Conversation No. 806-9

Date: October 24, 1972
Time: 11:15 am - 11:45 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger and Fritz G.A. Kraemer; the White House
photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

        Introduction

        [Photograph session]

        Intellectual interpretation of world events
             -Doves
             -Totalitarianism
                  -Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China [PRC]

        Sacrifice

        Kraemer
            -Analysis of administration activities
                -Kissinger’s effort bringing to President’s attention
            -Background
                -Nicholas P. Thimmesch’s article
                    -Thimmesch’s conversation with Kraemer
                    -Baltimore Sun
                    -Tone
                -Farm work in Maine
                -Commission in infantry
                -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
            -Power

        World affairs
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             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                             Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Nov-03)


    -Change
    -Intentions of Communists
         -Soviet Union, PRC
    -Nikolai A. Podgorny, Leonid I. Brezhnev, Aleksei N. Kosygin
         -Bureaucracy
         -Compared to Nikita S. Khrushchev, Josef V. Stalin
         -Risk
             -Egypt
             -Confrontation
    -PRC
         -Mao Tse-tung
             -Kraemer’s efforts in 1965
    -Perception

Vietnam
    -Technical cables
        -Central Office of South Vietnam [COSVN] instruction
        -Cease-fire
             -National Liberation Front [NLF] flag display in Government of South
              Vietnam [GVN] areas
                  -Viet Cong [VC] view
                       -North Vietnam intentions
    -Cease-fire
        -Timing of announcement and implementation
             -North Vietnamese actions
                  -Twelve hours
                  -First two days
        -International supervision
             -Timing of arrival
    -1972 election
        -Settlement
             -Timing
        -Deadline
             -Concessions
        -North Vietnamese reaction
             -View of the President
        -US strategy
             -US demands
                  -North Vietnamese prisoners in South Vietnamese jails issue
    -Cease-fire
        -North Vietnamese stance
                                 30
         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                         Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. Nov-03)


         -Military situation
               -Bombing
               -Mining
               -Attrition
               -B-52s, carriers
               -Results
                    -Mao’s writings on retreat
                    -November 7, 1972 deadline
    -US negotiating position
         -Prior to October 8, 1972
         -Post -October 8, 1972
               -US demands
                    -Cambodia
                         -North Vietnamese position
                             -PRC
                    -Laos
                         -Commission
    -Souvanna Phouma
         -Quoted in French
-US position
    -Critics
         -Demonstrators
         -Establishment
         -Journalists
         -Professors
         -Ministers
         -Businessmen
    -Supporters
         -Intellectual backgrounds similar to Kraemer and Kissinger
         -Workers
         -Ethnics, Farmers, Southerners
         -Washington, DC
    -Quality of settlement
         -War dead
         -Effect on US foreign policy
         -Thieu
               -Effect on US stance
    -Success of settlement
         -Time frame
-Effect of failure of settlement on US foreign relations
    -US-North Vietnam relations
                                     31
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Nov-03)


            -Questions of other nations
            -Soviet Union, PRC
            -Conclusions
                 -Rio de Janeiro to Copenhagen, Hanoi to Moscow
            -Political compared to diplomatic options
    -Reasons for Vietnam War
        -Berlin
        -South Vietnam
        -Cuba
        -Psychological factors
            -French Foreign Legion
                 -Discipline
                      -Prince [Aage] of Denmark
            -Discipline of North Vietnamese forces
                 -Thieu
    -South Vietnam’s military
        -Kissinger’s meetings with regional intelligence officers
            -Directives compared to execution
                 -Example
                      -Unknown place
                           -Cease-fire
        -Gen. Duong Van Minh
            -Sapper squads

Kissinger’s analysis
    -Kissinger
    -The President’s outlook

Kissinger and Kraemer
    -Intellectual background
    -Intelligence Quotient [IQ]
         -Character quotient
              -Harvard University, Yale University
    -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
         -Promotions
              -Army
              -Support from field grade officers
                   -David Landau quote of Kraemer on brilliance [for Kissinger: The
                  Uses of Power]
                       -Landau
                           -Harvard
                                              32
                       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. Nov-03)



         Presentation of gifts
             -Cuff links
                  -Presidential seal
             -Kraemer's son [Sven]

Kissinger and Kraemer left at 11:45 am.