Conversation: 420-020
Prev: 420-019 Next: 420-021Start Date: 19-Mar-1973 2:37 PM
End Date: 19-Mar-1973 4:55 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Woods, Rose Mary;Recording Device: Old Executive Office Building
NARA Description:
On March 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:37 pm to 4:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 420-020 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 420-20
Date: March 19, 1973
Time: 2:37 pm - 4:55 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and Rose Mary Woods.
White House social affairs
-State dinner
-List of guests
-Cabinet officers
-Contributors
-State visits
-Italian-Americans
-Jeno Paulucci [?]
-German-Americans
-Germans
-Requests
-Lists of Democrats for Nixon
-[Mickey?] Gardner
-Leonard H. Marks
- John B. Connally’s approval
-Committee to Reelect the President [CRP]
-28-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Chairmen
-President's meeting with officials
-Political influence
-Financial influence
-Guest list
-Contributors
-Dinners
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Lee Kuan Yew
-Wife
-Wives
-Stag dinner
-Paul W. Keyes
-Celebrities
-Pro-, neutral and anti-President lists
-Rosalind Russell
-Danny Kaye
-John Ford dinner
-Barbara Streisand
-Position on war
-Support for George M. McGovern
-John Ford dinner
-Danny Kaye
-Political positions
-Charity work
-Liza Minnelli
-Cyd Charisse, Tony Martin
-Support for President
-Johnny Mann
-Charisse, Martin
-Irving Berlin evening
-Entertainers after dinners
-Length and start of show
-Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
-Keyes
-Return to Washington, DC
-Show logistics
-Risers
-Volume of music
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Loudness
-Lyrics
-White House compared larger venues
-Shady Grove
Evenings at White House
-Technical advice
-Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
-Problems with sound
-Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
-Les Brown band
-Prisoners of War reception
-White House as supper club
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-Las Vegas entertainers
-Arrangements
-Technical advice
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Keyes
-Lucy A. Winchester
-Set-up
-Country music
-Lee Kuan Yew Dinner
-Edward R. G. Heath
-Intelligence
-Arthur F. Burns
-Invitation
-Burns and George P. Shultz
-Invitations
White House social affairs
-State dinners
-Italy
-Guilio Androtti
-Willy Brandt
-Date
-White House Correspondents’ dinner
-Church service
-Easter week
-30-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Congressional recess
-Invitations
-Evening at White House
-Time, date
-France dinner
-POW dinner
-Open period
-POW dinner
-Cabinet official
-Secretaries of Defense and State
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]
-Spiro T. Agnew
-William P. Rogers
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Alexander M. Haig
-Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft, Maj. Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes
-Invitations
-Limitations
-Roger Shields
-State Department official
-Gen. William C. Westmoreland
-Henry Cabot Lodge
-Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW], American Legion heads
-Bob Hope
-Staff
Raquel Welch [?]
-Margaret [Last name unknown]
-Size
-William F. (:Billy”) Graham, Francis Cardinal Spellman, Terence Cardinal
Cooke
-Visits to Vietnam
-Graham
-Bob Hope show appearance
-H. Ross Perot
-Unintelligible name
-Adm. John S. McCain
-Westmoreland
-JCS
-Invites for other military personnel
-31-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Helmut (“Hal”) Sonnenfeldt
-State dinners
-Lee Kuan Yew
-State Secretary
-Defense Secretary
-Brandt
-Lee Kuan Yew
-Italy
-Androtti
-Invitations
-Peter J. Brennan
-John A. Scali
-Charles W. Colson
-Italian dinner
-Michael P. Balzano, Jr.
-Attendance at dinner
-Frank C. Carlucci
-Nationality of invitees
-Golda Meir dinner
-John A. Volpe
-Sons of Italy
-Balzano’s suggestions
-After dinner entertainment
-After party
-Carlucci
-Italian dinner
-Frank L. Rizzo
-Celebrities
-Nelson Riddle, Sinatra
-Parties elsewhere
-Peter Malatesta, Agnew
-Scali
-Peter Fosco [?]
-Unknown woman
-Hugh S. Sidey
-Secretary
-Scali
-Files
-32-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Labor leaders
-Peter Fosco
-Brennan’s advice
-Perry Como
-Doctors
-[First name unknown] Hudson [?]
