Conversation: 675-008
Prev: 675-007 Next: 675-009Start Date: 29-Feb-1972 8:55 AM
End Date: 29-Feb-1972 10:06 AM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); [Unknown person(s)]; Bull, Stephen B.; Mansfield, Michael J. ("Mike"); Scott, Hugh;Recording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:43:41
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:01:04
NARA Description:
On February 29, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield, and Hugh Scott met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:55 am and 10:06 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 675-008 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 675-8
Date: February 29, 1972
Timing: Unknown between 8:55 am and 10:06 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
President’s forthcoming meeting
-William P. Rogers
-Questions
The President’s recent rip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Kissinger’s and the President’s health
5
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 23s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
******************************************************************************
President’s schedule
-Florida
-Timing
-Kissinger’s schedule
President’s trip to PRC
-Communiqué
-Press reaction
-Washington Post
-Reception by Congress
-Reception
-Television summaries
-Dan Rather
-Comments
-Washington Post
-Kissinger’s forthcoming briefing
-Backgrounder
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Walter L. Cronkite, Jr., [Arnold] Eric Sevareid
-Rather
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Quoted statement
-Sevareid
-Communiqué
-Left’s response
-Taiwan, Republic of China
-Kissinger’s forthcoming briefing
-President’s forthcoming briefing
-Possible responses
6
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-President’s meeting with Chou En-lai
-Number of hours
-Description of leaders
-Mao Tse-tung
-Public statements
-Appearance
-Personality
-US role in Asia
-Japan
-Foreign aid
-President’s talks with PRC officials
-Charles W. Colson, William L. Safire
-Preparation
-Taiwan
-Taiwan
-Kissinger’s conversation with Barry M. Goldwater, February 28, 1972
-Communiqué
-President’s conversation with William P. Rogers, February 28, 1972
-Rogers’s forthcoming congressional testimony
-PRC
-Goldwater
-Ronald W. Reagan
-Support
-Goldwater
-Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Kissinger’s forthcoming meetings
-Goldwater
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Possible argument
-Communiqué
-President’s opponents
-Left
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s forthcoming meeting with North Vietnamese
-March 20, 1972 invitation to Kissinger
-Forthcoming actions
-Michael J. Mansfield, Hugh Scott
-Announcement
-Talks on exchanges
-Le Duc Tho
-President’s speech, February 28, 1972
-Report to the nation
7
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Praise from Kissinger
-Kissinger’s conversations with New York conservatives, February 28, 1972
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-William L. Safire , Raymond R. Price, Jr.
-Work
President’s forthcoming trip to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Safire
-Compared to Price
-Working relationship with Safire
-Writing style
-Buchanan
-Drafts
-Quality
-Work by the President
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Buchanan, Price
President’s trip to PRC
-The President’s and Kissinger’s efforts
-Hangchow
-Communiqué
-Rogers
-Mood
-Meeting with PRC Foreign Minister
-Importance
-Kissinger’s conversation with John B. Connally, February 28, 1972
-Importance
-Potential world events
-Peace
-President’s forthcoming briefing
-Mansfield, J. William Fulbright
-US role in Asia
-Nixon Doctrine
-Kissinger’s forthcoming conversation with Stewart J.O. and Joseph W. Alsop
President’s schedule
-Florida
-Timing
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
President’s trip to PRC
-Outcome
-President’s return
-White House reception
-Kissinger’s conversation with telephone operator, February 28, 1972
-Reaction
-National mood
-Intellectuals
-Writing press
-Kissinger’s backgrounder
Haldeman entered at 9:10 am.
-Hugh S. Sidey
An unknown woman entered at an unknown timing after 9:10 am.
Stephen B. Bull’s location
Stanley Karnow
President’s forthcoming briefing
-Virginia H. Knauer
-Location
The unknown woman left at an unknown timing before 9:18 am.
President’s trip to PRC
-Press backgrounder [by Ronald L. Ziegler]
-Karnow
-Sidey
-Buckley
-Peter Lisagor
-Invitations
-Possible exclusions
-Karnow
-Leaks
-Sidey
-Karnow
-Sidey
-Ziegler’s comments
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Kennedy
-President’s view
-Ziegler’s forthcoming backgrounder
-Rather
-Haldeman
-Cronkite, Sevareid
-Harry Reasoner, Howard K. Smith
-John W. Chancellor, David Brinkley [?]
