Conversation No. 806-2

Date: October 23-24, 1972
Time: 11:35 pm - 12:05 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

        Kissinger’s schedule
            -Recent trip
                -Ronald L. Ziegler’s forthcoming briefing
                -Briefing of William P. Rogers

        Vietnam negotiations
            -Settlement
                 -Kissinger's view
                 -Terms
                            4
    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                    Tape Subject Log
                      (rev. Nov-03)


    - [International Commission of Control and Supervision] [ICCS]
         -International conference
    -Prisoner agreement
    -Military aid
         -Replacement provision
    -Cambodia
         -Lon Nol’s reaction
    -Laos
    -Nguyen Van Thieu resignation
-Agreement compared with the President's May 8, 1972 statement
    -Guarantees
    -Replacement provision
-Kissinger’s view
-Thieu
    -US options
         -Possible overthrow
    -Role
         -US losses
    -Treatment of Ellsworth F. Bunker
         -Delays in meeting
         -Kissinger’s schedule
              -[Hoang Duc Nha]
         -Thieu's claim
              -US staff in Vietnam
                   Haig’s role
    -Timing of settlement
         -Army deployment
         -Province chiefs
         -Cease-fire
         -1972 election
         -Possible bilateral action
              -Thieu’s prospects
         -New York trip
              -Nelson A. Rockefeller
                   -Kissinger’s forthcoming telephone call
                   -Lyndon B. Johnson
                   -Polls
                       -New York Daily News
-George S. McGovern
    -Thieu
-Concluding the settlement
                           5
    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                   Tape Subject Log
                     (rev. Nov-03)


    -Delay
    -Kissinger’s recent telephone conversation with Dobrynin
         -The President’s possible conflict with Hanoi or Saigon
              -Choice
    -Strategy
         -Saigon
              -1972 election
    -Changes recommended by South Vietnam
         -Substance
         - [National Council of National Reconciliation and Concord]
              -Coalition government claim
                  -Pham Van Dong interview with Arnaud de Borschgrave
    -McGovern
    -Delay
    -Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting
    -Concessions
         -Prisoners
    -Possible publicity
         -Response
              -Fine points
              -North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
              -Coalition government
                  -1972 election
-Rogers
    -State Department
         -Possible leaks
              -Thieu
                  -U. Alexis Johnson
                  -William H. Sullivan
                       -Future
-Kissinger’s possible background briefing
    -The President’s recent statement
         -“Peace with Honor”
    -Leaks
         -Ziegler
         -Settlement
         -1972 election
         -Successful conclusion
         -Issues settled
    -Timing of Announcement
-Rogers
                            6
    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                   Tape Subject Log
                     (rev. Nov-03)


    -Hanoi
        -Kissinger’s schedule
    -Commitment
-Thieu
    -Accepting agreement
    -Possible meeting with the President
        -Timing and purpose
    -Details of recognition provisions
        -Recognition of Vietcong [VG]
-Agreement’s political provisions
    -Kissinger’s forthcoming background briefing
        -Coalition government
    -Elections
        -Self-determination
        -Negotiations between two South Vietnamese parties
    -Thieu's position
        -Cease-fire
        -US commitment
    -Vietnamese desire for peace
        -US Army
    -North Vietnamese
        -Gen. Creighton W. Abrams's, Jr.’s view
-Support for agreement
        -Abrams
    -Kissinger’s conversation with Gen. Fredrick C. Weyand and Bunker
    -Sullivan
        -Souvanna Phouma
    -Souvanna Phouma
        -The President’s schedule
        -Compared to Thieu
        -View
              -Report from Bangkok
    -Lon Nol
        -North Vietnam concessions on Cambodia
              -Haig telegram
                  -Gratitude to the President
    -Thieu
        -Kissinger’s return from Phnom Penh
        -Claims
              -People’s Republic of China [PRC] and Soviet Union
              -Cable
                                     7
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. Nov-03)


                      -Kissinger’s staff, Haig
                      -US press
                      -Secrecy pledge
                           -Meetings with province chiefs and military commanders
                                -Cease-fire
        -Possible South Vietnamese collapse
            -1972 election
                 -The President’s possible meeting with Thieu
            -Pace
                 -Saigon area
                      -North Vietnamese forces
                           -Gen. Duong Van Minh’s view and efforts
        -Bombing
            -Extent
                 -20th parallel
                      -Irony
                           -Saigon
            -Negotiation card
        -Timing
            -End of November 1972
        -Changes recommended by South Vietnam
            -Feasibility

The President’s schedule
    -Clock
    -Kissinger’s schedule
    -Bill signings
    -October 24, 1972 meeting
         -Photographic session
              -Expectations

Bunker
   -Tenure
       -Thieu

Thieu
    -US strategy
    -Kissinger's view
        -Emissary
        -Bunker
                                               8
                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Nov-03)


        Kissinger’s schedule
            -Recent conversation with Dobrynin
                -Settlement
                     -Saigon

The President, Kissinger and Haig left at 12:05 am.