-[First name unknown] Kaplan
-Anthony T. Rossi and Ralph Persico
-Keyes
-Henry Salvatore
-Edward J. Lavino, II
-John Mulcahy
-Wife
-Leon Hess
-Compared with Brandt dinners
-Entertainment
-Guest lists
-[First name unknown] O’Hara
-New York
-[Unintelligible name] [Lehman?]
-Chicago
-Project work
-Committee to Win the Peace
-Clark MacGregor’s list
President’s schedule
-State dinners
-Mohammed Reza Pahlan [Shah of Iran]
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Africa
-Blacks
Elliott Roosevelt
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-William [surname unintelligible]
-Marguerite ("Missy") LeHand
-Lucy Mercer
-LeHand
-Death
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Mercer’s husband’s death
-Book
-Description of Mercer and Franklin Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
-Contraception
-Number of children
-Love letters
-LeHand
-Hyde Park
-Warner Springs
-Yacht
******************************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
White house social affairs
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Return to Washington, DC
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Installation of risers in East Room
-Keyes
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
******************************************************************************
White House social affairs
-Installation of risers in East Room
-Objections
-Rex W. Scouten
-Winchester
-President’s idea
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Paintings
-George Washington
-Preservation
-34-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
White House
-Interior
-East Room
-Tricia Nixon Cox
-Wedding
-Ballroom
-Entertainment
-Risers
-Congress members
-Celebrities
-Richard (“Red”) Skelton
-Johnny Cash
Church services
-Invitations
-Assistant secretaries
-Congress members
-Assistant secretaries
-Children
-Preference for evening at White House
-Categories of people
-Maurice H. Stans's list
State dinners
-Representation of Congressional leadership
-Miguel J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
-Charles H. Percy
-Invitation
-Southern Republicans
-Hubert Humphrey
-John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson
-[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II's observation on use of Camp David,
Sequoia, White House invitations
-Winchester
-Receiving people
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Welcoming people
-35-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
White House social affairs
-Church Services
-White House dinners
-Invites
-Finance people
-Colson [?]
-Balance
-Senators, contributors
-White House staff
-Kissinger
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Attendance at pre-dinners, entertainment
- Rizzo
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
-Monetary donation[?]
-Report
-Walter H. Annenberg
-Number of guests
-Dress for dinner
-Willy Brandt
-Shah of Iran
-African leader
Ralph H. Cake
-Death
-President's telephone call
-Son
-Death
-President's telephone calls
-Story
-William L. Safire, Ronald L. Ziegler
-Roger E. Johnson
-John C. Stennis
-Walter Williams
White House dinners
-After-dinner events
-36-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-White House staff
-Attendance
-Congressional relations staff
-MacGregor
-Administrative Assistants
-After-dinner events
-Invitations
-George H. W. Bush
-List of guests
-Agency heads
-Wives
-Eisenhower dinners
-Activity level
-Fred Waring
-Merle Haggard
-Performance at White House
-Mrs. Haggard
-Africa leader's dinner
-Charlie Pride
-Classical music
-Roger Williams, Van Cliburn
-Dress
White House social affairs
-Church services
-Plans
-Lower-level officials
-After-dinner events
-Mother's Day
-Young people
-Guest list
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower's list
-Mrs. Nixon's list
-Pam Powell, Anne L. Armstrong
-Chief of Protocol
-Job, responsibilities, introductions
-Astronaut [?]
-Frank Borman
-After-dinner events
-37-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Sinatra
-Popularity
-Number of dinners, evenings, church services
-Systematic creation of guest lists
Guests
-Problems with guests
-Cabinet officer
-George P. Shultz, Colson, Balzano
-Criticism of Woods
-Chief Justice
Church service
-Guests
-Selection
-Justices
-Woods’s discussion with Chief Justice
Judicial reception
-Value
-Courts and judges
-Variety
-Evening at the White House
-Entertainment
-Classical music
-Handshakes
-Congressional reception
-Dancing
-Handshakes
-Liquor
-Eisenhower
White House social affairs
-Diplomatic reception
-William P. Rogers
-Cabinet officers
-Senior staff
-Judicial reception
-Judiciary Committee
-38-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Invitation
-Problems
-Watergate
-Frequency of Congressional invites
-Dinner
-Value
-Toasts
-Judicial reception
-Dinner for Earl Warren
-Warren E. Burger
-Problems
-Influence on court
-Burger
-Roger Roth, George McKinnon
-Judges, Supreme Court
-Byron R. (“Whizzer”) White, Thurgood Marshall, William H.
