972 election
                     -Importance for US Foreign Policy
                         -Soviet Union, the People's Republic China [PRC]
                -Survival of South Vietnam
                     -Prospects
                         -The President’s view
                     -PRC
                     -South Korea
                               20

        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                        Tape Subject Log
                          (rev. Oct-06)

         -Taiwan, Republic of China
         -Japan, Indonesia, Thailand
    -1972 Election
         -Appearance of influence
              -Possible dumping [of Thieu]
    -Kissinger’s views and efforts
         -The President's Visit to Soviet Union May 1972
         -Roger’s comments
              -The President’s schedule, October 24, 1972
                  -Photograph session
    -Kissinger's conversation with Thieu
    -Kissinger’s possible trip to Hanoi
    -Haig's conversation with Dobrynin
         -Possible Paris meeting
              -Le Duc Tho
         - Pressure on Thieu
    -The President's conversation with Rogers
         - Thieu’s role
              -Roger’s previous conversation with Haig
              -U. Alexis Johnson
              -William H. Sullivan
    -Roger’s view
         -PRC
    -US Casualties
         -The President’s view
         -Communist domination of Eastern Europe after World
          War II
-Gen. William C. Westmoreland's view
-Military's view
-Peace settlement negotiations
    -Changes in possible settlement
         -Thieu
              -North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam
    -Possible US announcement of bilateral agreement with North Vietnam
         -Kissinger
         -Thieu
              -Public pressure
         -1972 Election
              -Thieu’s leverage
              -Kissinger’s view
              -The President’s view
                                21

        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                        Tape Subject Log
                          (rev. Oct-06)

                  -Terms
                       -Withdrawal if US forces
                       -Stopping of US bombing, mining
                       -Prisoners of war [POWs]
                       -North Vietnamese withdrawal from Cambodia and Laos
                       -US aid to South Vietnam
                            -Soviet Union aid to North Vietnam
    -Duration of War
        -January 1, 1973
        -Views of American People
              -Thieu
    -Thieu’s role
        -Haig's conversation with Dobrynin
        -Newspaper headlines
        -Thieu’s distrust of Kissinger and communists
              -Communist strategy
              -Cease-fire
                  -Document capture
    -Post-1972 election
        -Possible ultimatum to Thieu by the President
              -Kissinger
    -Cease-fire
        -Kissinger
    -Possible presentation of fait accompli
    -Haig's conversation with Dobrynin
        -North Vietnamese actions
              -Public relations
    -Negotiation record
        -The President’s request
    -Kissinger conversation with Thieu
-U.S. Military Policy
    -May 8, 1972 decision to bomb Hanoi and mine Haiphong Harbor
        -The President's conversation with Kissinger
        -The President's visit to Soviet Union, May 1972
              -Possible cancellation of Soviet summit
                  -John B. Connally's previous views
                  -North Vietnamese Spring 1972 offensive
                  -The President’s view
        -Kissinger’s view
        -Views of Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], National Security Council
        [NSC]
                                    22

             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. Oct-06)

            -Kissinger's Views
            -John Negroponte’s views
            -Winston Lord's view
            -Kissinger's views
                -Cambodia
                -Compared with the President, Connally
                -PRC. Soviet Union policy
            -Bombing and mining
                -effect on negotiations
                -Adm. Thomas H. Moorer's views
                -CIA's views
                -Effect on North Vietnam
                     -News stories
                -Views of the American people
                     -Connally's view
                -The President's conversation with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
    -PRC, Soviet Union

Kissinger
    -The President’s view
        -Associates

Vietnam
    -Peace settlement negotiations
        -The President's forthcoming meeting With Rogers
             -Haig’s possible conversation with Kissinger
                 -State Department Bureaucracy
        -Leaks
             -The President’s view
                 -State Department
                 -Hanoi
             -Kissinger's Views
                 -State Department
                 -Secrecy
        -Marvin L. Kalb
        -Rogers
        -Melvin R. Laird
        -The President's conversation with Rogers October 22, 1972
             -Korean concerns
                 -Thieu
                      -Park Chung Hee
                                23

        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                        Tape Subject Log
                          (rev. Oct-06)

              -Fear of US abandonment
    -Cease-fire
         -Psychological importance
              -Thieu
              -Victory
    -Haig's conversation with Kissinger
         -Timing
         -North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
         -Thieu’s cooperation
         -Settlement conditions
    -North Vietnamese position
         -1972 election
         -Polls
              -Possible release of settlement offer
              -Haig's conversation with Dobrynin October 22, 1972
    -McGovern’s campaign
         -Thieu’s future
         -Haig's conversation with Charles W. Colson
    -The President’s schedule, October 22, 1972
         -Announcement
              -Rogers
              -Timing
    -Laird
    -Prisoners of war [POWs]
    -North Vietnamese intentions
-Possible US bombing halt
    -Assistance to South Vietnam
    -The President’s instructions
    -20th parallel
    -North Vietnam
         -Gen. John D. Lavelle
              -Protective reaction
                   -The President's orders to Laird
              -Falsification of records
              -Targets
                   -Surface to air missiles [SAMs]
              -Falsification of records
              -The President’s instructions
              -POWs
         -Mining and Bombing
              -Cambodia, Laos
                                               24

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Oct-06)

                          -POWs
                          -Cease-fire
             -Peace settlement negotiations
                 -Control of territory provisions
                      -Thieu
                 -Communist representation in South Vietnamese National Assembly
                      -Compared to France, Italy
                 -Thieu
                      -Possible meeting with the President
                          -Timing compared with 1972 election
                          -Congress
                               -Funding

         Football game
             -Washington Redskins
                  -White House television capability
                  -Comparison with Dallas Cowboys
                  -Larry Brown

Haig left at 9:17 am.