Conversation: 852-007
Prev: 852-006 Next: 852-008Start Date: 7-Feb-1973 10:23 AM
End Date: 7-Feb-1973 12:21 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ehrlichman, John D.; [Unknown person(s)]; Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Sanchez, Manolo;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On February 7, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:23 am to 12:21 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 852-007 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 852-7
Date: February 7, 1973
Time: 10:23 am-12:21 pm
-8-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Henry A. Kissinger's departure
John C. Stennis's health
-Status
-Consciousness
-Hand-shaking
-President's visit
-President's conversation with Gen. Walter R. Tkach
-Stennis's chances of survival
-President's travel plans
-California, Florida
-Tkach's view of Stennis's prospects
-Upcoming report
Speeches
-Revisions
-Delay
-John D. Ehrlichman's view
-International monetary situation
-Devaluation
-Completion
-Television [TV]
-Devaluation
-Ehrlichman
-George P. Shultz
International monetary situation
-Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-Announcement of devaluation
-Use of TV
-Devaluation
-Japan
-Revaluation
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Percentage
-Negotiations
-Trade bill
-Shultz’s ability to announce
US economy
-Condition
Ehrlichman entered at 10:25 am.
Trade and monetary situation
-Negotiations
-Public impressions
-State of the Union economic message
-Shultz
-Cable to Kakuei Tanaka
-Paul A. Volcker
-Testimony
-Devaluation
-Trade message
-Wording
-Protecting American jobs, goods
-US competitiveness
-President’s Phase I speech, August 15, 1971
-President’s message to Congress
-Wording
-Amount of revisions
-Wilbur D. Mills
-Discussion of monetary problem
-Meeting with President
-Shultz
-Solutions
-Tax meeting
-Shultz
-Ehrlichman's briefing
Tax policy
-Treasury Department’s plan
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Criticisms
-William E. Simon
-Shultz
-Disappointment
-Treasury Department’s bureaucracy
-Lack of imagination
-Capital gains tax
-Changes
-Equitable rates
-Disadvantages for President and friends
-Anger
-Ehrlichman’s conversation with Russell B. Long
-Shultz
-Political implications
-Rich voters
-Long's views
-Importance of issue
-“Phony issue”
-Republican congressional leaders
-Compared to Barber P. Conable, Jr.
-Eradication of mortgage deductions
-Constituents
-Loopholes
-Parochial schools and elderly real estate taxes
-Long's views
-Political implications of issues
-Support for President
-Meeting with President
-Shultz
-Ehrlichman’s briefing
-President's meeting with Mills and Long
An unknown woman entered at an unknown time after 10:25 am.
Stephen B. Bull's location
President's schedule
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
The unknown woman left at an unknown time before 11:23 am.
President's schedule
-Radio address
-Long
Watergate resolution
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Amendments
-Delays
-Vote in Senate
-Filibuster
Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:25 am.
President's schedule
-Cabinet breakfast
-Radio address
-Meeting with E. D. Kenna
-Long
-Possible meeting
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-Meeting with President
-Senate confirmation
-Weinberger’s confirmation
-Swearing-in ceremony
-President’s departure
-Meeting with Long
-Telephone call from Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-Trade legislation
-Working of invitation
Bull left at an unknown time before 11:23 am.
President’s schedule
-Meeting with Long
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Shultz’s possible attendance
-Political discussions
-Subjects
-Welfare
-Energy
-Tax issues
-Delays in decisions
-President’s trip to California
-Shultz’s role
-Welfare, energy
-Cabinet
-C. B. Rogers Morton
-Position on loopholes
-Ehrlichman’s conversation with Long
-Shultz’s knowledge
International trade and monetary situation
-Shultz
-Excitement
-Importance
-Public attitudes
-Devaluation
-TV
-Radio talk
-Volcker
-Arthur F. Burns
-Balance of payments
-Importance of issue
-Devaluation of dollar
-Impact
-Volcker, Burns
-Alarmism
-Stock market
-Trade bill
-Balance
-Protection of jobs
-Trading partners
-Europe
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Responsibility
-Shultz, Burns
-US responsibility
-Compared to Europe, Japan, Germany
-Importance of issue
-Volcker
-Trip to Japan
-Shultz
-Possible trip to California
-Devaluation announcement
-Washington, DC
-Volcker’s trip to Japan
President’s schedule
-Amount for trade problems
-Shultz
-Length of meetings
-Compared to John B. Connally
-Possible trip to California
-Tax decision
-Trips to California, Florida
-Roy L. Ash
-Meetings followed by press briefings
-Shultz
-Kissinger's trip
-Shultz
-Decisions
-Details
-President’s approval
-Tax position
-Guidance
-Length of meeting with the President
Tax policy
-Commitments
-Property taxes for the elderly
-Treasury Department officials
-Details
-Political implications
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Deductibles
-Percentage
-Political advantages
-Decision paper for Treasury Department
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 10:25 am.