Rehnquist, Potter Stewart, William O. Douglas, William J. Brennan, Jr.
-Invitations
-Appointments by Eisenhower
-Warren
-Stewart
-Brennan
-Missouri appointee
- John M. Harlan
Supreme Court
-Eisenhower’s appointment of Warren
-Burger
-President's appointments
-Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Harry A. Blackmun,
Rehnquist
-Majority
-Decisions
-Distinguished appointments
-Burger
-Rehnquist
-Powell
-39-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
Congress
-Republicans
-Age
-Hugh Scott
-Milton R. Young
-Norris Cotton
-Wallace F. Bennett
-George D. Aiken
-Margaret Chase Smith
-Vigor of leaders
-Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson
-House of Representatives
-Gerald R. Ford
-Young members
-Average age
-[First name unknown] Steiger
-Jack F. Kemp
-Alaska
-Donald E. Young
-Meeting with President
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Prospects for future
-Nixon budget campaign
-Corinne Claiborne (“Lindy”) Boggs
Dinner invitation
-Robert C. Byrd
-Democratic leaders
-Weaknesses
Irving Berlin's gift to President
-Manuscript score to "God Bless America"
-Letter to President
-Storage or display
-New York
-Berlin’s wife
-Berlin’s disappointment at missing White House event
-Keyes's conversation with Berlin
-Display in Oval Office
-POWs
-40-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
White House dinner guests
-Celebrities
-Athletics
-Publishers and editors
-Lee Kuan Yew dinner toast
-Star athletes
-Arnold D. Palmer
-Bobby Fisher
-Chess popularity
-Joseph P. DiMaggio
-Support for Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy
-Celebrities
-DiMaggio
-Whitey Ford
-Supporters
-Blacks
-George Foreman
-Scheduling
-July and August
-Next three years
-Mulcahys, W. Clement Stone
-Stag dinners
-Disadvantages
-Edward R. G. Heath and [Hussein, King of Jordan] Hussein ibn Talai dinner
-Intellectuals
-Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] philosopher
-List from Don [surname unknown]
-Advertisement
Stag dinner
-Advantages
-Wives, Mrs. Nixon, Winchester
-Frequency
-New appetites
-Don [surname unknown]
-Labor leaders
-New establishment
-Teachers
-41-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Professors
Dinner for John Ford
-Barbara Streisand [?]
-Entertainment
-Press coverage [?]
-Taft Schreiber
White House dinner entertainment
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-Supper club entertainers
-Johnny Mann Chorus
-Senate wives event
-Songs
-Patriotism
-Appeal to families
-Merle Haggard
-Johnny Mann Chorus
-Keyes [?]
-Showmanship
-Enthusiasm
-Relaxed audience
-Peggy Lee
-Health
-Robert Goulet
-Preparation
-Compared with President’s speech preparation
Briefings
-Preparation
-Kissinger [?]
-Quality
-Difficult problems
-Artistic sense [?]
Congressional relations
-Invitations to the White House
-Edward W. Brooke, Jacob K. Javits
-Church services
-42-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
Attendance
-Effect on future invitations
-Planning
-Lee Kuan Yew state dinner invitation
-Wives
-Dresses
Cabinet guests at White House dinners
-Transportation Secretary
-Invitations
-Frequency
-Rogers
-Defense Secretary
-Invitations
-Shultz
-Arthur F. Burns
-Shultz
-Kissinger
-Staff member
-Request for invitation
White House social affairs
-Invitations to state dinners
-Agnew
-Chief Justice Burger
-Recommendations on invitations to justices
-Woods's approach to Burger
-Invitations to church services
-Agnew, Carl B. Albert
-Willy Brandt dinner
-Soviet Union visit
-Importance
-Invitations to Blackmun, Stewart, White and Brennan
-Marshall
-State dinner for African visit
-Top Blacks in government for state dinner for African visit
-Burger
-Soviet Union visit
-43-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Church services
State dinners
-George H. W. Bush
-Advice on guests
-Italian dinner
-Bush's recommendations
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Campaign help
-Bush
-Pre-dinner events
Haldeman
-Anne F. Armstrong
-Bush
-Abilities
-United Nations [UN]
-Barbara Bush
-Social adeptness
-Official representative of administration
-Political knowledge
-Blair House
-Guests
-Unnamed woman
-Blair House employee [?]
