Conversation: 298-005
Prev: 298-004 Next: 298-006Start Date: Thursday, November 11, 1971 4:29 PM
End Date: Thursday, November 11, 1971 6:16 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Kissinger, Henry A.; [Unknown person(s)]; White House operator; Sonnenfeldt, Helmut ("Hal")Recording Device: Old Executive Office Building
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:05:52
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 01:49:11
NARA Description:
On November 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Helmut ("Hal") Sonnenfeldt met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:29 am to 1:16 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 298-005 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 298-5
Date: November 11, 1971
Time: 11:29 am - 1:16 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
William L. Safire
Patrick J. Buchanan
Safire
-Compared to Buchanan
Recent ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery
-Unknown soldier
-Anniversary
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Korean War
Henry A. Kissinger entered at 11:31 am.
-Honor guard
-Unknown member
Education
4
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Writing
-Books
-Discipline
-Staff
-Speechwriting
-Intelligence
-Teachers
-Curriculum
Vietnam
-Cornell University study
-Author
-The Economist
-Bombing
-Figures cited
-1966, 1967
-1968
-Peter M. Flanigan
-The Administration’s efforts
-Casualties
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] story
-News summary
-World War I
-British casualties
-March 21, 1918
-World War II
-British, German, French
-Kissinger's conversation with Henry A. Grunwald of Newsweek
-People's Republic of China [PRC] and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
[USSR]
-Aid to North Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Possible post-war period
-Kissinger's conversation with Newsweek staff, November 9, 1971
-Grunwald
-Press
-Vietnam as issue
-The Administration
-Staff
-Clark MacGregor's statements
-Melvin R. Laird
5
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Election
-Use of US volunteers
-Compared to draftees
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming press conference
-[Earl L. Butz]
Secretary of Agriculture
-Clifford M. Hardin
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Privacy]
[Duration: 4s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
Cabinet
-John N. Mitchell
-Elliot L. Richardson
-John B. Connally
Latin America
-Trip
-Robert H. Finch
-Conversation with Kissinger
-Charles A. Meyer
The President's schedule
-Georges J.R. Pompidou
-French possessions
-Canary Islands
-Europe
-Willy Brandt
6
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Key Biscayne
-Compared to Chicago
-Accommodations
-Europe
-Economics
-Pompidou
-Virgin Islands
-French possessions
-Martinique
-Europe
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] meeting
-Kissinger's previous conversation with Arthur K. Watson
Economics
Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction [MBFR]
-State Department
-Pompidou
-Possible message from the President
-French Guiana
-Martinique
-Guadeloupe
-San Martin
-Possible state visit
-Unknown Ambassador
Chief of mission’s meeting
-William P. Rogers's view
-Pompidou
-Brandt
-Forthcoming announcement
-Edward R.G. Heath
-Bermuda
-Pompidou
-Separate meetings
-Brandt
-Chicago
-State Street
-The President’s trip to Berlin
International monetary situation
-Japan
-Connally
7
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National Security]
[Duration: 35s ]
JAPAN
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**************************************************************************
-Brandt
The President’s schedule
-Trips
-Summarized
-Key Biscayne
-Heath
-Kissinger's forthcoming conversation with The Earl of Cromer
-Pompidou
-Possible message
-Foreign visits
-Possible demonstrations
-Netherlands
-Japan
-France
-Europe
-Timing
-USSR and PRC trips
International monetary situation
-Connally
-Arthur F. Burns's view
-Price of gold
-Speculation
-Peter G. Peterson
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-George P. Shultz
-Connally
-Shultz
-Price of gold
-Convertability
-US responsibility
-Connally's views
-International system
-Structural reform
-Past grievances
-Balance of trade
-West Germans
-Defense Minister [Helmut Schmidt]
-Possible US action
-Possible consequences
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[National Security]
[Duration: 4s ]
JAPAN
