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Conversation: 929-007

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Start Date: 29-May-1973 9:58 AM

End Date: 29-May-1973 11:06 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Rogers, William P.White House operatorSisco, Joseph J.[Unknown person(s)]Scali, John A.Kissinger, Henry A.White House photographerMembers of the press

Recording Device: Oval Office

929-007a.mp3

929-007b.mp3

NARA Description:

On May 29, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, White House operator, Joseph J. Sisco, unknown person(s), John A. Scali, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, and members of the press met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:58 am to 11:06 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 929-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 929-7

Date: May 29, 1973
Time: 9:58 am - 11:06 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with William P. Rogers.
                                               -14-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                       Tape Subject Log 

                                        (rev. July-2011)

                                                                Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

       Roger’s health         

              -Weather          

                      -President’s trip to Florida     

              -Virus        


       President’s schedule         

              -Report from Rogers’s trip to Latin America 

              -Bipartisan Congressional leaders        

                      -Rogers’s presentation on Latin American trip
                      -J. William Fulbright
                      -Henry A. Kissinger’s presentation
                              -Paris
                              -Communique
                                      -Nguyen Van Thieu’s input
                              -Georges J. R. Pompidou’s visit
              -Kissinger and John A. Scali

       Scali      

             -Possible statement on Middle East 

                     -Scali’s conversation with Joseph J. Sisco 

             -Briefing         

                     -President, Rogers support        

             -United Nations         

                     -Job performance         

             -Possible conversation with Rogers 

???????????????
             -Progress         

                     -Arabs        

                     -Danger [?]        


The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 9:58 am and
10:45 am.

[Conversation No. 929-7A]

[Begin telephone conversation]
                                              -15-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                                 Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

[See Conversation No. 39-26]

[End telephone conversation]

Manolo Sanchez [?] entered at an unknown time after 9:58 am.

       Refreshment

Sanchez [?] left at an unknown time before 10:45 am.

       Scali        

               -Possible statement on Middle East 


       Watergate
             -Views of Latin American leaders 

                     -Compared to Europe               

                     -Emilio Garrastazu Medici             

                     -Michael Manley             

             -Effect on administration            

                     -Paralysis         

                     -Newspapers           

             -President’s activities         

                     -Prisoners of War [POW] dinner 

                     -Council of Economic Advisors           

                     -Energy          

                     -Foreign policy           

                            -Kissinger
                                     -Paris
                            -Instructions for William Sullivan
                                     -Thieu           

                     -Congress members              

                     -Government business                

             -Haig’s view

William P. Rogers talked with Joseph J. Sisco at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:45
am.
                                                -16-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                              Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

[Conversation No. 929-7B]

[Begin telephone conversation]

[See Conversation No. 39-27]

[End telephone conversation]

       Scali’s statement on the Middle East 

               -State Department        


       President’s schedule
              -Rogers, Scali
                      -Photograph
                      -Middle East, Latin America

       Presidency       

              -Responsibilities of office       

              -Burdens         

                    -Dwight D. Eisenhower
                             -Sherman Adams
                                     -Roles of Vice President Nixon and Rogers
                    -Attacks on the President
                             -Press coverage
                                     -Television [TV]

       Watergate
             -News coverage
             -Firings of H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
             -[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II’s view of Sherman Adams affair
                     -Politics and the military
                             -Dwight D. Eisenhower
             -John N. Mitchell, Haldeman and Ehrlichman
                     -Effect on President
             -President’s possible grand jury appearance
             -John W. Dean III
                     -Possible statements
                              -17-

    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                       Tape Subject Log
                        (rev. July-2011)

                                                Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

-James W. McCord, Jr.
-Dean
       -Conversations with President
               -Subornation of Jeb S[tuart] Magruder’s perjury
               -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] hiring of Watergate burglars
               -G. Gordon Liddy
       -Offer of clemency          

               -Ehrlichman’s role        

       -Mitchell         

               -Meetings with President         

                       -Number and timing         

-Clemency
       -Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman’s knowledge
       -Mitchell’s role
-Grand Jury
       -Archibald Cox’s possible activities        

               -George S. McGovern’s supporter          

               -Elliot L. Richardson        

       -Possible presentment         

       -Possible recommendation for impeachment           

-Ervin Committee
       -Samuel Dash
       -Sam J. Ervin, Jr.
       -Howard H. Baker, Jr.
       -Dean
               -Possible immunity
-President’s possible resignation
       -Spiro T. Agnew
-White House response
-Views of world leaders
-Compared to attacks on other presidents
       -Harry S Truman
       -Lyndon B. Johnson
               -Billy Sol Estes and Robert D. (“Bobby”) Baker
-Cover-up
       -Mitchell’s possible role
-Mitchell
                             -18-

