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Conversation: 314-001

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Start Date: 13-Jan-1972 2:34 PM

End Date: 13-Jan-1972 3:41 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Bull, Stephen B.White House operatorHughes, James D. ("Don")Ziegler, Ronald L.Butterfield, Alexander P.

Recording Device: Old Executive Office Building

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:00:33

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 01:01:42

314a.mp3

314b.mp3

NARA Description:

On January 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, James D. ("Don") Hughes, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:34 pm to 3:41 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 314-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 314-1

Date: January 13, 1972
Time: 2:34 pm - 3:41 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Scheduling meetings
          -Carl B. Albert
          -Neil H. McElroy meeting
                -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
                -Robert E. Merriam
                -Duration
                -Delays in other meetings
                      -Robert O. Anderson
          -Length of meetings
                -Henry A. Kissinger, John D. Ehrlichman
          -McElroy meeting
                -Merriam, Agnew
                Length
                -Lack of briefing
                -Purpose
          -Stephen B. Bull, David N. Parker, Haldeman
          -Handling of scheduling
                -Estimates of length of meetings
                      -Overruns
                -Planning
          -McElroy meeting
                -State of the Union speech
                -Parker
                -Length of meeting
                -Bull
                      -Agnew
          -Signaling end of meeting
          -Kissinger
                -Length of meetings

     David J. Mahoney, Jr.
          -Attitude
                -Leonard Garment
                                                 2

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


Bull entered at an unknown time after 2:34 pm.

     The President’s schedule
          -First Family departure
                -Camp David

Bull left at an unknown time before 2:45 pm.

     Camp David
         -Departure

     State of the Union message
           -Raymond K. Price, Jr.’s draft
                 -Elliot L. Richardson
                 -Delays
                       -Call from Haldeman
                 -Theme

     The President’s schedule
          -Kissinger
          -Camp David
               -Helicopter
               -Haldeman's call to Brig. Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes

[Haldeman talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 2:34 pm and 2:45
pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1A]

[See Conversation No. 18-77]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Camp David
                                             3

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


     Scheduling
          -Problems
                -Haldeman's staff
          -Ehrlichman
          -Cancellations
                -John B. Connally

     State of the Union message

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 2:34 pm and
2:45 pm.

[Conversation No. 314-1H]

     Request for a return call

[End of telephone conversation]

     Haldeman's meetings
          -John N. Mitchell
               -Time
               -Ehrlichman
               -Kissinger
                     -Time
                     -Forthcoming trip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]

     Kissinger
          -Concern over columns by James B. (“Scotty”) Reston in New York Times
          -Possible press conference
               -Advisability
          -Possible interview with Max Frankel
          -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.’s advice
               -Forthcoming world report
          -Breakfast with Melvin R. Laird
          -Problem

[Haldeman talked with Hughes at 2:45 pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1B]

[See Conversation No. 18-78]
                                              4

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)



[End of telephone conversation]

[The President talked with the White House operator at 2:45 pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1C]

[See Conversation No. 18-79]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Bull
            -Informing Ronald L. Ziegler

[The President talked with Ziegler between 2:45 pm and 2:47 pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1D]

[See Conversation No. 18-80]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Notification
          -Bull
          -Ziegler

     The President’s schedule
          -Home Builders convention in Houston, Texas
                -Astrodome exhibition center
                -The President's attendance
                -Size of crowd
                -The President's schedule
                      -Timing
          -Emilio Colombo
          -Return to Washington
          -Forthcoming Vietnam announcement
          -Florida
          -Home Builder's convention
                -Announcement
                -Agnew
                -Florida
                                            5

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


                -Size of crowd
                -Program
                -Foreign policy
          -Florida

[Haldeman talked with Hughes at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:09 pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1E]

[See Conversation No. 18-81]

     Camp David
         -Snow
              -Thurmont, Frederick, Hagerstown, Maryland
         -Thurmont, Maryland
              -Weather
                    -Plane
              -Helicopter
         -Car
         -Time of departure

[Haldeman talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:09
pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1F]

[See Conversation No. 18-82]

[Haldeman talked with Hughes at an unknown time.]

[End of telephone conversation]

[Haldeman talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:09
pm.]

[Conversation No. 314-1G]

[See Conversation No. 18-83]

[The call was placed on hold]
                                               6

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


     Schedule
          -Kissinger

[Haldeman talked with Bull at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:09 pm.]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Camp David
         -Transportation
              -Car
                    -Duration of trip

     Kissinger
          -Meeting with the President
               -Resignation threat
          -Press conference
               -Change of mind
          -Mental state
               -The President’s view


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Privacy]
[Duration: 9s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8

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


                -[William F.?] Buckley’s view
                -Security risks
                -National Security Council [NSC]
                     -Haig’s activities
                     -Paperwork
                     -Foreign visits

     Kurt Waldheim
                                          7

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/06)
                                                           Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


     -Meeting with the President, January 24, 1972
         -Location
     -Meetings with Congress
         -Social events
         -Meeting with the President
               -William P. Rogers
     -Meeting with the President

Florida trip
      -Return
            -Timing

Cabinet dinner, January 20, 1972
     -Scheduling
           -Itinerary

Florida trip
      -Scheduling
      -Don and Betty Hughes
            -Son
                 -Military service
            -Rose Mary Woods
                 -Talk with Haldeman
                 -Talk with Hughes
            -Woods's attendance

The President’s schedule
     -Houston convention
          -Declination of invitation
                 -Waldheim
          -Agnew
                 -Substitute

The President's Commission on School Finance
     -Ehrlichman
     -Richardson
     -Agnew, McElroy
     -Agnew
           -Unknown person from Chicago
     -Lewis A. Engman
                                              8

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


     Agnew's recent behavior

     Labor affairs
          -Agnew meeting
                -Propriety
                -Chairmanship

     Cabinet
          -Committee on Economic Policy
          -The President’s role

     Appointments
         -[Council on International Economic Policy]
              -Peter M. Flanigan
              -William D. Eberle
                    -Staff
                    -Background
                          -Common Cause

     Common Cause
        -Problems
             -Finances
                  -John W. Gardner

     Eberle

     Richard V. (“Dick”) Allen
          -Conservatives
          -Peter G. Peterson
                -Commerce Department
                -1972 campaign
                     -Foreign policy

Ziegler entered at 3:09 pm.

