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Conversation: 861-019

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Start Date: 22-Feb-1973 12:46 PM

End Date: 22-Feb-1973 1:08 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Timmons, William E.Kissinger, Henry A.Bull, Stephen B.White House operatorRogers, William P.

Recording Device: Oval Office

861-019a.mp3

861-019b.mp3

NARA Description:

On February 22, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, William E. Timmons, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 1:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 861-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 861-19

Date: February 22, 1973
Time: 12:46 pm - 1:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with William E. Timmons.
                                            -27-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                              Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)



       Congressional relations
             -Evening at the White House
                     -Invitations
                             -Gerald R. Ford
                             -Carl B. Albert
                             -Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
                             -Hugh Scott
                     -Sammy Davis, Jr.
                     -Irving Berlin
             -Invitations
                     -Mansfield
                             -Reluctance
                             -State Dinners
                     -Thomas P. (“Tip”) O’Neill
                             -President’s reluctance
                     -Ford
                             -Frequent meetings
                     -Veterans
             -Church service
             -Cancellations or regrets
                     -Supporters
                             -Future invitations
                     -Opponents
             -William B. Saxbe
                     -Remarks
                             -Samuel L. Devine
                     -Apology
                     -Church service

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 12:49 pm.

                     -Evening at the White House
              -Evening at the White House
                     -Invitations
                     -Republicans
                     -House and Senate
                                             -28-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                            Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


                     -Compared with State Dinners

Timmons left at 12:50 pm.

       Ronald L. Ziegler’s view on press briefing

       Metropolitan Club
             -Kissinger’s meeting with Joseph W. Alsop
                     -Column
                     -People’s Republic of China [PRC]’s press coverage

       Kissinger’s press briefing
              -Press coverage
                      -People’s Republic of China [PRC] liaison office
                      -Importance
              -List of Prisoners of War [POWs]
                      -John T. Downey’s release
              -Questions
                      -Taiwan
              -Aid to North Vietnam
                      -Reconstruction
                      -Meaning
                              -Real issue
              -North Vietnam’s foreign relations
                      -US
                      -Neutral countries
                      -PRC, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
                      -Peter Lisagor
                              -Questions
              -Laos
                      -Murrey Marder
                              -Question
                              -Discussion in Peking
                                      -Laos, Cambodia
                      -Cease-fire
                      -Withdrawal of foreign troops
                      -Support of Savang Vatthana
                                        -29-

             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                         Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


                        -Royalty
                -Political settlement
                        -Souvanna Phouma
                -US commitments
                        -Cease-fire, withdrawal of foreign troops

Press relations
        -Hostility to President
                -John W. Arbuckle
        -Reasons for hostility
                -Envy
        -Cease-fire announcement
                -Press response

Laos
         -Cease-fire
         -Settlement
                 -Souvanna Phouma
                         -Negotiations
         -Incentives to abide by settlement
         -North Vietnam’s role
                 -Aid
                 -Cable
                 -Congress
                 -Incentive

William P. Rogers

The President's schedule
       -Camp David meeting
       -Meeting at the White House, Old Executive Office Building [OEB]
               -George P. Shultz
       -President’s departure for Camp David
       -Kissinger on television [TV]
               -Scheduling

Rogers
                                                -30-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                          Tape Subject Log
                                            (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                                Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


                -Meeting with Kissinger and President
                -Breakfast meeting
                -Timing of appearance
                -Hafiz Ismail

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:50 pm.

       Rogers
                -Breakfast meeting
                -Kissinger’s attendance
                       -Arrangements
                       -Paris trip

Bull left at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

                -Rogers's trip
                       -William H. Sullivan’s, William J. Porter’s attendance on trip
                       -Middle East

Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:50 pm.

       Rogers's meeting with Kissinger and President
              -Porter
              -Sullivan
              -Kissinger’s telephone call

Bull [?] left at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and
1:08 pm.

[Conversation No. 861-19A]

[See Conversation No. 43-164]

[End of telephone conversation]
                                              -31-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                            Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


       Breakfast meeting
              -Timing

       Press relations
               -Kissinger’s press briefing
                       -PRC
                       -Vietnam cease-fire and settlement
                       -Aid to North Vietnam
                       -Budget battle
                       -Consequences of rejection
               -Alsop
                       -Support for President
                       -President’s Congressional dinner
                               -Right-wing, isolationist
                               -Voting record

       Republicans
             -Past isolationism
             -Compared with liberal internationalists’ arguments
                     -Vietnam War

       Aid to North Vietnam
              -Opposition
                     -Domestic spending
                            -Schools
                            -Ghettos
                     -Polls
                            -Compared with 1947
              -Congress
                     -Support

Kissinger talked with William P. Rogers at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 1:08 pm.

[Conversation No. 861-19B]

[See Conversation No. 43-165]
                                            -32-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                          Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


[End of telephone conversation]

       Rogers
                -Role

       Kissinger’s schedule
              -Leonid I. Brezhnev
              -Alsop
              -Brezhnev
                      -Scheduling
              -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                      -Meeting with Kissinger
                             -Camp David
                      -Cable

       President’s schedule
              -Brezhnev’s visit
              -France
              -Trip to Europe

       Press relations
               -Alsop
               -Foreign aid
                       -The President's support while in Congress
                       -Opposition
                              -Liberal Democrats
               -Vietnam War
                       -Responsibility
               -Humanitarian
               -Alsop
               -Japan and Germany
               -North Vietnam
                       -Liberal intellectuals’ support
               -Aid to Japan and Germany compared with North Vietnam

       Congressional relations
             -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                                               -33-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                         Tape Subject Log
                                           (rev. Nov.-09)
                                                             Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


               -Breakfast meeting with leaders
               -President’s statement about aid to Vietnam
               -Opposition

       William F. (“Billy”) Graham
              -Telephone call with President
              -Son
                     -Age
                     -Support for President
                     -School
                             -Support for President
                                    -Bombing
                             -Compared with Harvard University

       Bombing
             -Support
                   -Letters to Kissinger
                   -Fear of losing

       Withdrawal from Vietnam
             -Consequences
             -POWs
                     -Sense of failure

       Alsop

Kissinger met with an unknown person at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

       Identification of person

Kissinger left at 1:08 pm.
                                               -34-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Nov.-09)