Conversation: 780-007
Prev: 780-006 Next: 780-008Start Date: 16-Sep-1972 9:26 AM
End Date: 16-Sep-1972 10:20 AM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Colson, Charles W.; Bull, Stephen B.; Kissinger, Henry A.; [Unknown person(s)]; Butterfield, Alexander P.; Ziegler, Ronald L.;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On September 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Alexander P. Butterfield, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:26 am to 10:20 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 780-007 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 780-7
Date: September 16, 1972
Time: 9:26 am - 10:20 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
The President talked with Charles W. Colson between 9:26 am and 9:27 am.
[Conversation No. 780-7A]
Washington Post article
-National Archives
Indictment of White House aide
-Harry S. Truman aide
-Jail term
-Harry H. Vaughan
-Missouri
-Mathew J. Connelly
-Press secretary
-Jail term
-Research
-Kennneth W. Clawson
-Lyndon B. Johnson aide
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Walter W. Jenkins
The President's schedule
-Kissinger
[End of telephone conversation]
Washington Post article
-Colson
-The President’s view
-Media coverage
-National Archives
Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:27 am.
The President's schedule
-Kissinger meeting
-Haldeman
Bull left at an unknown time before 9:46 am.
Kissinger
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 10s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
*****************************************************************
Kissinger's trip
-Previous meeting with the President
-Kissinger's schedule
-Talks with Le Duc Tho
-Talks with Leonid I. Brezhnev
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Talks with Georges J.R. Pompidou
-Talks with Edward R.G. Heath
-Talks with Willy Brandt
-Comparison to the President
-Negotiations
-Kissinger's meeting with William P. Rogers
-Kissinger's negotiating results
-The President’s view
-Importance of press briefing
-Peter G. Peterson
-Government agencies
-The President’s re-election
-State Department
-Commerce Department
Possible leaks
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Dan Rather’s story
-Kissinger
-Leaked documents
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Blockade
-Effectiveness
-Tonnage shipped into Vietnam
-David R. Young, Jr.
-The President’s instructions
-Richard M. Helms
-Distribution of documents
-William H. Rehnquist
-Document distribution
-Distribution of documents
-Kissinger, Haig
-Personal action
-Young
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] investigation
White House personnel
-John W. Dean, III
-John D. Ehrlichman
-The President’s view
-Lawrence F. O'Brien, Jr.
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Ehrlichman
-O’Brien
-The President’s view
-Dean
-The President’s view
-Differences between Dean and Ehrlichman
-Haldeman’s view
-Ehrlichman
-Firing of personnel
-Walter J. Hickel
-President’s view
-Dean
-Haldeman’s view
-Image
-Social relations
-Rock music
-Discotheques
-Hollywood
-Kissinger
-The President’s view
-Judgement of people
-Haldeman’s view
-Frank C. Carlucci
-The President’s view
-Compared to Robert Stripling, House Un-American Activities Committee
[HUAC] investigator
-The President’s view
-Actions
-Second term
-Dean
-Fredric V. Malek
-Colson
-Carlucci
-Haldeman’s view
-White House personnel
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Ehrlichman
-Staff actions
-Ziegler
-Performance as press secretary
-The President’s view
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-George E. Christian
-John B. Connally
-Aid to the President
-Writing ability
-Foreign policy speech
-Style
-White House speech writers
-The President’s view
-Working relations
-Haldeman’s view
-Speech style
-The President's style
-Compared to Connally
-White House speech writers
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-The President’s view
-Dean
-Second term plans
-Cleanup period
-Schedule
-Vacancies
-Cuts
-Changes in personnel
-White House staff cuts
-Jobs outside administration
-Promotions
-Departmental jobs
-H. Dale Grubb
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
-Haldeman aide
-Study of agencies
-Appointments by the President and Cabinet officers
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Changes
-Cutbacks
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Role
-Reduction-in-force [RIF]
-State Department
-Congressional relations
-Revision in philosophy
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Effect of 1972 election victory margin
-White House Congressional liaison
-Cutback
-Attitude
-Johnson years
-Bryce Harlow
-Edward C. Nixon
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 29s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
*****************************************************************
-Edward Nixon
-Protocol office
-East wing
-Capabilities
-Relations with public
-Possible role
-Relations with business groups
-Teachers
-Roger E. Johnson
-Capabilities
-Relations with people
-Image as the President's friend
Watergate
-Media coverage
-Television report
-Interview of Cubans
-Communist conspiracy
-Democratic Party
-George S. McGovern
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
Henry Kissinger entered at 9:46 am.
