Conversation: 489-017
Prev: 489-016 Next: 489-018Start Date: 26-Apr-1971 2:57 PM
End Date: 26-Apr-1971 4:12 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Bull, Stephen B.; Ehrlichman, John D.; Shultz, George P.; Kissinger, Henry A.;Recording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:46:36
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:58:45
NARA Description:
On April 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:57 pm to 4:12 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 489-017 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 489-17
Date: April 26, 1971
Time: 2:57 pm - 4:12 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Vietnam
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes
-Memorandum
-US policy
-Charles W. Colson
-POW wives
-Issues
-Henry A. Kissinger and John A. Scali
-President's position
-Public relations efforts
-POWs
-North Vietnamese position
-Demonstrations
-Possible effect on North Vietnamese position
-US stance
-Peace negotiations
-Paris
-Kissinger's schedule
-US strategy
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-President’s view
-Possible North Vietnamese stance
-US strategy
27
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-South Vietnamese
-Kissinger
-US troop withdrawals
-Residual force
-Numbers
-POWs
-Effect on negotiations
-Congressional resolutions Conv. No. 489-16 (cont.)
-US position
-Possible proposals
-Return of POWs
-Ceasefire
-North Vietnamese position
-Possible US military activities
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 3:03 pm.
Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon's schedule
-Meeting
-Tricia Nixon
-Wedding cake
[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order from
December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums, et al. v. James M.
Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records Administration produced this
transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
Stephen B. Bull entered and left at an unknown time during the transcribed portion.
Ziegler's press briefing
-Attributions to the President
-Supreme Court decision on school integration
-Possible comments by the Presidents
-President’s previous [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson speech
-Vietnam
-U.S. goals
-President's speech, April 7, 1971
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Mao Tse-tung
-President's remarks before American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE]
28
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Possible visit to PRC
President's schedule, April 27, 1971
-United Nation concert
-Unknown man's schedule
-Announcement
Ziegler left at 3:05 pm. Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
John D. Ehrlichman and George P. Shultz entered at 3:07 pm.
Anti-trust
-John N. Mitchell
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-Solicitor General
-Erwin N. Griswold
-Opinion
-Networks
-Mitchell
-Administration’s position
-Pentagon
-Movie industry
-ITT
-Grinnell Corporation
-Unknown man activities
-Moratorium
-Walter J. Cummings
-President's schedule
-Meeting
-Paul W. McCracken
-Mitchell
-Richard W. McLaren
-John B. Connally
-Politics
-Maurice H. Stans
-Connally
-Involvement
-Airlines
-President’s instructions
-McLaren
-Politics
-President’s instructions
29
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-McCracken
-Herbert Stein and Hendrik S. Houthakker
-Connally
-Mitchell
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Shultz
-Council of Economic Advisers [CEA]
Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
Haldeman left at 3:12 pm.
-Economics
-Shultz’s speeches
-Mitchell’s role
-Problems
-Cases
-Possible administration position
Anti-trust
-Networks
-Flanigan
-ITT
-President’s conversation with Mitchell
-Griswold
-Tenure
-Archibald Cox
-Cox
-John F. Kennedy
-Griswold
-Harold S. Geneen
-Administration’s position
-Griswold
-McLaren
-Tenure
-Importance
-Geneen
Lockheed
-Ehrlichman's previous conversation with Fred J. Borch
-Borch’s view
-Great Britain
-Guarantees
-Borch's views
30
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Forthcoming Congressional testimony
-General Electric [GE] Company
-McDonnell-Douglas
-Hubert H. Humphrey’s support
-Borch’s view
-Financing
-Great Britain
-Guarantees Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-US government role
-Connally’s role
-Robert S. Ingersoll
-Shultz
-Ingersoll’s view
-Administration's position
-Great Britain
-Borch’s suggestion
-US government role
-Airlines
-Connally’s analysis
-President’s position
-California
-Supersonic Transport [SST]
-Borch
-Need for US government assistance