Sidey
-Kissinger’s view
Public relations
-Time
President’s trip to PRC
-Forthcoming backgrounder
-Jerrold L. Schecter
-Sidey
-Press contingent
-Buckley, Joseph C. Kraft
-Balance
-Forthcoming backgrounder
-Buckley
Kissinger’s schedule
-Agnew
President’s trips to PRC
-President’s February 28, 1972 speech
-Television coverage
-Praise from Kissinger
-Content
-Children
-Color
-Crowds
-Colson
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Content
-Crowds
-PRC
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Correspondents’ stories
-Cronkite
-Remarks
-Return to US
Kissinger’s schedule
-Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
-Telephone numbers
Kissinger’s schedule
-Stewart and Joseph Alsop
Kissinger left at 9:18 am.
President’s trip to PRC
-President’s forthcoming briefing
-Knauer
-Alexander P. Butterfield
-The President’s previous conversation
-Robert J. Brown
-Haldeman’s list
Harry S. Dent
President’s schedule
-News summaries
-President’s instructions
-Cambodia
White House staff
-Preferring criticism
-The President’s position
-Need for positive mood
-Program
-View of the President
-Buchanan, Colson
-Safire
-Buchanan
-Negativity
-Memoranda
-1968 campaign
-John P. Sears
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-News reporting
-Colson
-Safire
-Washington Post
President’s trip to PRC
-Taiwan
-Headline
-Alleged withdrawal
-Alaska
-Karnow
-Relationship with the Administration
-Haldeman’s possible calls to California
-President’s February 28, 1972 arrival and speech
-Press coverage
-Chancellor
-Camera angle
-President’s conversation with unknown man [Thompson?]
-Crowd reaction
-Audibility
-Cabinet meeting
-Television coverage
-Arrivals and children
-Atmosphere
-President’s arrivals from South America and USSR
-Comparisons
-Agnew’s statement
-Length
-Content
-Television coverage
-Kissinger
-Unknown children
-Camera shot
-Crowd reaction
-America The Beautiful
Commentators
-Reading
-Length
-Content
-James L. Buckley’s comments
-Taiwan
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-John G. Tower’s comments
-Possible reaction
-Buckley
-The President’s re-election
Bull entered at an unknown timing after 9:18 am.
The President’s schedule
-Forthcoming briefings
-James Buckley
Bull left at an unknown timing before 9:56 am.
-Gifts
-Leaders meeting
-Cabinet meeting
-Tea cups
-Staff
-Wives
-Jewel boxes
-Carved elephants
-Rose Mary Woods
Bull entered at an unknown timing after 9:18 am.
-Woods
-Gifts
-Cabinet meeting
-Jewel boxes
-Wives
-Staff
-Tea cups
-Agnew, Rogers
-Kissinger
-Location
Bull left at an unknown timing before 9:56 am.
-Woods
-Dwight L. Chapin
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Privacy]
[Duration: 23s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
******************************************************************************
President’s schedule
-Florida
-White House staff
-Accommodations
-Possible locations
-Paradise Island, Disneyworld
-Ronald H. Walker
-Woods
-Buchanan
-Shelley A. (Scarney) Buchanan
-Walker
-Ziegler
-Lyndon K. (“Mort”) Allin
-News summaries
-Transportation
-Timing
-Accommodations
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 8s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
******************************************************************************
-Weather in Florida
-Camp David
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 30s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
******************************************************************************
-Swearing-in
-Peter G. Peterson
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Timing
-Possible comments by the President
-Peterson
-Cabinet meeting
-Haldeman’s conversation with John D. Ehrlichman, February 28, 1972
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Peterson’s schedule
Bull entered at an unknown timing after 9:18 am.
-Timing
-Oval Office
-Talking points
-Attendance
-William E. Timmons
-Maurice H. Stans
-White House staff
-Congress
-Press
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Photograph opportunities
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
-Kleindienst
-Warren E. Burger
-William H. Rehnquist, Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
-Relationship with Rehnquist
-Justice Department
-Arizona
-Timing
Bull left at an unknown timing before 9:56 am.
