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Conversation: 632-002

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Start Date: 8-Dec-1971 9:25 AM

End Date: 8-Dec-1971 10:18 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:06:44

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 00:59:14

632a.mp3

632b.mp3

NARA Description:

On December 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:25 am to 10:18 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 632-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 632-2

Date: December 8, 1971
Time: 9:25 am - 10:18 am
Location: Oval Office

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

     Foreign aid
          -Continuing resolution
                -Clark MacGregor
                -Michael J. Mansfield
                -Allen J. Ellender
                -Hugh Scott
                -House leadership
                -60 or 90 day resolution
                     -Compromise

     India-Pakistan relations
           -Edward M. Kennedy
                -Probable course of action
           -News summary
           -Henry A. Kissinger
           -Edmund S. Muskie
           -Washington Post article
                                               2

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


               -White House relations with the State Department
                    -Policy for India

    Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO] legislation
         -Veto


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8

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


               -Child care
                    -“The right thing to do”
                    -Blacks and child care

    India-Pakistan relations
          -Kissinger
               -Health
               -Staff meeting
               -Comments
                     -Conversation with the President
                           -United Nations [UN] vote
               -Election
               -[Arthur] Neville Chamberlain
                     -“Our Rhineland”
                     -Possible changes in the future
               -Thailand
               -Iran
               -US policy
                     -Timing
               -Indian intervention
               -UN
               -Emotion
                                            3

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/06)
                                                                      Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


                     -Pakistani air force
                     -Israel
              -Bureaucracy
              -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] and India
                     -Possible tough stance by US
              -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
              -Haldeman’s previous conversation with Kissinger
              -Cambodia
              -State Department
                     -Bureaucracy
                     -Public position
         -News summary
              -Marvin L. Kalb
         -Public relations
              -Democracy compared to dictatorship
         -Ronald L. Ziegler's meeting with Kissinger
              -Ziegler’s previous meeting with Kissinger
         -USSR
         -Aid cut-off
         -Bangladesh


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[National Security]
[Duration: 4s ]


    INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

**************************************************************************
                                           4

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/06)
                                                             Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


         -Public relations
              -Kissinger’s view
         -Public opinion
              -Morality
              -Democracy compared to dictatorship
         -The President's talks with Kissinger
              -Timing
         -Ziegler


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
[Privacy]
[Duration: 11s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9

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


         -USSR
              -Finland
         -Germany
              -India
                    -Intentions
         -Vietnam
         -Kissinger
              -Current developments
              -Bureaucracy
         -Aid cut-off
              -Timing
              -USSR
         -Kissinger
              -Wars
              -Foreign policy
              -Pakistan
              -Concern from Haldeman
                    -Kissinger’s attitude
              -John Kenneth Galbraith dinner
                                    5

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                           Tape Subject Log
                             (rev. 10/06)
                                                            Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


            -Cancellation by Kissinger
      -Talks with the President
            -Timing
                 -Reasons for canceling dinner
            -PRC-USSR initiatives
                 -Possible scrutiny by the press
-East Pakistan refugees
-Bureaucracy
      -William P. Rogers
-Comments
      -Changes in Kissinger over the past month
            -Foreign policy matters
-Note to USSR
-Vietnam talks
-Kissinger
      -Highs and lows
-Vietnam settlement, PRC summit and USSR summit
      -Accomplishments for the Administration
      -Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Kissinger's backgrounder
      -Evaluation
      -Talking papers
      -MacGregor
      -Charles W. Colson
-[Forename unknown] Cooper
      -Expertise
-Kissinger
      -State Department
            -Neutrality
                 -The President’s comments to the leaders
                        -Aid cut-off
-Neutrality
      -A question of “non-involvement”
            -Possible US actions
-Kissinger
      -Health
            -Possible causes
      -Backgrounder
            -Rogers
                 -Press coverage
                                        6

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


The President's schedule
     -John B. Connally
     -Meeting with Edward R.G. Heath [?]
     -Azores
     -Florida
     -Time magazine interview
           -Timing

Congressional adjournment
    -William H. Rehnquist appointment
          -Birch E. Bayh, Jr.
          -Present state of Congress

India-Pakistan relations
      -Kissinger
           -Rogers
           -Congress
                 -Imagined statements
           -USSR
           -US actions
                 -Futility
                 -Conservatives
           -Handling
           -Frustration
           -Harvard University
                 -Article
                       -Possible problems for Kissinger
                       -Galbraith dinner
                            -Proposed “homecoming” for Kissinger
                       -Daniel Patrick Moynihan
                       -Thomas W. Braden
                            -Timing
                       -Galbraith

Foreign policy
     -USSR
          -Rogers
               -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
          -Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
               -Possible talks between the President and the USSR
                    -Rogers
                                           7

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


         -PRC
               -Talks with Kissinger
               -Haig
               -Rogers
                     -Need for someone to broker a deal with PRC and USSR
                     -Experience
         -Kissinger
               -Political campaign
               -Communiqués
                     -Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT]
               -Negotiating ability
               -Haig
                     -National Security Council [NSC] staff
               -Rogers
               -Nelson A. Rockefeller
                     -Kissinger’s problems
                           -Concern about talking to Rockefeller
               -Staff meeting
               -Liberals
                     -Possible US allegiance
                           -Pakistan
                           -India
                           -Democracies
                           -Critics of the Administration
                     -Galbraith dinner
                     -Harvard University
                           -Opinion poll
         -India
               -Democracy
               -Aggression
                     -India
                           -Peaceful
                                 -Liberals belief
               -US public opinion
                     -MacGregor
                           -Thoughts about India
                                 -World War II
                     -Indians


**********************************************************************
                                              8

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                    Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)



BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[National Security]
[Duration: 6s ]


    INDIA


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6

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


                                         -Galbraith
                                         -Kenneth B. Keating
                                         -Support for India
                                         -Allen S. Drury books
                                               -Critical of India
                                     -USSR
                                     -UN vote of December 7, 1971
                                         -Canadians
                                         -Kissinger

    The President’s schedule
         -Kissinger's forthcoming meeting with Haldeman
              -Politics
              -Timing
              -Haldeman's call to Kissinger
                     -President’s forthcoming talk with Kissinger
         -Trips
         -Unknown person
              -Relationship with Haldeman
                     -Previous conversation with Haldeman

    International monetary situation
          -George P. Shultz
          -Arthur F. Burns
          -Peter G. Peterson
          -Shultz's talks with John B. Connally
                -Economy
                                       9

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


               -Convertibility
                   -Connally’s view
                   -Germany
                          -Deutsche mark
                   -France
                          -Deal with Germany
                                -Shultz in agreement with Connally
                   -Convertibility
                   -Bilateral lifting of the surcharge
                          -Canada
                          -Mexico
                          -Brazil
                          -Connally’s view
                                -Previous conversation with Haldeman
                                      -Timing

Appointments
    -Council of Economic Advisors [CEA]
         -Geoffrey H. Moore
               -Herbert Stein and Shultz
               -Burns
    -Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]
         -Possible confirmation battle
                    -Harold Goldstein removal
                    -Moore
                          -As spokesman
                          -Unemployment
                    -Unemployment
                    -Colson
    -CEA
         -Shultz
         -Moore
         -Stein
               -Forthcoming meeting with Haldeman

The President's schedule
     -Meeting with John D. Ehrlichman and Shultz
          -Continuing resolution
                 -Wrap-up meeting
          -Budget
          -OEO legislation
                                             10

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 632-2 (cont.)


          -Connally
              -Schedule
              -International monetary situation

Haldeman left at 10:18 am.