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Conversation: 640-003

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Start Date: 22-Dec-1971 9:48 AM

End Date: 22-Dec-1971 11:02 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Kissinger, Henry A.Shultz, George P.Burns, Arthur F.

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:03:48

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 01:16:53

640a.mp3

640b.mp3

NARA Description:

On December 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, George P. Shultz, and Arthur F. Burns met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:48 am to 11:02 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 640-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 640-3
                                               2

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)




Date: December 22, 1971
Time: 9:48 am - 11:02 am
Location: Oval Office

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

     Television show "A Day in the Life of the President"
          -Effect
                -Documentary value compared to public impact
          -Haldeman’s opinion
                -Review in paper
                      -Type of show
                      -Pace of presidency
                      -Ceremonial aspects
                      -Interesting parts of the show
                            -Chat with Julie Nixon Eisenhower
                      -John W. Chancellor interview
                            -Used by news media
                                  -“Today” show
                                  -Forthcoming People’s Republic of China [PRC] trip
                      -Criticism
                            -Television unable to capture the operation of the Oval Office
                            -Presence of cameras
                                  -Effect
          -John A. Scali
          -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
          -Ronald L. Ziegler
          -Image of the President as leader
                -Newsworthiness
          -Compared to US News & World Report article
          -Press
                -Atkins
                -Pierre E. Trudeau
                      -President’s relationship with the press
                -National Broadcasting Company [NBC]

     President's schedule
          -Travel plans

     Current news
          -Vietnam
                                             3

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                    Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. 10/06)
                                                                      Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


               -Bombing
                     -Plaine des Jarres
         -Indian atrocity story
               -Henry A. Kissinger's talk with the President
                     -Photographs of the atrocities
                           -Number
         -Peter G. Peterson
               -Clark MacGregor
               -William P. Rogers statement in Bermuda regarding trade preference bill
                     -Latin America
                     -Instructions
                           -Peterson
         -Bermuda
               -Coverage
                     -Photographs
                     -The President’s relations with other foreign leaders
               -NBC special
                     -Summitry

    President's schedule
         -Meeting with foreign leaders


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 44s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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


                    -Plans for meeting Willy Brandt
                    -Paul W. McCracken schedule
         -Possible physical
               -Gen. Walter R. Tkach
         -Florida
               -Timing
                                       4

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. 10/06)
                                                         Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


          -Rogers's schedule
          -Kissinger's schedule
          -President's departure
          -Brandt
                -Timing of meeting

Yeoman Charles E. Radford incident
    -John N. Mitchell
    -John D. Ehrlichman
          -Zeal for job
          -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
    -Courses of action
    -Daniel Ellsberg
    -Knowledge compared with Ellsberg
          -Kissinger
          -Vietnam
    -President's instructions
          -Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Kissinger
                -Leaks
                      -State Department
          -Ehrlichman
                -Meeting with Kissinger
    -Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]
          -Ehrlichman's knowledge
    -Security
          -Need to increased
          -Staff meetings
                -Lack of meetings
                -Potential leaks
                -Rogers
                -Melvin R. Laird
                -President’s style

President's schedule
     -Meeting with George P. Shultz
            -Budget
                 -Defense
            -Arthur F. Burns
                 -Money supply
                 -Appointment
                                        5

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                           Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


                      -Federal Reserve Board [FRB]
                      -President's instructions
                      -Haldeman
                      -John B. Connally and Burns
                      -Carl J. Thomsen
                      -President's role
                      -Supreme Court
                      -Texas
                            -Connally
                      -Potential
                 -Appointee
                      -John E. Sheehan
                 -Appointments
                      -Burns’s recommendations
                      -Supreme Court
                            -Warren E. Burger
                 -FRB
                 -Burger
                 -Veto power
                      -Connally and Burns
                 -Money supply

Media
     -Coverage
          -Laos
          -India-Pakistan
          -Kissinger
                -Unknown person
                      -Column
Kissinger
     -Leaks
          -Responsibility
          -Mitchell
          -State Department
          -Yeoman Radford
          -David R. Young. Jr.
                -Ehrlichman

President's schedule
     -Christmas parties
            -President's appearance
                                              6

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)



Kissinger and Shultz entered and Haldeman left at 10:17 am.

