Easy NixonAbout

Conversation: 711-014

Prev:  711-013 Next: 711-015

Start Date: 18-Apr-1972 12:21 PM

End Date: 18-Apr-1972 1:46 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Kissinger, Henry A.[Unknown person(s)]Colson, Charles W.

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 02:20:40

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 03:45:43

711a.mp3

711b.mp3

711c.mp3

NARA Description:

On April 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:21 pm to 1:46 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 711-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 711-14
                                              33

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 7/07)




Date: April 18, 1972
Time: 12:21 pm - 1:46 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     The President’s schedule
          -Meeting with People’s Republic of China [PRC] table tennis team

     Tricia Nixon Cox
           -Trip to University of Maryland
                 -William P. Rogers
                 -Advisability
                 -Radicalism
           -Trips
                 -William and Mary College
                 -Detroit
                       -Cobo Hall
                 -Demonstrators
                       -Avoidance
                             -First Family
                                   -Purpose
                 -University of Maryland
                       -Scheduling
                             -Mistakes
                                   -Bombing in Vietnam
                       -Demonstrators
                             -Purpose
                       -Violence
                             -Arrests
           -Public appearances
                 -Demonstrations
                 -Campuses
                       -Problems
                       -Fieldhouse
                             -Comparisons to other events
                 -Schedule
                       -Haldeman's review
                 -Demonstrations
                       -The President’s trip to Canada
                             -Protests
                                             34

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 7/07)




Henry A. Kissinger entered at 12:28 pm.

     Soviets
          -Statements
                -Contents
                     -Approval

     PRC
           -Statements
                 -Relation to US bombing in Vietnam
                      -Hanoi and Haiphong
                      -Visit of table tennis team
                            -Scali
           -Table tennis team
                 -Press reactions
                      -Sympathy for enemy
                            -President’s view

     Vietnam
          -Melvin R. Laird testimony
                -Effectiveness
                -Exchange with J. William Fulbright
                     -Interruptions
          -Foreign Relations Committee
                -Caliborne Pell
                -Public opinion
                -Lack of support
          -Press reports
                -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] News
                     -Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.
                           -Editorializing
                           -Spiro T. Agnew
                                 -Comment by Charles D. Hamilton
                                 -Compared with British press
                                       -British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC]
                -Shanahan [sp?] [first name unknown] piece
          -British
                -Kissinger’s meeting with George R.S. Baring [Earl of Cromer]
                -Support for the President and administration
          -News stories
                -Soviets
                                             35

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 7/07)




    Tricia Nixon Cox
          -Trip to University of Maryland
                -Demonstrations
                -Scheduling
                      -Mistakes
                -Catcalls
                -Introduction
                      -Crowd reaction
                           -The President's previous experience with crowds

    People’s Republic of China [PRC]
         -Meeting with Kissinger
              -Report on Soviet trip
                    -Timing
              -Discussion of Vietnam
                    -Chou En-lai [?]
         -The President’s trip to Moscow
         -Reaction to Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
              -Discussion of US-PRC relations
                    -The President’s instructions to Kissinger
         -Soviet summit
         -Vietnam
              -PRC statements


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National security]
[Duration: 29s ]

    PRC

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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


    Agnew
        -Statements
              -Previous conversation with Haldeman
                                                36

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 7/07)




     The President's schedule
          -Meeting with Earl L. Butz and Kissinger
               -Timing
               -Picture
               -Termination

Kissinger left at 12:36 pm.

     Tricia Nixon Cox's schedule
           -Attendance at sporting events
                -Introduction
                      -Rogers
           -Public appearances
                -Experience
                -Comparisons

     The President's schedule
          -Public appearances
               -Capitol visit, April 17, 1972
               -Protests
          -Agnew
               -Confrontation with protesters


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 51s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6

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


     Vietnam
          -Protests
                -March in Washington, DC
                     -Date
                -Event, April 15, 1972
                                               37

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                           (rev. 7/07)



                       -Milton Pitts
                       -Organization
                       -Size
                       -Arrests
                             -Pitts's comments
                             -Appearance of protesters
                  -Events, April 22, 1972
                       -Washington, DC
                       -Other cities
                       -Build-up
                  -National student strikes
                       -Haldeman’s view
                             -Public reactions
                             -Interests
                             -Teacher incitement

