Conversation: 714-004
Prev: 714-003 Next: 714-005Start Date: 20-Apr-1972 9:38 AM
End Date: 20-Apr-1972 11:06 AM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Connally, John B.; [Unknown person(s)]; Bull, Stephen B.;Recording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:59:48
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:26:40
NARA Description:
On April 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:38 am to 11:06 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 714-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 714-4
Date: April 20, 1972
Time: 9:38 am - 11:06 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with John B. Connally.
Greetings
Vietnam
-Bombing
Connally’s schedule
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
Vietnam
-Hanoi and Haiphong
-Military activity
-Surface to air missiles [SAMs]
-Targets
-US air strikes
-Capitol Hill reaction
-Public reaction
-Professors
-Congress
-Reaction
-John C. Stennis
-Criticism of administration
-Problems
-Compared with Korean War in pre-1950 election period
-Democrats
-James F. Byrnes
-Henry A. Wallace
-Helen Gahagan Douglas
-William E. Jenner
-Democratic doves
-Condemnation of US
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Double standard
-Connally's speech
-Criticism of the President's critics
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Early support of the war
-Public attitudes
-Opposition to defeat and humiliation
-Connally's speech
-Troop withdrawals
-Support for Vietnamization
-Response
-American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE]
-Location of meeting
-Response
-Duration
-Questions
Connally
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Previous discussions
-Future plans
-Problems
-Role in Cabinet
-Economic policy formulation
-International trade policy
-Departure
-Public perceptions
-Politics
-President’s trip to Moscow
-Timing
-Circumstances
-Role in administration
-Advice
-Tax reform
-Fall elections
-Temporary stay in Washington
-Future plans
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Tenure as Secretary of the Treasury
-Conflicts with White House staff
-Departure
-Circumstances
-Handling
-Public explanation
-State of economy
-Inflation
-Accomplishments
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Pay Board
-Price Commission
-Cost of Living Council [COLC]
-International economy
-Explanation of departure
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 12m 20s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
Treasury Department
-Connally's successor
-Haldeman
-George P. Shultz
-Charls E. Walker
-Paul A. Volcker
-Qualifications
-Relation with Arthur F. Burns
-Shultz
-Knowledge
-International monetary policy
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Possible promotion
-Haldeman
-Shultz
-Work with staff and economic councils
-Council of Economic Advisors [CEA], COLC, Pay Board, Price
Commission
-Relation with State Department
-Compared with David M. Kennedy
-Stamina
-Intelligence
-Announcement
-Handling by the President
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Statements by the President and Connally
-Presentation of Shultz and Weinberger
-Connally's tenure
-Successes
-Connally's departure
-Effect
-Texas
Connally
-Departure
-Circumstances
-Treasury Department tenure
-Personal sacrifices
-Family commitments
-Accomplishments
-Future assignments
-Speculation
-Advisory capacity
-Proper role
-Personal plans
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 48s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
*****************************************************************
Economy
-Connally’s projections
-International monetary
-Japanese, US and Canadian elections
-Europe
-Great Britain
-Common Market
-Policies for 1972
-Connally’s role
-Problems
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Shultz’s role
-International agreements
-Compared to Connally
-August 1971
-Unknown person’s comment to the President
-Domestic economy
-Major problem
-Spending limits
-Shultz's memorandum
-Budget
-Effect of 1972 election
-Cuts
-Family Assistance Plan [FAP]
-Welfare
-Revenue-sharing
-Defense
-Soviet summit
-Bases
-Melvin R. Laird
-Air Force
-Missiles
-Vietnam
-Navy
-Size
-Missiles
-Education
-Higher education
-Agriculture
-Austerity
-1972 election
-Impact
-Washington Post and New York Times assessments on Gross National Product
[GNP]
-Distortions
-GNP
-Wholesale Price Index [WPI]
-Changes
-Consumer Price Index [CPI] impact
-Corporate profits
-Dr. C. Jackson (“Dan”) Grayson, Jr.
-Price increases
-Mechanism of control
-Projected boom
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Employment
-Increase
-US plants abroad
-Closures
-Automobiles
-Expansion
-Fall 1972
-Problems
-Tax reform
-John D. Ehrlichman's meeting with Connally
-Simplification
-Timing of position
-Property taxes
-Substitute for revenue-sharing
-Revenue-sharing
-New American Revolution
-Political appeal
-Termination
-Welfare reform
-FAP
-The President’s family
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 48s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
*****************************************************************
-Current attitudes toward welfare
-Depression
-Able bodied workers
-Family assistance
-Russell B. Long
-National character
-Budget
-Cuts
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Timing
-Weinberger's suggestions
-Difficulties
Cabinet
-Shake-up
-Retentions
-Changes
-State Department
-Defense Department
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-George W. Romney
-John A. Volpe
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-Administrative abilities
-James D. Hodgson
-Peter G. Peterson
-Political views
-Make-up
-Loyalists
-Richardson
-Defense and State departments
-Changes
-Foreign economic policy
-State Department
The President’s recent trip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
Vietnam
-Soviet summit
-Impact of bombing Hanoi and Haiphong
-Joseph C. Kraft
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin meetings
-William P. Rogers
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Hot line
-Soviets
-Role in ending war
-John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, W[illiam] Averell Harriman
-Leonid I. Brezhnev’s message to the President
-Blockade of ships
-US response to Soviets
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Bombing
-Avoidance of Haiphong and Hanoi
-Laird
-Possible blockade
-Message from Brezhnev
-Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
-Secrecy
-Camp David cover story
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 9:38 am.
-Departure time
-Meeting with Brezhnev
-Publicity
-Return to US
-The President’s trip to Moscow
-Announcement
-Summit
-Link to war
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 11:06 am.
-Conditions of the President’s attendance
-Soviet aid to North Vietnam
-Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
-Announcement
-Possible effect on “doves”
-The President’s memorandum to Kissinger
-Talking points
-Soviet actions
-US options
-Blockade
-Protests at home
-Conditions for ending
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-North Vietnamese and Soviet judgment of the President
-Johnson
-Consequences of US defeat
-Middle East
-Johnson’s actions
-Compared to the President’s
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Bombing of North Vietnam, Hanoi and Haiphong
20
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
-Kissinger
-Political consequences
-1972 election
-Possible defeat
-US foreign policy
-Public support for the President’s successor
-Public opinion
-Support for the President
-Soviet summit
-President’s trip to the PRC
-Korean War
-Kraft
-Political benefits
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Possible defeat in 1972 election
-Consequences
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 18m 58s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
*****************************************************************
Presidency
-Requirements
-World War II
-Compared with Vietnam
-Kissinger
-Sorties
-Contacts with Soviet Union
-Brezhnev
-Contacts with PRC
-Chou En-lai
-Mao Tse-tung
-Need for strength
21
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 4m 58s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
*****************************************************************
Vietnam
-Blockade of Haiphong
-POWs
-Summit
-Announcement
-POW issue
-Election
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:38 am.
The President's schedule
-Meeting in Cabinet Room
-Catholic leaders
-Connally's attendance
-Clarence Walton's delivery of a report
-Size of group
Bull left at an unknown time before 11:06 am.
Connally's plans
-Conversations with Shultz and William F. (“Billy”) Graham
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 22s ]
22
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 12
*****************************************************************
Connally left at 11:06 am.