    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                      Tape Subject Log
                       (rev. July-2011)

                                             Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

       -Possible prison term

       -Family         

       -Possible prison term

       -Bobby G. Seale case          

-President
       -Possible trial
-White House response
       -Haig
       -President’s possible press conference
       -Barry M. Goldwater and the Vice President Agnew
       -Rogers
-Cabinet
-Republican Congressional leaders’ statements
       -Leaks
-Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield and Carl B. Albert
       -Bryce N. Harlow’s return to White House staff
-Grand Jury
       -Possible presentment
       -President’s possible appearance
               -Washington Post story, May 29
-Ervin Committee hearings
       -Possible testimony
       -Ehrlichman, Haldeman and Dean
       -Mitchell
               -Robert L. Vesco
               -Timing of indictment        

       -Haldeman and Ehrlichman           

       -Dash’s scheduling         

       -Haldeman and Ehrlichman           

       -Dean         

               -Possible immunity
-Dean
       -Fear
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
       -Possible convictions
       -Grand jury testimony
-United States Attorneys’ actions
                              -19-

    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                       Tape Subject Log
                        (rev. July-2011)

                                               Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
        -Possible convictions
                -Funds for defendants
                        -Intent
-Funds for defendants
        -E. Howard Hunt, Jr.
        -President’s investigation
        -Haldeman’s $350,000
        -Ehrlichman’s approval of Herbert W. Kalmbach’s fund-raising
        -President’s knowledge
-Mitchell
        -Role
                -Magruder and Dean
        -Vesco
-Vesco
        -Maurice H. Stans’s role
                -Compared with Adams
        -William J. Casey’s role
-Participants
        -Effect on families
-Functioning of system of government
-Rogers’s conversation with Richardson
        -Cox
-Cox
        -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy and McGovern
-Popular interests
-As an issue
        -Harlow’s view
-White House response
-Dean’s documents
        -John J. Sirica
-Huston Plan
        -Dean’s knowledge
        -Implementation
                -J. Edgar Hoover’s views      

        -Adm. Noel Gayler, Donald Bennett and Richard M. Helms 

        -Hoover’s views          

                                -20-

    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                          Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. July-2011)

                                               Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

        -Implementation
-Dean
        -Knowledge
        -Possible immunity
        -Documents
                -President         

                -Haldeman and Ehrlichman          

        -Leaks         

        - Memoranda of conversation [memcons]
-Memcons
        -Contrasted with direct testimony
-Dean
        -Possible effects of testimony          

                -President         

                -Haldeman and Ehrlichman          

-Haldeman’s mood
-Ehrlichman’s mood
-Firings of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Mood of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-President’s knowledge
        -Ehrlichman’s investigation         

                -Report to President        

-Ehrlichman’s report
        -Grand jury testimony
        -Executive privilege
        -President’s orders regarding Henry E. Petersen
        -Effect on Mitchell
-Mitchell
        -Conversations with President
        -Public statement
-President’s conversations
        -Haldeman and Ehrlichman
        -Dean
-Ervin Committee hearings
        -Possible testimony by Haldeman and Ehrlichman 

                -Possible indictments         

                -Rules of evidence        

                                            -21-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                               Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

                             -Response to previous testimony

An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 9:58 am and left at an unknown time
before 11:06 am.

                      -Possible duration
                      -Public reaction
                             -Compared with Howard Hughes and Owen Brewster
                      -Possible White House response

       President’s schedule       

              -Meeting in Iceland       


An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 9:58 am.

       Scali and Kissinger

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 10:45 am.


*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

       Rogers’s health       

             -Virus        

                     -Contagious


[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************


John A. Scali entered at 10:45 am.

       Rogers’s Latin American trip 

             -Scali’s Dinner with Argentine Ambassador, May 29 

             -Rogers’s meeting with Hector J. Campora 

                     -Campora
                                                -22-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                            Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

                             -Public stance
                                     -Left-leaning
                                             -Youth
                             -Private stance
                                     -Right-leaning
                                     -Support for US
                      -Ministers
                             -Sensibility
                      -Rogers’s message for ambassador
                      -Foreign Minister
                             -University of Pennsylvania
                             -Law school
                                     -New York
                             -Wife
                                     -New York University
                                     -Doctor
                      -Minister of Justice
                             -Closeness to Campora
                             -New York hospital

Kissinger entered at 10:46 am.