     Kissinger's schedule
          -Florida
                -Timing
                -Accommodations
                      -Children

     Defense budget
          -Laird
               -Request
                     -Amount(s)
               -Pay raise
               -Jobs memorandum
                     -Burns
                          -Previous conversation with Shultz

     Burns
          -Money supply
               -Inflation
          -Wage and price guidelines
          -Milton Friedman
          -Laird party for David Packard
               -Memorandum to Burns
                     -Robert C. Moot
               -Military jobs
                     -Decrease
                           -Number
               -Civilian personnel and defense contractors

     Budget
         -Department of Defense [DOD]
         -Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]
              -Elliot L. Richardson
         -DOD
              -Job reductions
                    -Numbers
              -Contracting
                    -Numbers
              -Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
                                                7

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


                 -Shultz’s attempts to modify budget
           -Meeting with Burns and Shultz
                 -Phone call from the President to Burns
           -Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
                 -Defense outlays
                      -Numbers
                             -1973 budget
                      -F-111
                             -US Air Force [USAF]
                             -Cost of plane
           -DOD spending
                 -Kissinger’s earlier conversation with Shultz
                 -USAF
                      -Planes
                      -Vietnam
                             -Authorizations
                 -Laird
                      -Negotiations
                             -James L. Buckley

Kissinger left at 10:27 am.

     Burns
          -Upcoming meeting with the President
          -Appointment process
              -Haldeman
              -Sheehan
              -Possible Presidential statement
              -Burger
              -Guidelines
          -Money supply
              -Increase
                    -Agreement
                    -Burns
                    -Connally
                    -Open Market Committee

Burns entered at 10:29 am.

     [General conversation]
                                             8

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                              Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


    Meetings with Brandt and Eisaku Sato

    President's schedule
         -Walter H. Annenberg's residence
                -Activities
                -Sato
                      -Takeo Fukuda
                -Burns’s schedule


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 36s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 13s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6

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


    FRB
          -Burns's need for appointment guidelines
          -January 1972 appointment
          -James L. Robertson
          -Haldeman briefing with Burns
               -Selection
               -Connally
                                  9

              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                         Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. 10/06)
                                                          Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


-Thomsen
     -Burns's action
-Sheehan
     -Selection
           -Civil Service Commission
           -Knowledge and previous experience
-Thomsen
     -Experience
           -Dallas bank
-Appointment process
     -Appointments to other agencies
     -Appointments
     -Compared to Supreme Court
           -Interstate Commerce Commission [ICC] and Securities and Exchange
                 Commission [SEC]
           -Length of appointments
     -Franklin D. Roosevelt action
     -President’s view
           -Need for compatible group
     -Supreme Court
           -Burger
           -Mitchell
           -Female justice
                 -Prospects for future
     -Claire Giannini Hoffman
     -Head of Trenton bank
           -[Forename unknown] Rowling [?]
           -Background
                 -J. Edgar Hoover’s call to Burns
                       -Task force
     -Frederic V. Malek's role
           -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] checks
     -Burns's role
           -Comparison to Burger
     -Shultz
     -Connally
     -Recommendations from Congress
     -Process described by the President
           -Connally and Shultz
           -Burger
                 -Mitchell
                                            10

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


                           -Appointment to Court
                                -Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
                                -William H. Rehnquist
                                      -Approved by Burger
               -Process described by the President
               -Burns's approval
                     -Input from Burns
                     -Malek
                     -Haldeman
               -Thomsen
                     -Age
                     -Texas
                           -Connally
               -Connally input
                     -Burns
                     -Sheehan
                           -Connally
                           -Kentucky
                     -Thomsen
                           -Relationship with Connally
               -Malek input
               -New appointments
                     -Possible conflict between Burns and Connally
                     -President’s upcoming talk with Burns about nominees
                           -Selection
                           -Shultz
                           -Kissinger
                           -Burger
                     -William McChesney Martin
                           -Relationship with the President
           -Money supply
               -Letters
               -Connally

Burns left at 10:52 am.

           -Shultz
                -Malek
           -Burns
                -Appointments
           -Shultz’s letter
                                          11

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                                 Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)


           -Connally
     -Friedman's letter
           -Money supply
                 -Newsweek column
           -Burns’s commitment
     -Money supply
           -President's instructions to Shultz
           -Open Market Committee

Consumer Price Index [CPI]
    -Timing of release
         -Percentage
         -Positive numbers

Pay Board
     -Price Commission
     -Cost of Living Council [COLC]
           -Instructions to Shultz
                 -Donald H. Rumsfeld
     -President’s view

Federal pay
     -Increase
           -Congress
           -Comparability Act
           -Economic Stabilization Act
                -Discussion of defense budget
                     -Position taken
           -Shultz
           -Bob Hansen
           -Administration position
                -Federal pay raise

Money supply

Appointment process
    -President's instructions
          -Shultz call to Connally
                -Burns's conversation with the President
                      -Possible conflict between Burns and Connally
                      -Malek
                                              12

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 640-3 (cont.)



     Friedman's letter

     International monetary reform
           -Convertibility
                -Edward R.G. Heath
                      -Previous conversation with the President
                -US view
                -France
                -Kissinger’s notes
                -Heath
                -Connally

     President's schedule
          -Rehnquist
                 -Confirmation
          -Connally

Shultz left at 11:02 am.