-McDonnell-Douglas
-Connally
Revenue sharing
-General
-Wilbur D. Mills
-President's schedule
-Upcoming meeting with Russell B. Long
-John W. Byrnes
-Shultz’s meetings with Mills and Byrnes
-Talking paper
-States
-Shultz's conversation with Mills
-Mills possible support
-H.R. 1
-Administration proposal
-Special revenue sharing
-Fund distribution
31
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Formula
-State needs
-Arkansas
-Byrnes view
-Mills view
-Byrnes view
-Possible support
-H.R. 1 Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Hearings
-Shultz’s meeting with Mills
-William L. Gifford
-State supplements
-Administration's position
-Welfare bill
-Mills political activities
-Effect on revenue sharing
-Texas state legislature
-Cities
-Byrnes
-Support
-Possible meeting with the President
Budget
-Fiscal 1973
-Fiscal 1972
-Full employment
-Balance
-Congressional hearing
-Fiscal 1973
-Defense
-Shultz’s testimony
-Overview
-Shultz's initiatives
-Balance
-Full employment
-Options
-Review
-Full employment
-Balance
-Taxes
-Outlays
-Fiscal 1973
32
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]
-Funding
-Administration options
-Effect of full employment
-Increment
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Kissinger
-Cash realizations Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Effect on Fiscal 1973
-Safeguards
-Effect on future budgets
Revenue sharing
-Mills
-Political aspirations
-Richard B. Russell
-Southern Democrats
-President’s view
-Cooperation with administration
-Pressure from colleagues
-Plan
-Welfare reform bill
Welfare reform
-Administration position
-Administration’s meetings with Congressional leaders
-Ehrlichman's schedule
-President's schedule
-Upcoming meeting with Long
-Health plan
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Mills staff
-Gifford
-Views
-Long
-John J. Williams
-Administration position
-Family assistance program
-Administration action
-Need for support
-Liberals
-Opposition
33
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Family assistance program
-Minimum wage
-Mills view
-Unemployed
-Coverage
-Secretary of Labor
-James D. Hodgson
-Exceptions Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Youth differential
-Mills
-18 year-old vote
President's schedule, April 27, l971
-Connally
-Elmer H. Bobst
-Heath initiative
-Winton M. (“Red”) Blount
-Connally
-Presidential involvement
-Lockheed
-Connally’s role
Lockheed
-Review
-Penn Central Railroad
-Presidential involvement
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Competitors
Welfare reform
-Mills
-Administration proposal
-Mayors
-Carl B. Albert
-Democrat leadership
-President's previous speeches
-Republican Governors Conference
- Chamber of Commerce
-Guaranteed annual income
-Popular reaction
-George W. Romney
-Speech
34
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-View regarding labor
-Revenue sharing
-Chamber of Commerce
Shultz's schedule
-Trip to Chicago
-Speech to Economic Club
-Reception Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Questions for Shultz
Economy
-Profits
-Productivity
-Administration position
-Ezra Solomon
-McCracken
-Stanford
-Possible position
-Schedule
-Janet Solomon
-Retail sales
-Weather
-General Motors
-Airlines
-Stocks
-Tickets
-Businessmen
-American Express
-Shultz's schedule
-Trip to Chicago
-Montgomery Ward
-Unknown executive
-Mail order
-Sales
-Sears
-Bell & Howell
-Peter G. Peterson
-Mail order
-Increases
-Retail sales
-March 1971
-First quarter
35
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-April 1971
-Dan Cerrill [sp?]
-Recruitment of scientists
-Difficulties
-Views
-Ford Company
-Building complex
-Scientists and engineers Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Campus setting
-Schools
-Welfare
-Chicago
-Transition
Chicago
-Shultz’s view
-Washington
States
-Unemployment
-New England
-Grants
-Shift
Council of Economic Advisors [CEA]
-Solomon and Stein
-Abilities
-Stein
-Mildred Stein
Economy
-Paul A. Samuelson's views
-Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]
-Shultz’s association with Samuelson
-Samuelson and Milton Friedman
-Qualities
-Federal Reserve Board
-Shultz's schedule, April 29, 1971
-Meeting with Friedman
President's schedule, April 29, 1971
-[James] Harold Wilson
36
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Trip to California
-First Marine Division
-Shultz's schedule, April 29, 1971
-National Commission on Productivity
-First Marine Division
-Ceremony
-Timing
Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
Economy
-Administration policies
-Issues
-Vietnam
-Welfare reform
Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:12 pm.
