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Conversation: 467-041

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Start Date: 17-Mar-1971 3:58 PM

End Date: 17-Mar-1971 5:52 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")[Unknown person(s)]Ziegler, Ronald L.Woods, Rose MaryEhrlichman, John D.White House operatorChapin, Dwight L.Rogers, William P.

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 02:24:44

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 03:46:28

467-041.mp3

NARA Description:

On March 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Ronald L. Ziegler, Rose Mary Woods, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, Dwight L. Chapin, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:58 pm and 5:52 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 467-041 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 467-41

Date: March 17, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:58 pm and 5:52 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     President’s image with press
          -President’s call to William L. Safire
                -Hugh S. Sidey
                -John F. Osborne
                -President’s accessibility
                -President’s Quaker background
                                   30

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                           Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. 9/08)



            -President’s campaign speeches
-President’s interviews
      -Ronald L. Ziegler’s office
      -Sidey
      -Richard L. Wilson
      -Distribution of list
            -President’s instructions
            -Haldeman’s role                                Conv. No. 467-40 (cont.)
            -Safire
      -Peregrine Worsthorne
      -Cyrus L. (“Cy”) Sulzberger
      -Worsthorne
            -Background of interview
            -Haldeman
            -Cambodia
            -Ziegler
      -Sulzberger
            -Background of interview
      -Safire’s knowledge
      -Barbara Walters
            -Background of interview
                  -Edward VIII’s [Duke of Windsor] visit
                  -Interview with Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Tricia Nixon
      -Safire
            -Theory of new image
-Public relations
-President’s interview with Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS], August 1970
      -Ziegler
-Frequency of interviews
      -Meaning
-President’s interview with three networks
-President’s interview with representatives of women’s press corps
      -Background
-President’s interview with Walters
-President’s call to Safire
      -President’s Quaker background
            -President’s speech at [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson International Center for
                  Scholars
-Safire
-President’s meetings with mayors
-President’s interviews
      -List
                                                31

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)




[Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 3:58 pm and 4:15 pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41A]
                     -Delivery

[End of telephone conversation]
                                                                 Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
          -Safire
                -Interest
                -White House responsibilities
          -White House efforts
                -President’s appearances
          -Safire
                -State of the Union address
                -Changes

     Whitney M. Young, Jr. funeral
          -White House attendees
                -Press coverage
                      -White House staff efforts
                -Donald H. Rumsfeld
                -John D. Ehrlichman
                -Leonard Garment
                -Press coverage
                      -Ziegler
                      -Rumsfeld
          -Press coverage
                -White House staff efforts
                -Live television
                -Evening news
                -Haldeman’s viewing
          -President’s eulogy
                -Interviews
                -John Conyers, Jr.
                -An unidentified CBS reporter in New York
                -Publicity
          -Thurgood Marshall’s comments
          -Coverage
                -Importance
                                              32

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 9/08)



           -White House staff
                 -Role
                       -Public relations
           -President’s eulogy
                 -Preparation and delivery
                       -John Marshall reference
                       -Compared with toasts and arrival ceremonies
                 -Importance                                          Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
                       -Unknown Congressmen
           -Compared with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral
                 -Lyndon B. Johnson
                       -Johnson’s attendance
                 -Date
                 -Johnson
                 -President’s attendance
                 -Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy’s attendance
           -President’s eulogy
                 -Importance
                 -Raymond K. Price, Jr.’s staff’s work
                 -Delivery
                       -Importance
           -Other participants
                 -[Name unintelligible]
                 -A black minister
                       -Teacher at Young’s school
           -Margaret (Birchner) Young
                 -Background

Ziegler entered at 4:15 pm

     William Proxmire
          -Supersonic transport [SST] story
               -White House influence on Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
                    [HEW]
               -Ziegler’s response
               -White House response
                    -William M. Magruder
                    -John B. Connally
               -Charges
                    -Proxmire’s comments to press
                           -National Institutes of Health [NIH] scientist
               -White House response
                                             33