     Certificates
           -Pictures
           -Preparations

     Press
             -Meeting with reporters
                 -Wilson [first name unknown], Herbert E. Kaplow and Helen A. Thomas
                 -Arrangements

     Vietnam
          -Protests
                -Campuses
                      -Issues
                      -Protesters
          -Rogers and Laird
                -Testimony
                      -Questions
          -Cabinet officers
                -Appearance before Congressional committees
                      -John B. Connally

     Charles W. Colson
          -Meeting with the President
               -Timing

Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 12:36 and 12:47 pm.
                                               38

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 7/07)




[Conversation No. 711-14A]

     Request that Colson join them

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's meeting with table tennis teams
          -American team
               -Women
                      -The President’s view
               -Korean
               -Blacks
               -Hippie
                      -Absence
               -Handshakes
               -Trip to PRC
               -Match with PRC team
                      -Losses
               -Compared with PRC players
          -PRC team
               -Physical condition
               -Compared with Americans
                      -Physical appearance of American team
          -Sports teams
               -Tennis and basketball
                      -Blacks

Colson entered at 12:47 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Administration's counterattacks against critics
              -Agnew
                    -Patrick J. Buchanan
                          -Drafting of speech
                                -Christine Jorgenson [?]
                    -Houston speech
                          -Food prices
                          -Speechwriter
              -Speechwriters
                    -Kenneth W. Clawson
                          -Abilities
                                   39

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                           Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. 7/07)



      -Laird and Rogers testimony
            -Transcripts
                   -Readiness
      -Rogers
            -Briefing of senators
            -Morale
                   -Barry M. Goldwater
                         -Resolution for Senate
                               -North Vietnamese invasion
      -Colson's role
      -Critics' disadvantages
            -Victory of administration
            -Edmund S. Muskie statement
                   -President’s view
                   -Need to attack
            -Accusation to treason
            -Defense of enemy
-North Vietnamese offensive
      -Compared with Laos, Cambodia and Tet
      -Compared to Lyndon B. Johnson administration
            -US peace offers
            -Number of withdrawals
            -US determination to win
      -Colson's role
            -Kissinger’s support
            -Attack on critics
                   -Muskie
                   -Hubert H. Humphrey
                   -Edward M. Kennedy
                   -George S. McGovern
                         -President’s instructions
-Critics
      -Muskie
      -McGovern
            -Administration assistance
      -Attacks
            -Humphrey
                   -Agnew
                   -United Nations [UN] suggestion
                         -PRC and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
                               -Membership in UN Security Council
                         -Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
                                    40

                NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. 7/07)



     -Democrats
           -Mood of nation
                  -Misleading
                       -Polls
     -The President's policies
           -Disregard of summit and election
           -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
           -Leonard Garment
-Peace
     -Superpowers
           -US motives
     -US deliberation
           -Stewart J.O. Alsop
-Rogers and Laird
     -Support for the President
           -Reevaluation
                  -The President’s relationship with Rogers
                  -New York Times article [?]
     -Call from Colson
-Cabinet
     -The President's calls
     -Dwight D. Eisenhower
           -Charles E. Wilson
           -Conversation with the President
                  -John Hannibal
                  -Eisenhower
     -Rogers
           -Initiative
     -Polls
           -Albert E. Sindlinger
                  -Hawkishness
                       -Increase
-North Vietnamese offensive
     -Condemnation
           -Senate
                  -Accusations against Senate
                       -Clifford P. Case, Jacob K. Javits and J. William Fulbright
           -Use of rhetoric
           -Anticommunism
     -The President’s instructions to Colson
           -The President's speeches
                  -Kissinger
                                           41

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. 7/07)



                    -Need for strong talk
                         -William J. Porter
                                -Rogers
              -Press
                    -Hostility for administration
                    -Counter-rhetoric
                         -Name calling and toughness
                                -Speechwriters
                                     -Price and Lee W. Huebner
                                     -Buchanan
                                     -Kenneth L. Khachigian
                                           -Hawks
                                     -Noel Cook
                                           -Robert J. Dole
                                     -Clawson
         -Rogers
              -Testimony
                    -Reception
              -Table tennis match attendance with Tricia Nixon Cox
                    -Reception
                         -Television coverage