       Rogers’s Latin American trip 

             -Rogers’s meeting with Hector J. Campora 

                     -Minister of Education      

                            -Eva Peron’s doctor      


       Kissinger’s fiftieth birthday 

              -Compared to sixtieth birthday

              -Dwight D. Eisenhower [?] 


The White House photographer and members of the press entered at 10:46 am.

       Kissinger’s fiftieth birthday 

              -Dwight D. Eisenhower [?] 

                       -Age        

                                                -23-


                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                             Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

The White House photographer and press left at an unknown time before 11:03 am.

       US foreign policy 

              -Georges J. R. Pompidou 

              -Middle East          

                      -Arab diplomats
                              -Prioritization
                              -Year of Europe
                      -President’s interest
                      -Direct, indirect discussions
                      -Interim settlement
                      -Trajectory
                      -United Nations [UN]’s role
                      -Public relations [PR] posture
                              -US role
              -Year of Europe
                      -Soviet Union
                      -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
              -Priorities        

                      -Middle East          

                      -Latin America          

                      -Middle East          

                              -“Hot spot”
                              -False hopes
                              -Solution
                              -Interests
                              -Stakes
                              -Powers
                                      -Contact

       Scali’s votes in UN Security Council 

               -Vetoes       

               -Abstentions        

               -Resolution on motherhood           

               -Mark Russell         

                       -Humorist       

                       -Skit     

                                              -24-


                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                      Tape Subject Log 

                                       (rev. July-2011)

                                                                 Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)


      US foreign policy
             -Scali’s public and private statements
                     -Record
                     -Reassurance
                             -Certainty
             -UN schedule           

                     -Adjournment           

                     -Leonid I. Brezhnev            

                             -Statement          

             -Brezhnev          

                     -Visit        

                             -New York            

                     -Jewish demonstrations           

                             -Security         

                                      -Camp David           

                             -Risk        

                                      -US-Soviet Union summit
                                              -Cancellation
                                              -President’s response
                             -“Responsible Jews”
                                      -Max M. Fisher
                             -Orderly
                     -Camp David
                             -Hippies
                                      -Support for Brezhnev
             -Lebanon crisis
                     -UN


*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7 

[National security]

[Duration: 1 m 23 s ] 

                                           -25-


                 NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                    Tape Subject Log 

                                     (rev. July-2011)

                                                            Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

      UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

*****************************************************************

      US foreign policy 

             -Kissinger’s conversation with Fulbright, May 23 

                    -Marquis Childs
                            -Article on Vietnam settlement
                            -Troop withdrawal
                            -Chou En-lai
                                    -Fullbright’s concern
                    -US public opinion
                            -Vietnam settlement
                                    -Chou En-lai’s influence
                    -Possible approval of appointments
                            -Graham A. Martin
                            -William Sullivan
                            -G. McMurtrie Godley
                            -Association with Vietnam
                            -Martin
                                    -Thailand
             -Foreign Service officers        

                    -Accusations          

                    -Public relations [PR]         

                    -Orders         

             -Chou En-lai         

                    -Public statement         

                            -Childs
                                    -Column
                                    -North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
                                            -France
                                            -US troops
                                    -Quotation
                                               -26-


                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                     Tape Subject Log 

                                      (rev. July-2011)

                                                            Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:46 am.

      President’s schedule       

             -Milton R. Young         

             -John McFall        


The unknown man left at an unknown time before 11:03 am.

      Scali’s schedule       

              -New York Italian Rifle Club 

                     -Dinner        

                            -Stature of club
                                    -Lawyers
                                    -Doctors
                                    -Businessmen
                                    -Artists
                     -Support for President
                            -Mood
                            -Speeches

      Watergate       

            -Attacks on President        

            -Effect on President’s support 


An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:46 am.

      President’s schedule

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 11:03 am.

      Watergate       

            -Support for President        

                  -Accomplishments
                           -Vietnam settlement
                           -Prisoners of War [POW] return
                           -Soviet Union
                           -People’s Republic of Chinia [PRC]
                                                      -27-


                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 


                                             Tape Subject Log 

                                              (rev. July-2011)

                                                                  Conversation No. 929-7 (cont’d)

                       -Emotional reaction

       President’s schedule
              -Robert C. Byrd

The President et al. left at 11:06 am.