Refreshments
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 11:23 am.
-Treasury Department’s response
-Administrative problems
-Congress
-Rent relief
-Deductibles
-Political problems
-Computers
Presidential appointments and decisions
-Federal Trade Commission [FTC]
-Lewis A. Engman
-Deal with Ehrlichman
-Testimony to Congress
-Confirmation
-Administration’s expectations
-Agriculture Department
-President’s decision
-Audit of farmers’ tax returns
-Routine provision
-Federal statue
-Internal Revenue Code
-Agency right
-Democratic Congressman
-Purpose of audits
-Earl L. Butz
-Statistical use
-Right of access
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Political ramifications
-Audits
-Friends, opponents
-Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Commissioner candidate
-Interior Department
-Age
-Lawyer
-Recommendations
-Meeting with Ehrlichman
-Offer to unknown man
-Connally
-Candidate
-Political skill
-Problem
-Weinberger
-[First name unknown] Kirkpatrick
-Administration’s control
-Compared to Engman
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] Director
-William D. Ruckelshaus
-John N. Mitchell
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-District Court seat
-Connecticut
-Jack R. Miller
-IRS
-District Circuit Court
-Patent Court
-Postal Rate Commission
-Military Court of Appeals
-Attempt to see President
- -Patent Court
-Appointment
-Bryce N. Harlow [?]
National Security Council [NSC] leaks
-Pentagon Papers trial
-16-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Statute of limitations
-Neil Sheehan
-New York Times
-Watergate
Pentagon Papers trial
-Conclusion
-Daniel Ellsberg
-Use of trial as political platform
-Anthony J. Russo, Jr. [?]
-Supreme Court decision
NSC leaks
-Jack N. Anderson, Neil Sheehan
-Les Whitten
-Arrest
-Anderson
-Attacks on Haldeman
-Washington Post
Indians
-Attacks on court house in Dakota
-Photograph
-Urban Indians
-Radicalism
-Radical movement
-American Indian movement
-“Fellow travelers”
-Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]
-Alcatraz takeover
-Part Indian
-Unknown Phillips Petroleum executive
-Radicalism
-Tribal leaders
-BIA
-Appointments
-Interior Department
-Robert J. Hitt [?]
-17-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Rogers C. B. Morton
Congressional relations
-Cabinet
-Nominating committee hearings
-Testimony
-President’s appreciation
-Briefing
-Ash
-Compared to Republican Congressional leaders meeting
-Timing
-Testimony
-Amount
-Shultz
-Chowder and Marching Society
-Social functions
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Visits to White House
-Budget
-Support for the President
-Clear signals from White House
-Veto prospects
-Gerald R. Ford
-Support for President
-Social visits
-Wives
-Reception
-Receiving line with President
-Donald H. Rumsfeld theory
-Breakfast
**********************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
-Campaigning in 1974
-Compared to 1970 campaign
-President’s support for Republican Party
-18-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Credentials
-Pictures, tapes
-Development of winning candidates
-Target districts
-Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr., Bob Holdson, William E. Brock,
III
-White House help
-George H. W. Bush
Campaigning
-Minority party
-President’s schedule
-Long, Mills
-Compared to Herman T. Schneebeli
End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
**********************************************************************
Congressional relations
-Evening at the White House
-Reception for new members
-Wives
-Maurice H. Stans’s list
-Frederic V. Malek
-Congressional wives
-Receptions
-Chowder and Marching Society
-Brock
-Junior Senators
-Dinner parties
-Wives
-Invitation to White House
-Reception for Congressional wives
-Scheduling annually
**********************************************************************
-19-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Campaign surplus
-Amount
-Stans
-Complaints
-Congressional Campaign Committees
-Amounts
-News summary
-Bush
-Follow up
-Robert L. (“Bob”) Wilson, Peter H. Dominick, Robert J. Dole
-Complaints about money
-Committee to Re-Elect the President [CRP]
-President’s support for candidates since 1972 Convention
-TV clips
-Visits to states
-Eisenhower
-Complaints
-Press Reports
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Campaigning for candidates
-Appreciation
Edward R. F. Cox
-Campaigning in Washington state
-Quality
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Impression
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