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 57s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11

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

    Vietnam
         -The President's supporters
              -Joseph L. Vicites [?] of Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]
                    -Statement
                          -Herbert R. (“Chief”) Rainwater
                          -Charge against Democrats
                               -Desire for US loss
         -North Vietnamese offensive
              -Resolution by Goldwater
                                            42

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                    Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 7/07)



                    -Appeal for Democrats' support
              -House Resolution [HR]
                    -Condemnation of North Vietnam
                    -Support for the President
                    -Wording
                          -Kennedy and McGovern
                                 -Entrapment
                                       -Language
         -The President's critics
              -Attacks by administration
              -Condemnation
              -Ads
              -Draft with Colson
              -Networks
                    -Harassment
                          -Cronkite
              -Attacks by administration
                    -Human Events
                          -William F. Buckley, Jr.
                    -Goldwater
                          -Use of White House materials
                                 -Support for the President
         -Public sentiment
              -Sindlinger poll
                    -Sindlinger's attitude on foreign policy
                          -Hawkishness
                    -North Vietnamese invasion
              -Sympathy for the President
                    -The President's peace offers and conditions
                          -North Vietnamese violations
              -Sindlinger poll
                    -Public anger at North Vietnam
                          -Percentage


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 29s ]
                                              43

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 7/07)



END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12

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


    Vietnam
         -North Vietnamese invasion
              -Critics of the President
                    -Reticence
                    -Administration response
                    -Kennedy
                    -Public opinion
                           -Hostility
                           -Sindlinger
                                 -Timing of new poll
                    -Attacks by administration
                           -Newsweek
                                 -Public support for the President
                    -[Arnold] Eric Severeid
                           -Statement on the news
         -Public opinion
              -Support for the President
                    -Press hostility and fears
                    -Cambodia invasion
                    -Media reports
              -War as issue
                    -Lessening personal involvement
                           -Draft calls and casualties
              -Cambodia
                    -Kent State University
              -Laos
                    -Photojournalism
              -North Vietnamese invasion
                    -South Vietnamese performance
                           -Press reports and photography
                                 -Battlefield proficiency
                    -North Vietnamese soldiers
                           -Enchainment to seats of tanks
                                 -Julie Nixon Eisenhower's report to the President
                                       -Unknown Associated Press [AP] reporter
                                 -Press reports
                                 -Purpose
                                         44

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 7/07)



                           -Casualties

International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] case
      -Latest news
      -Peter M. Flanigan letter
            -Executive session
            -Disputes in committee
                  -Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.
            -Reaction of Kennedy and John V. Tunney
                  -Lack of agreement
                       -White House staff testimony
                             -Herbert G. Klein, William E. Timmons, John D. Ehrlichman
                             and Colson
            -Republican position in committee
                  -John N. Mitchell
                  -Advantages
                  -Ervin
                  -Robert C. Mardian
                  -Edward J. Gurney, Roman L. Hruska and Marlow W. Cook
                       -Statement
                             -Kennedy
            -Democrats
                  -Questions
                       -Armco Steel
                       -American Airlines
                       -DC subway lines
                       -Richard G. Kleindienst
                  -Disadvantages of position
                  -Ervin's position
                       -Flanigan
                       -Opposition to Kennedy and Tunney
                       -Clark MacGregor
      -Testimony
            -Jack Gleason
                  -Hugo L. Black memorial service
            -Harry D. Steward
                  -C. Arnholt Smith
                       -Recommendations for job of San Diego US attorney
                  -Background
                       -Link with Robert H. Finch
            -Gleason
                  -Delays
                                              45

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 7/07)



                      -Flanigan
                      -Departure from town
                -Latest options
                      -Delays
           -Senate debate
                -Timing
                -Maneuvering
                -Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
                -MacGregor
                      -Contacts with committee
           -Flanigan testimony
                -Benefits for administration


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 18m 50s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13

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


     War issue
          -Appeals to patriotism
               -Rogers

Haldeman and Colson left at 1:46 pm.