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
*****************************************************************
-Western Europe
-Texans
-Connally and Lyndon B. Johnson
-The President's methodology
-Burns
-Methodology
-The President's schedule
-Europeans
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
**************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
[Privacy]
[Duration: 11s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
**************************************************************************
-Kissinger's role
-Shultz's role
-Phase II
-Peterson
-Staff
-Position papers
-Textiles
-Eisaku Sato
-Connally, Shultz and Burns
-Strategic outlook
-Kissinger's conversation with Shultz, November 10, 1971
-Kissinger's forthcoming conversation with Connally
-The President’s schedule
-Connally
-Trade
-As percentage of Gross National Product [GNP]
-Basis for decision
-Peterson and Shultz
-Connally
-Views
-Trade
-US corporate activities
-Paul A. Volcker
-Staff
-International Monetary Fund [IMF] meeting
-Paper
-Volcker
-Peterson
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-The President’s schedule
-White House staff
-Shultz and Roy L. Ash
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Politics
-Shultz
-Peterson
**************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
[Privacy
[Duration: 21s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
**************************************************************************
-Staff papers
-Possible role with administration
-Commerce Department
-John N. Mitchell
-Flanigan
-Connally
-Peterson
-Flanigan
-[Richard V. Allen]
-Flanigan
-Shultz, Kissinger
-Peterson
-Conversation with Haldeman, November 11, 1971
-Connally
-Shultz
-Views regarding Connally’s position on convertability
-Convertability
-France
-Connally
-Connally
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Shultz
-Forthcoming conversation with Kissinger
-Price of gold
-Rogers's conversation with the President
-Meeting with businessmen
-US program
-Connally
-Views
-Forthcoming speech
-New York Economic Club
-Connally’s schedule
-Phase II
-Charls E. Walker
Kissinger's schedule
-Japanese ambassador
-Gerard C. Smith
Kissinger talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 12:50 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5A]
Smith
Japanese ambassador [Nobuhiko Ushiba]
[End of telephone conversation]
Peterson
-Role with administration
-Haldeman's forthcoming conversation with Mitchell
-Commerce Department
-Shultz's schedule
-Nassau, Jamaica
-Possible role with administration
-Connally
-Shultz, Kissinger
-Bureaucracy
-Activities
-Congress
-Wilbur D. Mills
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Papers
-Distribution
-Possible role with administration
-Commerce Department
-Mitchell
-Harvard School of Business
-David Rockefeller
-Meeting with Katharine L. Graham
Washington Post
-New president [John S. Prescott, Jr.]
-Philadelphia Inquirer
Graham
-Conversation with Kissinger
-The President's demeanor
-Forthcoming election
-New York
Peterson
-Possible role with administration
-Secretary of Commerce
-Haldeman's forthcoming conversation with Mitchell
Maurice H. Stans
-Tenure in office
-Mitchell's view
-USSR trip
-Mitchell
-Views
-Forthcoming position
-The President's candidacy
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Haldeman's forthcoming conversation with Mitchell
-Richard G. Kleindienst
Mitchell
-Tenure in office
The President's schedule
-Pompidou
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Paris
-Europe
-Rogers's schedule
-Jamaica
-Rogers
-Latin America
-Meetings
-Panama
-Highway
-Darrien Gap
-Colombia
-Mexico
-Jamaica
Kissinger talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 12:50 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5B]
Request to speak with an unknown person
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with European leaders
-Purpose
-The President’s forthcoming trips
-Unknown person's schedule
-Pompidou
-Europe
-Rogers
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 11:31 am and
12:50 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5C]
[See Conversation No. 14-35]
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Unknown Ambassador
-Message
Congress
-Schedule
-Rogers
Kissinger talked with Helmut Sonnenfeldt at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 12:50 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5d]
[See Conversation No. 14-36]
The President and Haldeman continued their conversation during the telephone call.