**********************************************************************
White House social affairs
-Events for Congressmen
-Gerald R. Ford
-Congressmen
-Inadequacy
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Wives
-State dinners
-Inconvenience
-J. William Fulbright
-Reception
-Purpose
-Ford
-Democrats
-Number invited
-New Congressional members
-Wives
-Visit to White House second floor
-Compared to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
administrations
-Third floor
-Oval Office
-Letters to constituents
-Importance
-Evening event
-Entertainment
-Congressmen
-Finance types
-Size
-Cabinet and sub-Cabinet
-Swearing-in
-Congressmen
-Stans's list
-Evening at the White House
-Cabinet
-Kissinger
-State dinner
-After dinner entertainment
-Administrative people
-Congressmen
-Mix of invitees
-Administrative assistants
-George H. Mahon, Robert C. Byrd
-Congressmen, Senators
-21-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-White House staffers
-List of people
-Malek
-William E. Timmons
-Congressmen
-Elliot R. Richardson
-William P. Rogers
-Kleindienst
-Administrative people
-Necessity
-White House staffers
-Invitations
-Compared to Kissinger, Ash
-New list
-White House staff
-Congressmen, Senators
-Democrats, Republicans
-Seniority
-Sam Nunn
-Georgia
Congressional relations
-Wildcard attendees at leadership meetings
-Timmons
-Harlow
-Number invited
-Craig Hosmer’s conversation with Haldeman
-Complaints from current leaders
-Timmons
-Jack E. Kemp
-Teamwork
-President’s courting
-Harlow
-Governors
-Compared to President’s 1972 election showing
-Budget impoundment
-President's leadership
-Ford
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Questions for President
-Leak from leadership
-Frank E. (“Ted”) Moss
-Delay in Vietnam negotiations
-Saigon, Hanoi
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 11:23 am.
Press relations
-President's meeting with Mills
-Public announcement
-Subjects of discussion
-Legislative matters
-Tax
-Trade
-Visit to Stennis
-Publicity at hospital
-TV tape
-Wires
Watergate
-Ervin Committee hearings
-Administration's response
-Coverage
-Partisanship
-Bill of particulars
-Resolution
-Specifications
-Make-up of committee
-John G. Tower
-Administration's cooperation
-Watergate defendants
-Sentencing
-John J. Sirica
-Prejudice
-Appeals
-Senate investigation
-Threat of reversal
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Rights
-Senate investigation
-Appeals to Ervin
-Impact
-Injunction of Senate hearing
-Cooperation of administration with Congress
-No limitations
-Expansion of scope
-Other elections
-1960, 1964, 1968
-Barry M. Goldwater, Sr.
-1964 election
-Ervin Committee
-Ervin Committee
-Scope of investigation
-Non-partisanship
-Questioning of assistants
-Executive privilege
-Statement
-Charles W. Colson, Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Dwight
L. Chapin
-White House cooperation
-Executive privilege
-Administration's position
-Explanation
-Potential witnesses
-Protection
-Privileges
-Exceptions
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Chapin
-Donald H. Segretti
-Dual role of Presidential assistants
-Shultz
-Kleindienst [?]
-Kissinger
-Flanigan
-Assistant to the President
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Staff Director, Council of International Economic Policy
-NSC
-Cooperation with Congress
-Kissinger
-Ehrlichman
-FBI interview
-Senate committee
-Questions
-Press questions
-Ziegler's answers
-Administration's position
-Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.
-Talk with Ehrlichman
-Cooperation with White House
-Limitations
-Separation of powers
-Scope of investigation
-Ziegler's statement
-Testimony of White House officials
-President's comments on executive privilege
Press relations
-Swearing-in of John T. Dunlop
-President's statement
-Shultz
-Confirmation
-Legislation
-House of Representatives
-Ash
-Veto
-Delays
-Cost of living
-Importance
-Congressional inaction
-State of the Union
-Questions
-Ziegler’s statement
-Future announcement
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Kissinger's itinerary
-Bangkok
-Agnew
-Return from trip
-Timing
-Meeting with President
-President's schedule
-President's trip to California
-Stennis’s condition
-Prognosis
-Trip to Florida
-Easter recess
-Work
-Compared to Congressional vacation
-Trip to California
-Rumors
-Decision
-Congress
-Stennis’s condition
Cable
-Ehrlichman
Press and Congressional relations
-Criticism of President
-Frustration over Vietnam
-War
-Compared to peace
-Frustration over President's successes
-Press story
-Lead
Ehrlichman and Ziegler left at an unknown time after 11:44 am.
