Conversation: 414-001
Prev: 413-040 Next: 414-002Start Date: Wednesday, February 28, 1973 5:23 PM
End Date: Wednesday, February 28, 1973 7:15 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); White House operator; Helms, Richard M.Recording Device: Old Executive Office Building
NARA Description:
On February 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Richard M. Helms met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:23 pm to 2:15 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 414-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 414-1
Date: February 28, 1973
Time: 12:23 pm-2:15 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Governors' meeting
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Linwood Holton
-Budget
-Press
President's schedule
-Meetings
-Steven B. Bull
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Meeting with governors
Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Dr. James R. Schlesinger
-Politics
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National security]
[Duration: 1m 54s]
CIA
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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-2-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
CIA
-Politics
Government reorganization
-[Dr. Edwin H.] Land panel
-Office of Science and Technology [OST]
-Dr. Edward E. David, Jr.
-Elliot L. Richardson
-FIOP [?]
Report for President
-Henry A. Kissinger
The President talked with the White House operator at 12:30 pm.
[Conversation No. 414-1A]
[See Conversation No. 37-7]
[End of telephone conversation]
Helms
-Cooperation
-CIA reorganization
President's schedule
-Regularity of meetings
-Weekend vacation
-Weather
-Cabinet members
-Bimonthly contact
-Domestic Council
-National Security Council [NSC], Domestic Council
-Monthly meetings
-Regularity of meetings
-3-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
The White House operator talked with the President at an unknown time between 12:30 and 12:41
pm.
[Conversation No. 414-1B]
[See Conversation No. 37-8]
[End of telephone conversation]
President’s schedule
-Counselors to President
-Bimonthly meetings
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Compared with Cabinet, NSC, Domestic Council
-Press conference
-White House staff
-Haldeman, George P. Shultz, Ehrlichman
-Taxes impoundment
-Weekly frequency
The President talked with Richard M. Helms between 12:41 and 12:43 pm.
[Conversation No. 414-1C]
[See Conversation No. 37-9]
[End of telephone conversation]
President’s schedule
-Ehrlichman
-White House staff meetings
-Memorandum
-Staff meetings with Congress members
-Hugh Scott
-Compared with committees
Government reorganization
-Personal
-4-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-Appeals
-1972 election
-Camp David meetings
-Scott [?]
President’s schedule
-Meetings
-Cabinet, NSC
-Shultz’s attendance
-Foreign policy issues
-Nuclear test ban treaty
-White House staff
-Congress members, “outsiders”, governors
-Staff briefings
Bryce N. Harlow, Clark MacGregor, George H. W. Bush
-Meetings with Haldeman
-Congress
President’s schedule
-Republican leaders in Congress meetings
-William E. Timmons
-Bimonthly compared with monthly
-Scott, Gerald R. Ford
-Bipartisan leaders in Congress
-Frequency
-Trade meetings
-Unannounced meetings
-Social affairs
-American Cancer Society [ACS]
-Republican leaders in Congress
-Pressure
-Vetoes
-Republican Congress members
-Complaints
-Reports
-Cabinet meeting
-Counselors, staff meetings
-5-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-Ehrlichman’s attendance
-Social affairs
-Worthiness
-Obligations
-Ehrlichman’s and Haldeman’s advice
-Christmas
-White House staff
-Harry S. Truman's funeral
-Effects on events
-White House staff functions
-Congress
-Evenings at the White House
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-Church services
-White House dinners
-Meetings with Congress members
-Effects of meetings
-Cabinet members
-Richardson
-Meeting schedule
-Staff, Congress members
-Kissinger
-Telephone calls
-Cabinet, staff meetings
-Diplomatic credentials
-Meetings with President
-Congress members
-Republican leaders
-Bipartisan leaders
-Vietnam
-Budget office
-Effects
-MacGregor’s and Harlow’s opinions
-Thinking time
-Effect on decision making
-President's schedule compared to other Presidents
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-6-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-Number of meetings
-Unscheduled time
-President’s use of Camp David
Congressional relations
-Democrats
-Supporters of President
-Vietnam reception attendees
-Admiration for Presidency
-President’s attendance at meetings with Congress members
-Ehrlichman
-Energy policy briefing
-Counselors
-Republican committee members
-Electoral politics
-Meetings with candidates
-President’s meetings
-Republican leaders, bipartisan leaders, Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield,
Carl B. Albert, freshmen, Wilber D. Mills, Russell B. Long
-Chowder and Marching
-Buddy system
-Agencies, departments, staff
-Freshmen, loyalists
-Loyalists
-Trade issues
-Protectionalists
-Jacob K. Javits, Charles H. Percy
-Meeting
-Individual compared with group meetings
-Mills
-Leadership group
-Harold R. Collier [?], Marjorie S. Holt
-Freshmen
-Jack F. Kemp, Bill Archer, John J. Flynt, Jr. [?], John Y. McCollister, [First name
unknown] Dunn [?], Goodloe E. Byron
-Sophomores
-Pete V. Domenici, Dewey F. Bartlett, Howard H. Baker, Jr., Alphonzo Bell,
William Brock, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.
