Conversation: 845-012
Prev: 845-011 Next: 845-013Start Date: 31-Jan-1973 4:52 PM
End Date: 31-Jan-1973 6:13 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Connally, John B.;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On January 31, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:52 pm and 6:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 845-012 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 845-12
Date: January 31, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:52 and 6:13 pm.
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Stephen B. Bull.
The President's schedule
-Arrangements for dinner
-Eisaku Sato
-Toast
-Reception
Bull left at an unknown time before 6:13 pm.
John B. Connally entered at an unknown time after 4:52 pm.
Charles Bluhdorn
-Gulf and Western
-Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company
-Acquisition
-Hartford Foundation
-Huntington Hartford
-Possible injunction by the Justice Department
-[First name not known] Crawford
-Father,
-Dean of Law School, University of Michigan
-Richard Easton
-Father
Dean of Law School,
University of Texas
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
International trade
-Congressional relations
-Carl Albert
-Domestic considerations
-Lyndon B. Johnson years
-Foreign affairs
-The President’s accomplishments
-Possible priority for the President
-Financial situation
-Stability of the dollar
-European markets
Japan
-Trade surplus
Canada
-Trade surplus
Issues
-John F. Kennedy
-Trade, energy
Energy
-US companies
-Japan
-Great Britain
-Eric William
-British Petroleum
-Conversation with Connally
-Capability, technology
-Crude oil
-International considerations
-Government involvement
-Domestic economic considerations
-Europe
-Moral decay
-Japan
-Domestic economic considerations
-Moral problem of US
-New Left
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Intellectual leadership
-Great Britain
-France
-Europe
-Character
-Will to resist
-Soviet Union
-Peoples’ Republic of China [PRC]
-Soviet Union
-Armament
-Character
Trade
-Kennedy round of General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs [GATT]
-Possible protectionist considerations
-Japan
-Export of radios
-Import restrictions
-Canada
-Edward R.G. Heath
-Monetary concerns
-Deficits
-Dollar
-The President’s possible initiatives
-Congress
Energy
-Heating
-Oil companies
-Scapegoats
-Federal Power Commission
-Dwight D. Eisenhower’s policy
-George P. Shultz
-Secretary of Labor
-Task force on oil imports
-Independent oil companies
-Canada
-Opposition to protectionism
-Wage and price controls
-Richard M. Helms
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-James M. Schlesinger
-Ambassador to Iran
-Regional responsibilities
-Other ambassadors
-Oil
-Principalities
-Saudi Arabia
-Expertise
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National security]
[Duration: 7s ]
[MIDDLE EAST POLICY]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
*****************************************************************
-Regional responsibilities
-Iran to Algeria
-Travel
-Meeting with Connally
-Other ambassadors
-Experience
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Oil companies
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
[National security]
[Duration: 11s ]
[IRAN]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
*****************************************************************
-Connally’s role
-Intermediary with oil companies
-Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger
-President's schedule
-San Clemente meeting
-Shultz, Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Israel
-Ehrlichman
-Domestic Council
-Shultz
-Kissinger
-Schedule
-Vietnam settlement
-Soviet Union, PRC
-North Vietnam
-South Vietnam
-The President's schedule
-California
Soviet Union
-Col. Richard T. Kennedy
-Trade agreement
-Connally’s schedule
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Foreign policy implications
-Kissinger
-PRC
-US needs
-Kissinger
-PRC, Japan
-Dobrynin
-26-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Kissinger’s schedule
Helms
-Meeting with Connally
-Loyalty
-Responsibilities as ambassador
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National security]
[Duration: 21s ]
[MIDDLE EAST POLICY]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
-Toughness, honor, experience
-State Department
-Compared to businessmen
-Saudi Arabia
-Oil
-Experience
-CIA
-Analysis
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
[National security]
[Duration: 15s ]
[HELMS]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
*****************************************************************
-27-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Strength
-Kissinger
-President’s letter
-CIA
-Departure
-Staff rotation
-Responsibilities as ambassador
-Meeting with Connally
-Breadth
-Oil companies
Connally
-Esso
-General Counsel
-Standard Oil of New Jersey
-John ("Ken") Jameson
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Schedule
-Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson
-Meeting with the President
-Energy
-The President’s meeting with Congressional leaders
-Work with oil companies
-Senate
-Vincent de Roulet
-Ambassador to Jamaica
-Patriotism
-Richard S. Reynolds, Jr.
-Possible future appointments
-Europe
-Great Britain
-Walter H. Annenberg
-France
-John N. Irwin, II
-Germany
-Italy
-John A. Volpe
-State Department
-Possible confirmation
-J. William Fulbright
-28-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-DeRoulet
Connally’s meeting with [Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia] Malik Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz al-
Saud
-Letter
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Israel
-[Fahd, King of Saudi Arabia] Fahn bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
-Communism
-Zionism
-Visit with Fahd
-Friendship with US
-Arab leaders
-Israel
Press relations
-TV morning show
-Charles W. Colson, Haldeman, Kissinger
-Vietnam settlement
-Claudia A. (“Lady Bird”) Johnson
-White House Press Office
-Conversation between President and Lyndon Johnson
-Health
-Vietnam negotiations
-Bombing
-Kissinger
-Schedule
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Kissinger
-Aid cut off
-The President's instructions to Haldeman
-Lyndon Johnson
-Bombing in Vietnam
-Kissinger
-Lyndon Johnson’s knowledge
*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Politics
-William D. Ruckelshaus
-John B. Connally
-1976 Republican Nomination
-Jules Witcover
-Peter Lisagor
-The President’s support
-1974 Congressional elections
-Vietnam settlement
-Voter registration
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Connally’s party status
-Agnew
-Possibility of Nomination
-Electability
-Rockefeller
-Possibility of nomination
-Age
-Ronald W. Reagan
-Melvin R. Laird
-Charles H. Percy
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************
Vietnam
-The President's conversation with Eisaku Sato
-Opposition to President
-Compared to Lyndon Johnson
-Press relations
-Intellectuals
-Demonstrations
-Kakuei Tanaka
-US reliability as an ally
-South Vietnam
-Japan
-Great Britain
-France
-30-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy
-Possibility of earlier settlement
-South Vietnam
-Communist government
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Communist victory
-Tanaka
-Gough Whitlam
-Australian Prime Minister
-Heath
-Europe
-Japan
-Soviet Union, PRC
-Leadership of free world
Politics
-1976 Presidential election
-Possibility of a liberal democrat
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Walter F. Mondale
-Economic implications
-National security
-PRC, Soviet Union
-Europe
-US alliance
*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
-Connally’s future
-The President’s conversations with Haldeman, Colson
-Kissinger
-Rockefeller
-Connally’s conversations with associates
-George Christian
-Larry Temple
-Connally’s political affiliation
-Democrat Party
-Republican Party
-31-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 845-12 (cont’d)
-Connally’s conversation with Richard G. Kleindienst
-Colson
-Possible announcement of party change
-“Today Show”
-Possibility of Connally’s changing parties
-Timing
-Lyndon Johnson’s death
-Texas
[End of segment reviewed under deed of gift.]
*****************************************************************
Lyndon Johnson's death
-The President's speech on Vietnam settlement
-The President's presence at funeral services
-Claudia A. (“Lady Bird”) Johnson
*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift.]
Politics
-Colson
-Connally’s future
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift.]
*****************************************************************
Connally left at 6:13 pm.