Watergate
-New York Times
-Seymour M. Hersh
-26-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Article on Gordon C. Strachan’s telephone call to G. Gordon Liddy and
Segretti
-Earlier article
-Reasons for publication
-Administration's response
-Ervin committee
-Hearings
-Public interest
-Ziegler's comments
-President's position
-Mitchell
-Lyndon B. Johnson bugging
-Senate actions
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-Cartha DeLoach
-Lyndon B. Johnson bugging
-Statements
-Lyndon B. Johnson wiretapping
-J. Edgar Hoover
-Statement to President and Mitchell
White House social affairs
-Entertainment
-Black female singer
-New York
-Bill Berman
-Producer of White House entertainment
-Leonard Garment
-Lionel Hampton
-Band leader
-Evening at the White House
-Les Brown
-Guy Lombardo
-Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
-Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
-Berman
-Agent role
-Clients
-27-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Mike Curb
-Mike [last name unknown]
-Promoter
-Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM]
-Someone to produce shows
White House personnel
-Pam Powell
-Anne L. Armstrong
-Speeches
-Qualifications
-Possible jobs
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-East Wing
-Patricia R. Hitt
-Ehrlichman
-Colson
-Problem between Ehrlichman and Peter J. Brennan
-Under Secretary [?]
-Shultz
-Haldeman’s role
-Brennan
-Advantage to administration
-Malek, Ehrlichman
-Managerial tilt
-“Errand boys”
-George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, Walter J.
Hickel
-Claude S. Brinegar
-Donald F. Rodgers
-Cornell University
-Dealings with Brennan
-Loyalty to White House
-Haldeman’s role
-Malek
-Jerry H. Jones
-Cooperation
-Colson
-28-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
Public relations
-Polls
-Spending
-Questions
-George H. Gallup
-Robert Teeter
-Louis P. Harris
-Albert E. Sindlinger
-Opinion Research Corporation [ORC]
-Gallup
-Release
-Compared to ORC
-Harris, Sindlinger
-Independence
-Questions
-Release
-Compared to ORC
-Spending
-Ehrlichman
-Individual Congressmen
-Polls
-Harlow
-Colson
-Organizations
-National Association of Manufacturers [NAM]
-Jaycees
-General Federation of Women’s Clubs
-Business organizations
-Mailings lists
-Members writing to Congress
-Hugh Scott
-Support for cuts
-Constituent mail
-President’s request
-Support for President
-Shultz
-Congress
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-General interest compared to special interests
-Mail program
-Letters to Congress
-Taxes, prices, programs
-Spending
-Veto message
-Special message from President
-Letters to Congress
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Domestic Council
-Compared to peace issues and NSC
-Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Haldeman’s aid
-William J. Baroody, Jr.
-Colson
-Peace
-Robert H. Finch’s theory
-Democrats, “doves”
-Avoidance of issue
-Compared to Eisenhower, Korean War, 1956 Election
-South Carolina legislature
-Resolution
-Expression of thanks to President
-Finch
-Use of issue
-TV stories
-Vietnam
-Importance of issue
-South Carolina legislature
-President’s appreciation for resolution
Congressional relations
-Timmons
-Capitol Hill Club
-Dole
-President’s attendance at events
-Problems
-30-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Lunch at Senate
-Waste of time
-President’s visits to Congress
-Haldeman’s dealings with Congressmen
-Administrative assistants
-President’s visits to Congress
-White House staff
-Chowder and Marching society
-Ford, Scott
-Leaks
-Compared to loyalist dinners
-Camp David
-Complaints
-Samuel L. Devine
-White House attention
-Self-confidence
-President as Congressman
-Importance of work
-Investigating committees
Watergate
-Ervin committee
-Republican members
-Tower
-Robert Griffin
-Marlow W. Cook
-Edward J. Gurney
-Publicity
-Interest by public
-Television
-Trial judge in civil suit
-Decisions
-Sirica
-Judge Charles R. Richey
-Release of depositions
-Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
-Colson
-Ehrlichman's statement
-31-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
-Story on Watergate
Press relations
-Arrangement of story placement by President
-Watergate
-Ziegler
-Events in news
-Lyndon B. Johnson's death
-Inauguration
-Vietnam settlement
-Peace
-Press conference
-President's position
-Questions
-Connally
-Hearings
-Cooperation
White House social affairs
-Mike Curb singers
-Youth
-Purpose of singing
-Uplift
-Congress
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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[Duration: 19s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
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[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 852-7 (cont’d)
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-Public attitudes
-Jewish women
-Van Cliburn
-Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern
-Garment
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Cliburn
-Lyndon Johnson
-Concert in the White House
-After dinner entertainment
-Length of concert
-Soviet Union
-State dinners
-Compared to Evening at the White House
Congressional relations
-Church services
-Number
-Children
-Adults
-Invitations
-Difficulties
Stennis’s health
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Tkach
-Death
Haldeman left at 12:21 pm.
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)