Conversation 110-006

On November 29, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and African American administration officials and other staffers, including Robert J. Brown, Art Reid, John Calhoun, Frank Kent, Connie Mack Higgins, George W. Haley, Colston A. Lewis, Alfred Sweeney, T. M. Alexander, Gloria E. A. Toote, Norman B. Houston, Samuel C. Jackson, John L. Jenkins, Stanley S. Scott, Norris Sydnor, Lois Hobson, Samuel P. Singletary, Brig. Gen. Daniel ("Chappie") James, Jr., James E. Johnson, William W. Parker, Stanley B. Thomas, Samuel G. Adams, Jr., Elizabeth D. Koontz, Jerome Shuman, Donald L. Miller, Joseph W. Daniels, Sallyanne Payton, Edward E. Mitchell, Reuben R. Jones, Alfred Edwards, Barbara M. Watson, Jewell S. LaFontant, Theodore R. Britton, Jr., John L. Blake, Thad Ware, Ted Brown, Arthur B. McCaw, Benjamin F. Holman, William H. Brown, III, John D. Ehrlichman, Frederick V. Malek, White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 5:36 pm to 6:20 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 110-006 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 110-6

Date: November 29, 1972
Time: 5:36 pm - 6:20 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

The President met with Robert J. Brown, Art Reid, John Calhoun, Frank Kent, Connie Mack
Higgins, George W. Haley, Colston A. Lewis, Alfred Sweeney, T. M. Alexander, Gloria E. A.
Toote, Norman B. Houston, Samuel C. Jackson, John L. Jenkins, Stanley S. Scott, Norris
Sydnor, Lois Hobson, Samuel P. Singletary, Brigadier General Daniel (“Chappie”) James, Jr.,
James E. Johnson, William W. Parker, Stanley B. Thomas, Samuel G. Adams, Jr., Elizabeth D.
Koontz, Jerome Shuman, Donald L. Miller, Joseph W. Daniels, Sallyanne Payton, Edward E.
Mitchell, Reuben R. Jones, Alfred Edwards, Barbara M. Watson, Jewell S. LaFontant, Theodore
R. Britton, Jr., John L. Blake, Thad Ware, Ted Brown, Arthur B. McCaw, Benjamin F. Holman,
William H. Brown, III, John D. Ehrlichman, and Frederic V. Malek; the White House

photographer and members of the press were present at the beginning of the meeting

     College football
          -Ohio State
          -Southern California
          -Woody Hayes
          -Iowa State
          -Nebraska

     Greetings from visitors to the President
          -”Nate” [Nathan Jacobs?], Jack Drown
          -Brown
          -Photographs

     [General conversation/Unintelligible]

     Meeting
          -Ehrlichman

     The President’s administration
          -Recent election
          -Brown’s work
          -Appreciation for help
               -Sammy Davis, Jr.
          -Black vote

     Race relations
          -1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower
          -Little Rock, Arkansas integration case
          -Desegregation
          -Reality
                -Prejudice
                -Upward mobility
                -Education
                -Office of Minority Enterprise
                -Work opportunities
                      -Gale E. Sayers
                -Competition
                      -Washington Redskins
                           -Racial makeup
                      -Brown
                      -Opportunities in business

                 -Donald McI. Kendall
           -Private industry versus government
-Solutions
     -Change system
           -Athletics versus intellectuals
     -Government posts
     -Malek
     -Breakthroughs
           -Qualifications for jobs
     -The President’s conversation with Ehrlichman
     -Ambassadors
           -Labor opinion
                 -George Meany
           -Recommendations
     -Ehrlichman, George H. W. Bush
-Obligations of the President
     -Ehrlichman, Malek
           -Youth expectations
                 -Participation in government
                 -Support for the President
                 -Filling of posts in new administration
                       -Order of consideration
-Administration goals
     -Vietnam
     -People’s Republic of China
     -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
     -Africa
     -Progress
     -Care for people
-Appreciation of group
     -Work with the President
     -Dialogue
     -Speeches by James
     -The President’s trips
           -Demonstrators
           -The President’s trip to New York
     -Poverty
           -The President, Sammy Davis, Jr.
                 -Expectations of young people
                 -Poverty
     -Volunteer army
           -Nature of Army

                      -Racial composition
                -The President’s call to Johnson
                      -Johnson’s son’s illness and death
                -Projection of the President’s attitudes to blacks
                      -Press
           -Presentation of gifts
                -Cuff links
                      -Inauguration

     [General conversation/Unintelligible]

The President, et al. left at 6:20 pm