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)



     W. M. Young funeral
         -Possible publicity
         -Network coverage
         -Wire service coverage
              -Gerald L. Warren

Ziegler left at 4:18 pm
                                                                  Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
     President’s schedule of meetings with press
          -CBS
          -Sidey
          -R. L. Wilson
          -William S. White
          -William Raspberry
          -Carroll Kilpatrick
          -Sulzberger
                -Frequency
          -Numbers
                -Frequency
                -Compared with President’s phone calls to press
                -Change in 1971
          -Background interviews
          -Television interviews
          -Safire
                -Forthcoming call from Haldeman
                      -List of interviews
                            -Frequency
                      -White House response
          -Numbers
                -Frequency
                -Compared with previous years
          -Sulzberger and Worsthorne interviews
          -Walters
                -Background of interview
                -Previous breakfast interview
                      -Herbert E. Kaplow
          -Nancy (Hanschman) Dickerson
          -CBS interview with Bernard Kalb and John Hart
          -Henry Brandon
          -Need for White House response
          -Formats
                -One-on-one interviews
                                       34

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 9/08)



          -Post-1970 election
     -Women’s press representatives
     -New Year’s Eve [1970?]
          -Entry in log
     -November and December 1970 meetings
     -Women’s press representatives
     -Importance
          -Need for public relations efforts             Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
     -Effect of Cambodian and Laotian operations
     -Importance of columnists
          -Safire
          -Sidey
          -Osborne
                 -Influence
          -Sidey
          -Osborne
                 -Future contacts with Safire
          -Sidey

Safire
      -Work
          -Public relations efforts
               -President’s view
               -Haldeman’s view
          -Compared with other speechwriters
               -Anecdotes

President’s speeches
     -Garment
     -Delivery of W. M. Young eulogy
     -Speechwriters
           -Fuller quote
           -Safire
           -Price

W. M. Young funeral
    -President’s delivery of eulogy
          -Press coverage
               -Television
               -Camera angle
    -W. M. Young’s daughter and wife
          -The President
                                        35

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 9/08)



     -White House role
          -Vernon C. Coffey, Jr. and Ronald H. Walker
     -Order of service
          -Coffey
          -Bugler
          -M. Young
          -Coffey
                -Bugler                                   Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
          -President’s exit
          -Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon
                -M. Young’s exit
                -”Taps”
          -President’s role
     -Compared with New York service
          -Nelson A. Rockefeller
          -John V. Lindsay
          -Jacob K. Javits

Thomas E. Dewey funeral
    -President’s possible role
          -Eulogy
          -Compared with [Forename unknown] Lipscomb, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and
               Everett M. Dirksen funerals

Catholic and Protestant funeral customs
     -Kennedy funeral
           -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy’s role
           -President’s attendance

President’s image with press
     -Safire’s role
     -President’s interviews
           -Worsthorne
                 -Background
           -Sulzberger
           -Andre L. Fontaine
                 -Le Monde
           -Brandon
                 -Times of London
           -Frank Giles
           -Sulzberger
                 -Previous interviews
                                        36

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 9/08)



                -Background of interview
          -Press story
                -President’s interview with Sulzberger
                      -Frequency
                            -Ziegler
          -Safire’s role
          -Purpose of President’s press conferences
          -Purpose of President’s interviews                    Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
          -President’s Quaker background
                -Safire
                -Price
                -President’s mother’s views on war
                -1968 acceptance speech
                -Safire’s knowledge
     -Columns by Nicholas P. Thimmesch
          -References to Haldeman
          -Charles W. Colson
          -President as sports fan
                -Sports Illustrated interview, March 27, 1969
                -Effect of Eisenhower’s death on story