[End of telephone conversation]
The President’s schedule
-Sonnenfeldt's efforts
-The President's conversation with Rogers, November 10, 1971
-Forthcoming trip to PRC
-Preparation
-PRC
-Mao Tse-tung
-Brandt
-Pompidou
-Europe
-Possible problems
-Pompidou
-Announcements
-Timing
-Secretary of Agriculture
-Secretary of Agriculture
-Hardin
-Wife, Martha L. (Wood) Hardin
-Mary E. (Powell) Butz
-Press coverage
-Television
-[Vietnam]
-NSC meeting
-The President's involvement
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Agenda
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Smith
-Rescheduling
-Press conference
-Ronald L. Ziegler's schedule
-Handling
-Ziegler
Haldeman talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 11:31 am and
12:50 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5E]
[See Conversation No. 14-37]
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule
-Vietnam announcement
-Timing
-NSC meeting
-Location
-Technical considerations
-Press Room
-Oval Office
-Pool camera
-Press Room
-Timing
-Press follow-up
-Location
-Congressional reaction
-NSC meeting
-Duration
-Ziegler's possible conversation with Frank Cormier
-Timing
Haldeman left at 12:50 pm.
Vietnam
-Troop withdrawals
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Conversation with Laird
-Forthcoming announcement
-Timing
-Rogers’s view
-Rogers
-Relationship with Kissinger
-Berlin
-Negotiations
-Conversation with Laird
-Timing
-Negotiations with North Vietnam
-Congress's possible reaction
-Residual forces
-Possible January 1972 announcement
-Residual forces
-Draftees
-Volunteers
-Ground combat
-The President's trip to PRC
-Congress
-Negotiations with North Vietnam
-Disclosure
-Residual force
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Peace proposals
-Terms
-Forthcoming announcements
-Timing
-Level
-Forthcoming announcement
-Laird's views
-Paper
-Timing
-Possible motives
-Rogers's views
-Timing of announcements
-1972 campaign
-State of the Union Address
-John Foster Dulles's meetings with Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Kissinger's conversation with Haig
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Laird
-Richardson Dilworth
-Joseph R. (“Dick”) Dilworth
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
Haldeman talked with the President between 1:01 pm and 1:02 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5F]
[See Conversation No. 14-38]
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Joseph Dilworth and wife, Elizabeth (Cushing) Dilworth
Kissinger's schedule
-[Nobuhiko Ushiba]
Kissinger talked with an unknown person in his office at an unknown time between 1:02 pm and
1:16 pm.
[Conversation No. 298-5G]
Request for a call to the Japanese ambassador
-Kissinger's schedule
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Joseph and Mrs. Dilworth
-Conversation with Kissinger
-The President's actions
-As issue
-Grunwald
-Conversation with Kissinger, November 10, 1971
-Morality
-The President's forthcoming announcement
-The President's demeanor
United Nations [UN] vote on Taiwan, Republic of China
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Effect
-Grunwald's views
-Senate
Foreign aid program
-Rogers's conversation with the President, November 10, 1971
-Senate vote
India-Pakistan relations
-Aid
-State Department
-John F. Kennedy
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[National Security]
[Duration: 9s ]
PRC
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
*****************************************************************
-The President's schedule
-Connally's schedule
-Foreign Secretary Sultan Khan
-Message
Vietnam
-Troop withdrawal
-The President’s November 3, 1969 speech
-Kissinger’s conversation with Haig, November 10, 1971
-Future announcements
-Negotiations
-Rogers's knowledge
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
-Laird
-Haig
-Bombing
-Blockade
-POWs
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-1972 campaign
-Negotiations with North Vietnam
-Troop withdrawal
-Record
November 9, 1971 dinner
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Speech
-The President's speech
-Rogers
-Attendees
-Bernard J. (“Bunny”) Lasker
-Rockefeller
-Conversation with Kissinger, November 10, 1971
The President's foreign policy
-Laird
-The President's opponents
-Unknown reporter
-Vietnam
-Troop withdrawal
-Forthcoming announcement
Rogers's schedule
-Europe
-Rogers
-New York Times
-John N. Irwin, II's [?] trip
-Arthur K. Watson's conversation with Kissinger
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming NSC meeting
-Agenda
-European security
-India-Pakistan relations
20
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 298-5 (cont.)
Kissinger's schedule
-Possible backgrounder
Rogers
-Schedule
-Council on Foreign Relations
-Role
1972 election
Appointments
-Robert C. Seamans, Jr.
-Possible role with administration
-David Packard
-Seamans
-Laird
-Dr. Curtis W. Tarr
-Seamans
-Packard
Kissinger left at 1:16 pm.