     Andrew Wyeth

     Ziegler's talk with Leonard Garment
          -Wyeth

     Portrait of the President
                                          9

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/06)
                                                             Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


        -Timing
              -Departure from office
        -Wyeth
              -The President’s choice
        -Sitting while in office
        -Wyeth
              -The President’s choice
        -Timing
        -Garment
              -Call to Wyeth
        -Press

The President's meeting with fifth grade class
     -Press reports
     -Children's facial expressions
     -Responsiveness to the President’s questions
          -Children's aspirations

Photograph sessions
     -McElroy, Agnew, Arthur F. Burns
     -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
          -Photos

Laird
        -Press conference

US troop withdrawals from Vietnam
     -Level
     -Timing
     -Laird
          -Confidence in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam [ARVN]
          -US combat role
          -US airpower

Kissinger
     -Possible press conference
          -Timing
                -Reston
          -Necessity
     -Reston’s views
     -Importance to press
                                            10

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                                 Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


          -Forthcoming trip to the PRC
                -Reston’s trip to PRC
                -New York Times
     -Possible press conference
          -Defensiveness
          -Call to Ziegler
          -Ziegler’s talk with Haldeman
          -Credibility with the press
                -Background briefings
          -Jack N. Anderson

Public relations
     -India-Pakistan war
            -Importance as issue
     -Bangladesh
            -Importance as issue
            -Sheik Mujibur Rahman
                 -US support
                 -Airport reception

The President’s schedule
     -Camp David
          -State of the Union speech
                 -The President’s efforts

Ziegler and Press arrangements for forthcoming trip to the PRC
     -Number of invitees
           -Negotiations
     -Communications with the President

Forthcoming trip to the PRC
     -President’s security
           -Laird
           -Agnew
           -Position
           -India
           -Ireland
           -Latin America
           -Recent press conference

Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon's trip to Africa
                                        11

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/06)
                                                            Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


     -Television appearance
          -Demeanor
          -Women in office
                -Support of women
                      -Leonore L. Romney
                -Presidency
                      -Barbara Walters
          -Answers
                -Style
          -Treatment by press
                -Questions
                      -Handling
                -Walters's question about women in office
                      -Responses

Edmund S. Muskie
    -Anderson papers leak
         -Secretaries of State or Defense
         -Truth of charges
              -Joseph R. McCarthy
         -Administration responses
              -Rogers
              -Television
                    -Accusation of lies
         -Proof
              -Anderson
    -Comparison to Pentagon Papers
         -Daniel Ellsberg
              -Neil Sheehan and wife
                    -Activity in Cambridge, Massachusetts
                    -Release of information
                          -Timing
                                 -1972 election

Frankel
     -National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] transcript
           -Ziegler’s intended use
     -Statements
           -Interview by James J. Kilpatrick, Jr.
                 -Sheehan
                       -New York Times
                                                 12

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                       Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)



     Press
             -Battles with the administration
                   -State of the Union speech
                   -Vietnam announcement
             -Trip to the PRC by the President
             -Vietnam troop withdrawals
                   -Level

Ziegler left at 3:28 pm.

     Kissinger
          -Problem
               -Sources
          -View of Haig, Ziegler, Gerald R. Warren
          -Handling
               -John N. Mitchell
               -Forthcoming PRC trip
                    -William P. Rogers
               -Middle East

     Haig
             -Qualities
             -Mitchell
                  -Kissinger’s comments about Soviet Union

     Kissinger
          -Admonition by Ziegler
          -Rogers
                -Briefing
          -Briefing of the Associated Press [AP] and United Press International [UPI]
                -Rogers
                -The President’s instructions
                -John A. Scali
                -Conversation with Rogers
          -Handling
          -PRC trip, Soviet Union trip
                -Impact on Kissinger's position
                      -Position vis-a-vis Rogers
                            -Forthcoming 1972 presidential campaign
                -Possible resignation
                                               13

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                    Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)



     [Unintelligible]

     The President’s schedule
          -Ceremony
               -North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
                      -Change of command
                      -Fort Lauderdale

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 3:34 pm.

     The President's schedule
          -Papers for signing
               -Budget message
                      -George P. Shultz

     The President's talk with Ehrlichman
          -State of the Union message
                -Value-added tax [VAT]
                -Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman’s forthcoming talk with Robert H. Finch


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 13s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

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


     Shultz

     The President’s schedule
          -State of the Union
          -Birthday calls
                -Delays
                      -Walter Trohan
                                                14

                               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                    Conv. No. 314-1 (cont.)


                       -William S. White
                       -Jerome H. Holland
                       -National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP]
           -Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr.
                 -[Dilantin]
                       -Study
           -National security indicator report
           -Economic report
           -Delays in calls

     Forthcoming dinner for Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt Wallace
          -Fred Waring
          -Jack Benny
          -Ray Coniff Singers
                -50-year medley
          -Woods
                -Position in charge of entertainment

Butterfield left at 3:40 pm.

     Entertainment
          -Tickets

Haldeman left at 3:41 pm