W. M. Young funeral
    -President’s eulogy
          -A quote from Fuller Stors lecture
                -Lawyers
                -Rose Mary Woods
                -Yale Law School
                -Reference to morality
    -Compared with John F. Kennedy, R. F. Kennedy, and E. M. Kennedy press coverage
    -Press coverage
          -Compared with President’s speech at T. W. Wilson Center
          -White House efforts
          -Compared with President’s other events
          - T. W. Wilson International Center for Scholars
          -John Quincy Adams portrait ceremony
          -President’s trip to Nebraska
          -White House efforts
                -Garment

James Farmer
     -Importance
     -Future with Urban League
                                               37

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 9/08)



Woods entered at an unknown time after 4:18 pm

     President’s eulogy for W. M. Young
          -Stors lecture
                -President’s remarks
          -Press release
          -Call to Garment
                                                                    Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
Woods left at an unknown time before 5:17 pm

     President’s image with press
          -President’s call to Safire
          -Methods of improvement
                -Connally
                -Cabinet officers
                -White House staff efforts

     Public relations
          -”Open Door”

     Head of State visits
          -Alexander P. Butterfield
          -Gifts from the President
          -Forthcoming Visit of King [Moulay] Hassan II
                -Gifts for the President
          -Gifts
                -Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
                -Disposition
                -Butterfield

     Louie B. Nunn
          -Proposal to name a school for W. M. Young
                -Funding
          -Relations with W. M. Young
          -President and Nunn’s attendance at W. M. Young funeral
          -Haldeman’s contacts
                -Public relations efforts

     Public relations
          -March 22, 1971
          -President’s call to an unidentified policeman’s wife
                 -Press coverage
                                       38

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 9/08)



Dewey’s funeral
    -Attendees
          -William P. Rogers
          -Henry A. Kissinger
          -Peter M. Flanigan
          -Rogers
    -President’s role
    -President’s schedule                                  Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
    -Other guests of the President
          -Javits
          -James L. Buckley
          -Compared with Kentucky trip
          -Javits and Buckley
          -Rogers
          -Flanigan

W. M. Young funeral
    -Demonstrators
    -Attendees

President’s appearances
     -W. M. Young funeral
     -Working the fenceline
     -Naval base at Quonset Point
           -Charles R. Larson
           -Logistical problems
     -Working the fencelines
           -President’s position
           -Extent

White House social evenings
     -Receiving lines
           -Mrs. Nixon
           -Alternative
     -Diplomatic reception
     -White House military staff
           -Compared with State Department staff
           -William B. Macomber, Jr.
     -Financial people
     -State Department protocol staff
     -Military aides
                                        39

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 9/08)



     -Receiving line, March 16, 1971
           -President’s schedule
           -Length
           -Mrs. Nixon
     -Alternatives to receiving lines
           -Christmas party
           -Compared to “working the fences”
           -Experience with royalty in 1953                    Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
                 -Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah of Iran]
           -Public opinion

Public relations efforts
     -Package on Nixon Administration reforms
            -White House staff assignment
            -Content
            -Safire
     -Package on crime problem
            -White House staff assignment
     -Administration trademark
            -Congress
            -”Generation of peace”
                  -John M. (“Jack”) Lynch’s arrival ceremony

Boxing match
     -Remark by [Name unintelligible]
     -Effect
          -Madison Square Garden
          -Coverage
          -Compared to Super Bowl
          -Compared to first lunar landing
     -Cost for seat
          -Patrick J. Buchanan and family

President’s schedule
     -West Point Commencement ceremony
           -Naval Academy
           -Options
                 -Commencement
                 -Parade
                 -Convocation
                                              40

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)



     Mailings
          -President’s speech at Newport, Rhode Island
                -Further distribution
                -Press coverage
                -[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II
          -Clifford M. Hardin
                -Agriculture
          -President’s speech at T. W. Wilson International Center for Scholars
                                                                       Conv. No.event
                                                                                 467-41 (cont.)
          -President’s speech in Nebraska
          -Use
                -Importance

     Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
          -Haldeman’s forthcoming conversation with Moynihan
          -Future
          -Flanigan
          -Maurice H. Stans
     Speechwriters
          -Assistance to the President
                -Speech material
          -Adams and T. W. Wilson events’ speeches
          -Work