-7-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-New Senate Leadership
-Garry Brown, Jerry L. Pettis, Larry Lynn [?], G. V. (“Sonny”) Montgomery, W. S.
(“Bill”) Stuckey, Jr.
-Fourth term
-Old leadership
-[First name unknown] Barnes [?], John W. Stanton, David E. Satterfield, III
-Fifth term
-Meetings with President
-Trade
-Leadership
-Wildcard
-Bipartisan leaders
-Timing
-New leadership
Gallup poll
-President’s position on amnesty
-Amnesty poll
-Budget poll
[John F.] Kennedy’s Great Mistakes by Malcolm Smith, Jr.
-News summary
-Publishing history
-Subjects
-Bay of Pigs
-Cuban Missile Crisis
-Public expectations
-President’s decision compared with John F. Kennedy
-Prisoner’s of war [POWs]
-Mistake
-May 8, 1972 decision, December 1972 bombing
-President’s statement on International Conference on Vietnam negotiations
-Press conference
-Mining, troop withdrawals
-Kissinger’s recommendations
-Escalation
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Kennedy
-8-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-Public relations effect
-Kennedy’s handling of Berlin, Cuba, and Laos
-Nikita S. Khrushchev
-Berlin Wall
President's schedule
-Public relations compared with private deliberation
Rhetoric
-Public reactions
-President compared with Kennedy
-“Peace with honor” compared to “the status of Berlin is non-negotiable”
Polls
-1969 month by month
-Decline
-Vietnam
-Asia trip, Apollo moon landing, Vietnam, California hiatus
-Television [TV], State of the Union, veto, press conference
-1970 month by month
-Decline
-Mid-west tour, State of the World, TV, economy
-Rise
-Cambodia, election month rating
-1971
-Decline
-Laos, economy
-People's Republic of China [PRC] announcement, August economic action
-Issues not affecting polls
-1969
-Europe trip, Korea airline incident
-1970
-G. Harold Carswell’s nomination, Cambodia, Kent State, Walter J.
Hickel, press conference, trips, Apollo 13, POW raid, withdrawals
-Issues affecting polls
-1971
-Vietnam announcement, Europe trip
-Issues not affecting polls
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-1971
-TV, State of the Union, revenue sharing
-Retreat, protest march
-Pentagon Papers, PRC announcement
-New Economic Program, freeze
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] announcement
-Kissinger’s trip to Peking
-Phase II price controls
-Vietnam peace proposal, Europe trip
-1972
-Rise
-Vietnam, TV, PRC trip
-Decline
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-Rise
-May 8, 1972 decision
-Decline
-Watergate, 1972 campaign, Vietnam
-Gallup compared with Haldeman’s polls
-Currency
-Timing
-Cease-fire
POWs
-Public reaction
-[Arnold] Eric Sevareid
-Press conference or interview with POW [Col. Robinson Risher?]
-Effect of domestic protests
-Jane Fonda
-December 1972 bombing
-Carter Wall’s [?] letter
-Suffering
President’s poll ratings
-Public reaction
-Presidential trips
-Jacksonville
-Compared with TV news conference
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-President’s poll numbers compared with Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Second term
-Peak ratings
-Cycles
-Effects of the economy
-Salary
-Budget
-Cost of living
Recruitment of minorities and ethnics
-Polish-American
-Peter J. Brennan, Charles W. Colson
-Bill Houska [?]
-Winton M. (“Red”) Blount
-Willie J. Usery, Jr.
Evaluation of individuals for jobs
-Bob Mosley [?]
-Brennan
-Appointees
-Shultz
-Ehrlichman
-Maurice H. Stans, Peter G. Peterson
President’s poll ratings
-Public perceptions of the Presidency
-Competence, fun
-President’s entertainment
-Tricia Nixon Cox’s wedding
-Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
-Effects
-Timing of poll
-Pentagon Papers
-Economy
-Lou Harris, Opinion Research Corporation [ORC]
-Questions
-Colson
-Liberal on social policy
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
-George H. Gallup
-Support of President’s economic policy
President's schedule
-Use of prime time television
-John Ford salute
-California trip
-Baseball game
-POWs
Public perception of the Presidency
-Franklin R. Gannon’s study
-Spiritual, personal, programmatic aspects
-Balance
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Patrick J. Buchanan
President's personal appeal
-Public events
-Dinners at the White House
-Ellington
-Frances A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
-Italian-American
-Nelson Ripple [?]
-Orchestra
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-William V. S. Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr.
-Accommodations at the White House
-Compared with Sinatra
Hugh Scott
-Public statements
Electoral politics
-Carl T. Curtis
-Poll numbers compared to President
-George H. W. Bush, Robert J. Dole
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 414-1 (cont’d)
President's schedule
-Meeting
-Ehrlichman
Haldeman left at 2:15 pm.