Greetings
US-Soviet Union relations
-Timing of announcements
-Haig
-Rogers’s reaction to negotiations
-US-Soviet Union trade agreement
-Kissinger’s meeting with Roger’s
-October 1972
-Normal diplomatic routes
-European Security Conference
-Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions [MFBR]
-Agreement date
-Rogers
-Meetings with foreign ministers
-Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT]
-Diplomatic channels
-Announcement
-State Department prepatory work
-Rogers’s reaction
-European Security Conference
-MBFR
-SALT II
-Trade agreement
-Haldeman’s view
-SALT
-Ceremony
-Andrei A. Gromyko
-Meeting with Kissinger
-Timing
-Publicity
-Leonid I. Brezhnev meeting with the President
-SALT ceremony
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Gromyko
-Trip to Camp David
-Dinner arrangements
-New facilities
-Message to Brezhnev
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Press reaction
-White House meeting
-Rogers
-US embassy in Moscow
-Personnel
-Dinner arrangements
-Timing of announcements
-SALT
-US-Soviet Union trade agreement
-Announcement date
-Haldeman’s view
-Legal discussions
-US-Soviet Union Trade Agreement
-Rogers
-Reaction to breakthrough
-Scope of agreement
-Kissinger’s view
-Monetary figures
-Trade center in Moscow
-Facilities
-International arbitration
-Announcement
-Businessmen conference
-Donald McI. Kendall
-Peter G. Peterson’s role
-Armand Hammer
-Komitet Gossudarstvennoi Bezopastnosti [KGB] allegation
-Support for President’s policy
-Pre-notification concerns
-Haldeman’s view
-Grain sale to Soviet Union
-Problems
-Soviet Union actions
-Public perception
-Grain dealers
-Profit
-Earl L. Butz
-Retroactive policy
-US Business in the Soviet Union
-Arbitration
-Soviet courts
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Timing of announcements
-Maritime agreement
-European security conference
-SALT II
-Announcement
-Trade agreement
-Media coverage
-Soviet view
-Options
-European security conference and MBFR
-Rogers
-Soviet negotiating style
-The President’s schedule
-SALT II
-East Germany/West Germany treaty
-Berlin
-Impact on US
-Brezhnev message to the President
-Lin Piao
-Airplane crash
-Possible bomb
-Photographs
-Dental and medical work in the Soviet Union
-Brezhnev gift to the President
-Tray
-State flags
-Semi-precious stones
-Pictures of presidents
-George Washington
-Abraham Lincoln
-The President
-White House gift
-Tray with state flags
-The President’s gift to Brezhnev
-Coins
-Presidential flag
-Brezhnev
-Relations with the President
-Kissinger’s view
-Minister for Shipping
-Maritime agreement
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Timetable for conclusion
-Visit to Camp David
-Laurel lodge
-Possible May 1973 arrival
1972 election
-Pompidou
-French television
-Comments on Vietnam War
-1972 Presidential election
-Abram Chayes
-England
-Edward R.G. Heath
-Reports
-Pompidou
-Chatham House meeting
-George S. McGovern position
-Left-wing Labor Party
-Reaction
-Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
-European relations with US
-Approach
-Meeting with the President after 1972 election
Kissinger’s press forthcoming conference
-1972 accomplishments
-Relations between great powers
-World peace
-US negotiations
-PRC and the Soviet Union
-Basis of relations
-Direct confrontation
-Cooperativeness
-Importance
-Meeting with Japanese
-Latin American
-Africa
-Messages from the President
-Paris Herald-Tribune editorial
-Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
-The President’s initiative
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Announcements
-White House initiative
Haldeman left at 10:00 am.