[The President talked with Ehrlichman at an unknown time between 4:18 pm and 5:17 pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41B]

     President’s schedule
          -Possible March 18, 1971 meeting
                -Ehrlichman and George P. Shultz

     Public relations
          -Possible statement
                 -Haldeman and John N. Mitchell
                 -The President’s view
          -Connally
                 -Role
                 -Position on an unknown issue
                 -Ehrlichman’s view

     President’s work on trip from Kentucky
     President’s forthcoming call to Shultz
                                              41

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)




[End of telephone conversation]


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]                                              Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
[Duration: 1m 42s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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


     President’s schedule
          -Departure time
[Haldeman talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:18 pm and 5:17
pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41C]

     Call to Dwight L. Chapin

[End of telephone conversation]

     W. M. Young funeral
         -President’s eulogy
               -Method of delivery
                    -Publicity
                    -Garment
                    -Safire

[Haldeman talked with Chapin [?] at an unknown time between 4:18 pm and 5:17 pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41D]

     President’s schedule
          -Hugh Scott
                -Meeting with the President
                -Purpose
                                            42

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 9/08)



                -Time
                -Mitchell’s participation
                     -Haldeman

[End of telephone conversation]

          -Signing ceremonies
                                                                  Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 17s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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

          -Signing ceremonies
               -House Resolution [HR] 16
                     -Possible March 19, 1971 ceremony
                           -Timing
                     -Prisoners of War [POW] and Missing In Action [MIA] week
                     -Possible White House ceremony
                           -Attendees
                                -Congressmen
                                -Frank Borman
                                -Representatives from the families
                           -Publicity
                                -Use
                                -Benefit
          -A Michigan high school choir
               -Gerald R. Ford
                     -Possible appearance in Rose Garden
                     -Possible demonstrators
                     -Previous appearance in Grand Rapids
                     -Tour of White House
                     -Presidential participation
          -Future appointments for this type of group
               -”Open Hour”
                                            43

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)




[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:18 pm and
5:17 pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41E]

     Call to Rogers
                                                                    Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
[End of telephone conversation]

     President’s schedule
          -National Association of Newspapers
                -Ziegler
                -A workshop
                -Date

[The President talked with Rogers between 5:17 pm and 5:24 pm]

[Conversation No. 467-41F]

          -Dewey’s funeral
               -Time of departure
               -Rogers’ possible attendance
               -President’s forthcoming press conference
                     -Domestic policy
          -March 16, 1971 dinner
               -Announcement of Tricia Nixon’s engagement
               -Jazz concert
                     -Edward R. F. Cox and Harvard law students’ response
                     -Dennis Day
                     -Fred MacMurray
               -Length

     Dewey
         -Dwayne O. Andreas
         -Plans to attend President’s March 16, 1971 dinner
         -President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board [PFIAB]
               -Connally replacement
                     -Dewey’s possible appointment
         -President’s view
                                              44

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 9/08)



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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 30s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4                                       Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)

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


     President’s March 16, 1971 Head of State dinner
          -Lynch
                -Comments
                     -Toasts
                -Publicity

     Dewey funeral

[End of telephone conversation]
           -Rogers’ attendance
           -Wives’ attendance
                -Mrs. Nixon
                      -Hotel Pierre in New York City
                      -Proximity to church
           -Adele (Langston) Rogers and other wives


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 10s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6

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


          -[Name unintelligible] attendance
                                                45

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 9/08)



                -Possible meeting en route with President
          -President’s guests
                -New York Congressional delegation
                -Scott
                     -Position in 1948 campaign

     President’s schedule
          -Possible press conference                              Conv. No. 467-41 (cont.)
                -Questions
          -”Today” show appearance
          -Possible press conference
                -Possible television coverage
          -April 8, 1971 speech

The President left at an unknown time before 5:52 pm