President's schedule
-Meeting with John G. Gorton
-Kissinger
-Farm Bureau leaders
Bull left at an unknown time before 3:56 pm.
Economy
-Vietnam
-Administration policies
-Shultz's forthcoming activities
-Talks with business groups
-New York
-Academics
-Vietnam
Environment
Youth
-Bombings
-Vietnam
-Ehrlichman's schedule
-Stanford University
-President
-Richard W. Lyman
37
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
Stanford University
-Lyman
-Background
-Faculty
-Disorders
-Element
-Ehrlichman’s previous visit
-Meeting With alumni and faculty Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Reception
Vietnam
-"Winter of discontent"
-"Spring of uncertainty"
-Outlook
President's schedule
-California
Ehrlichman's schedule
-Trip to Prague
-UN meeting regarding environment
Czechoslovakia
-Prague
-President’s view
-Jewish cemetery
-University
-Communists
-Churches
-Economy
-Pre-World War II
-Income
-French
Ehrlichman's schedule
-Trip to Prague
-Robert H. Finch and Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Plan
-Jean Ehrlichman
Kissinger entered at 3:56 pm.
38
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Shultz's schedule
-Trip to Prague
-Timing
President's schedule
-Trip to California
-First Marine Division
-Kissinger's schedule Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-President's speech
Ehrlichman and Shultz left at 3:57 pm.
-Kissinger’s view
-Vietnam
-Elections
-Length
-Content
-Chamber of Commerce
SALT
-Negotiations
-Kissinger’s previous meeting with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-The President’s instructions
President's schedule
-Farm Bureau
-Gorton
Kissinger's schedule
-Henry Ford II
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
President's schedule
-Gorton
US-Soviet Union negotiations
-Kissinger’s previous meeting with Dobrynin
-SALT negotiations
-Summit meeting
-Possibility
-Soviet Foreign Minister’s comments
-Timing
39
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Soviet position
-Announcement
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Berlin
-Egon Bahr and [David] Kenneth Rush
-Possible US position
-Kissinger’s view
-Soviet Union Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
SALT
-US and Soviet negotiations
-Kissinger’s comments to Dobrynin
-US position
-Wording
-Offensive weapons
-Freeze
-Soviet position
-Announcement
-Exchange of letters
-Prospects
-Kissinger’s view
-Exchange of letters
-Logistics
-The President
-Soviet Union reply
-The President’s response
-Jacob D. Beam
-William P. Rogers and Gerard C. Smith
-The President’s concern
-Dobrynin
-Rogers’ schedule
-Kissinger’s involvement
-Smith
Vietnam
-President's forthcoming press conference
-Prisoners of War [POW] issue
-Possible US proposal
-Public relations aspect
-Proposal US proposal
-Kissinger
40
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
SALT
-Prospects
-Timing
-Rogers schedule
-Announcement
-Timing
-Dobrynin
-Possible Soviet position Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-Dobrynin
-Berlin negotiations
Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Possible US military activities
-Bombing
-Demonstrations
-Bombing
-Timing
-Negotiations
-Kissinger's schedule
-Dobrynin
-Cuban missile crisis
Summit
-Prospects
PRC initiative
-Kissinger's conversation with Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters
-Jean Sainteny
-Mao Tse-tung's Meeting with Edgar Snow
-Soviet Union
-Liberals
-Intellectuals
-Hugh S. Sidey
-John F. Osborne
-New Republic
Kissinger's previous meeting with Dean G. Acheson
-Rogers forthcoming trip to Middle East
-Vietnam
-Cambodia and Laos
-Support for President
41
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Acheson's dinner at Joseph W. Alsop's, April 26, 1971
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 8s ] Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
**********************************************************************
Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:56 pm.
President's schedule
-Upcoming meeting with Gorton
-Timing
-Upcoming meeting with Farm Bureau leaders
-William J. Kuhfuss
-Congressional leadership
-Farm Bureau leaders
-Wire services
Bull left at an unknown time before 4:12 pm.
Kissinger's previous meeting with Acheson
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 17s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
**********************************************************************
42
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
Vietnam
-POWs
-Hughes activities
-Possible US proposal
-Public relations effect
-Possible North Vietnamese position
-Strategy Conv. No. 489-17 (cont.)
-US withdrawal
-US military options
-POW'S
Kissinger left at 4:12 pm.