-Trade agreement negotiations
-Peterson’s efforts
-Dealing with other powers
-Efforts at highest level
-Second-level negotiations
-Kissinger’s effectiveness
-Qualities
-Kissinger’s role
-Relationship to the President
-Trade ministers
-PRC
-Chou En-Lai
-US current relations
-Chou En-Lai
-Brezhnev
-Pompidou
-Heath
-Brandt
-Attitude towards US
-Television appearance with Kissinger
-The President’s policies
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Haircut
-Negotiations
-Timetable of breakthroughs
-Kissinger’s wording
-The President’s suggestions
-The President’s review of progress
-Lend-lease
-SALT
-MBFR
-Brezhnev and the President’s previous summer in Moscow
-Communique
-Kissinger’s meeting with Brezhnev
-Interchange of messages
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-State Department
-Presidential level talks
-Details
-Issues
-Trade agreement
-Brezhnev
-Soviet Jewish emigration
-Lend-lease
-Monetary figures
-Timetable for payments by Soviets
-Five-year plan
-1976
-Commodity credit corporation credit [CCC]
-Press relations
-Publicity
-Kissinger’s view
-Maritime agreement
-Most-favored nation status [MFN] for Soviet Union
Kissinger’s schedule
-Barber
Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
-US-Soviet Union relations
-Maritime agreement
-MFN
-Lend-lease agreement
-Trade center
-Negotiations
-The President’s communications with Brezhnev
-Kissinger’s communications with the President
-Cables
-Commercial channels
-MBFR
-Communiqué
-Haig
-Rogers
-Paris negotiations
-Proposals
-North Vietnamese proposal for public release
-International Control Commission [ICC]
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Possible leak
-Kissinger’s forthcoming negotiations
-Timing
-US domestic impact
Vietnam peace talks
-North Vietnam
-Possible settlement
-Kissinger’s views
-Concerns
-Motivations
-Meeting length
-Meeting length
-Le Duc Tho
-Ziegler’s briefing
-Timetable for negotiating
-The President’s trip to west coast
-News coverage
-Campaign finance dinner
-Timetable for negotiations
-News coverage
-The President’s view
-Ziegler
-Announcement
-North Vietnamese proposal
-Administration response
-McGovern
-Disclosure of peace talks
Photograph session
-Ziegler
Vietnam peace talks
-Settlement
Kissinger’s conversation with Le Duc Tho
An unknown woman entered at an unknown time after 10:00 am.
Photograph session
-Ziegler
-Timing
-Kissinger
20
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Haircut
The unknown woman left at an unknown time before 10:15 am.
Vietnam peace talks
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Le Duc Tho
-Administration’s interest
-Rogers
-North Vietnamese
-The President’s view
-Behavior in war
Vietnam
-Leak of blockade story
-Source
-CIA
-State Department
-Ray S. Cline
-State Department
-Background
-CIA
-Rogers
-Study
-Purpose
-Kissinger
Alexander P. Butterfield and Ziegler entered at 10:15 am.
Kissinger’s schedule
-Haircut
Butterfield left at 10:16 am.
Folders for Haig
Ziegler left at 10:18 am.
The President’s schedule
-Trip to New York
-Invitation to Kissinger
21
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)
-Camp David
Kissinger meeting with Peterson
-Peterson’s role
Vietnam peace talks
-North Vietnamese position
-Perception of US in negotiations
-Bombing of North Vietnam
-The President’s view
-Sorties
-Kissinger’s view
-October, November 1972
-Effects of blockade on North Vietnam
-CIA study
-Oil
-Railways
-Bombing
-North Vietnam
-The President’s re-election
-Louis P. Harris poll
-Bombing
-Mining
-Communist government in [South Vietnam]
Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 10:18 am.
The President's schedule
-Papers
The President, Kissinger and Ziegler left at 10:20 am.