-Popularity
-State dinner
-Marital status
-Golda Meir dinner
-Tour of Blair House
-Frank C. Carlucci or [Victor?] DeLucci
-Paul Williams
-Supporters of administration
-Drafting of list by Woods
-Assistance with President’s trips
-Evening at the White House
-Travel distance
-New York
-Haldeman as buffer
-Bush
-44-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Blame
-Woods
-Denied invitations
-Haldeman’s role
-Stans
-Colson
-William E. Timmons
-List
-Recommendations to Woods
-Consolidation of lists
-Criticism of President
Kennedy Center
-Work by Timmons with Congress members
-Attendance by Congress members
-Tickets
-Matinee
-Box seating
-Roger Stevens
-Comment on naming of Kennedy Center
-President's background and appreciation of the arts
-Compared with other presidents
-Theodore Roosevelt, [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson
-Press image
-Image of John F. Kennedy as patron of the arts
-Cellist Pablo Casals
-Piccolo player
People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Invitation to Eugene Ormandy
-Bob Hope
-Previous trip to USSR
--Anecdote about protocol
-Kissinger
-Letter to Chou En-lai
-Irene play
-Reviews of Arlene Dahl's performance
-Story in New York Post
-Theater section
-45-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Review of play by President
-Kennedy Theater
-Wholesome plays
-Popularity
-Pre-prohibition era
-Irene
-Gower Champion's direction
-Patsy Kelly, Debbie Reynolds
Comedian
-Ticket availability
-Haldeman’s mother
-Ticket prices
-Out-of-town guests
-President's supporters
-Family-oriented shows
-Motion picture musical of Tom Sawyer
-United Artists Corporation
-Radio City Music Hall
-Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
-Visit to San Clemente
-Motion pictures
-John Wayne
-Meeting with Lewis
-Quality
-Musicals
-Columbia Pictures
-Lost Horizon
Theater
-Audiences
-Washington
-New York
Tourists
-Washington
-Visiting monuments
-Shoreham Blue Room
-Cost for families
-46-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Marriott hotels
-Food
-Quality
-Recipes
-Prices
-Entertainment
-Employees
Compared to Walter E. (“Walt”) Disney
-Level of sophistication
-New York
-Treatment of visitors
White House services
-Manufacturers of cuff links
-Invitation [?]
-Flowers
-Price of Bouquets
-Delay in ordering
White House social affairs
-Number
-President’s approval
-Church service
-Scheduling
-Jewish dinner guests
-Jewels
-Elmer H. and "Dodo" Bobst
-Appearance
Woods left at 4:41 pm.
President’s Schedule
-Visit of Nguyen Van Thieu
-Arrangements
-Wife [?]
-Century Plaza
-Evening arrival
-Reception
-Los Angeles South Vietnamese Community
-47-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Attendance by President
-Arrival ceremony
-Helicopter at Century Plaza
-Parade
-Honor Guards
-Informal visit
-Parade
-Band
-Location
-San Clemente
-Meeting With President
-El Toro Base
-Housing of staff of Thieu
-Spanish hacienda
-Homes for senior, mid-level staff
-Rogers's luncheon for Thieu
-Private residence
-Dinner
-President, Mrs. Nixon, Rogers and Mrs. Rogers,
President and Mrs. Thieu, Mr. and Mrs. T V. Lam,
Kissinger, Phu Duc
-Ambassador Ellsworth F. Bunker, Pham Van Dong [?]
-Formality
-Black tie dinner
-Luncheon
-Official Party
-Attendance of wives
-Reciprocal luncheon
-Invitation by Thieu
-Dinner by Ronald W. Reagan for Thieu
-Working visit
-Trip to Washington
-Arrangements
-Haig
-Image in US
-Agnew
-Necessity of trip to East coast
-Demonstrators
-Exclusion from official arrival ceremony
-48-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)
-Coast Guard
-Press corps
-Luncheon
-Arrangements
-Century Plaza
-Federal installation
-Reagan’s misunderstanding
White House social affairs
-Guests
-Problem in working up lists
-Woods, Colson, Bush, Balzano, Timmons
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Responsibility in arrangements
-Georgetown parties
-Armstrong
-Safire
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:41 pm.
Anniversary
-Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:55 pm.
President’s Schedule
-Rebozo
-Safire’s discussion
-Entertainment of politicians
-Democrats, Republicans
-Fishing
-Receiving line
-Unknown man
-Key Biscayne
-Television [TV]
-Golf
Haldeman left at 4:55 pm.
-49-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 420-20 (cont’d)