-Calls from Woods
-Woods’s conversation with Mrs. Nixon
-Direct line to the President
-Lawrence M. Higby
-Chapin
-President’s conversation with Woods
-Higby, Chapin
-Call hierarchy
Woods
-Preparation of President’s speech, February 28, 1972
-Kissinger
-Views concerning President’s trip to PRC
-Comments concerning rooms in Hawaii
-Guam
-Possible problems
-Views about President’s February 28, 1972 speech
-President’s meeting with Kissinger
-Communiqué
-Buchanan
-Kissinger
-Communists
Buchanan
-Work
-Quality
-President’s standards
-Role on White House staff
-Press conference
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Safire
-John Sears
-Safire
-Research
Woods
-Views concerning President’s PRC trip
-Communiqué
-Kissinger
-The President’s February 28, 1972 speech
-Tone
-Maj. Gen. James D. Hughes
-Chief of Staff
-L. Nicholas Ruwe
-Chief of Protocol
-Mrs. Nixon
-Loyalty
-Possible view of the President
-Attendance at meeting
-Haldeman
-Roles of Higby and Chapin
-Relationship with Woods
-Bull
-Relationship with Butterfield
-Role on White House staff
-Gifts in PRC
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Mrs. Nixon
President’s trip to PRC
-President’s forthcoming briefings
-Gifts
-Republicans
-Elephants
Woods
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 17s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
******************************************************************************
-Behavior
Buchanan
-Conversation with Kissinger
Kissinger
Buchanan
-Political views
-Communists
-Nuclear weapons
World political situation
-Number of communists
-PRC and USSR
-Eastern Europe
-Nuclear weapons
-Will to fight
-US
-Buchanan’s possible view of President’s role
-Administration view [?]
President’s forthcoming trip to USSR
President’s trip to PRC
-President’s February 28, 1972 speech
-Preparation
-Work involved
-Woods
-Rogers
-President’s arrival and speech February 28, 1972
-Presidential image
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Handshakes
-Necessity
-Haile Selassie, Gen. Charles A.J.M. DeGaulle
-Selectivity
President’s schedule
Bull entered at an unknown timing after 9:18 am.
-Scott, Mansfield
-President’s forthcoming briefing
Bull left at an unknown timing before 9:56 am.
President’s trip to PRC
-Mansfield’s and Scott’s statements
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 21s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
******************************************************************************
Mansfield and Scott entered at 9:56 am.
Greetings
President’s trip to PRC
-Forthcoming announcement
-Communiqué
-Exchanges
-Journalists
-Political leaders
-Channel of communications
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Taiwan
-President’s conversation with Chou En-Lai
-Exchanges by political leaders
-Mansfield and Scott, et. al
-Formalities
-Revelation of substance of talks
-Allen J. Ellender
-Life and death
-Mao Tse-tung
-Politics
-Bi-partisanship support
-Criticism
-Exchanges by political leaders
-Mansfield and Scott
-Invitation
-PRC knowledge
-Work on communiqué
-Kissinger
-Chiao Kuan-Hua
-United Nations [UN] representative
-Kissinger
-President’s conversation with Chou En-lai
-Exchanges of political leaders
-Mansfield and Scott
-Timing
-Conventions
Bull entered and left at an unknown time before 10:06 am.
The President’s schedule
PRC
-Forthcoming trip by Mansfield and Scott
-Announcement
-Channel of communication
-Chou En-lai
-Maureen (Hayes) Mansfield and Marian Huntington Chase Scott
-Presence of women at functions
-Official capacity
-Mrs. Nixon
-President’s conversations with Chou En-lai
20
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)
-Mansfield
-North Vietnamese
-Schedule
-Channels of communication
-Confidentiality
-Canada
-Paris
**************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
[National Security]
[Duration: 4s ]
FRANCE
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
**************************************************************************
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters, Kissinger
-Political exchanges
-Duration of trip
-Senate recess
-Conventions
-Forthcoming congressional leadership meeting
-The President’s efforts
-Chou En-lai
-Recent trip
-The President’s health
The President, Haldeman, Mansfield, and Scott left at 10:06 am.
21
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 675-8 (cont.)