Conversation: 418-002
Prev: 418-001 Next: 418-003Start Date: Wednesday, March 7, 1973 9:15 PM
End Date: Wednesday, March 7, 1973 10:50 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); [Unknown person(s)]; White House operator; Sanchez, ManoloRecording Device: Old Executive Office Building
NARA Description:
On March 7, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:15 pm and 5:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 418-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 418-2
Date: March 7, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:15 pm and 5:50 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Meeting with President
-Enthusiasm
-2-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Speaking abilities
-Congressional leaders meeting [?]
-Compared with William P. Rogers
Charles Gill
-Employment
-Roy L. Ash
-Alternatives
Rose Mary Woods
-Camp David
-Salary
-Raise
-Compared with secretaries, special assistants
-Leonard Garment
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Stephen B. Bull, David N. Parker
-Raise
-Problems
-Compared to Haldeman
Manolo Sanchez's salary
-Raise
-Fina Sanchez
-Rex W. Scouten
-White House staff
-Government pay
-Hours of work
-Raise
Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Celebrity value
-Reduction
-White House reception
-Scheduling
-Need for time to recover
-Scheduling
-3-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Flag Day
-Defense Department
-Calls
-Col. Robinson Risner
-Capt. Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr.
-Meetings with President
Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]
-Voice of Democracy contest winners
-Appearance
-Clothing
-White House tours
-Press coverage
-Ronald L Ziegler
-Wire services
-Appearance
-President’s reaction
-Compared with Future Farmers of America, Boy Scouts of America,
Choral Group
-Stephen B. Bull
Dress
-Secret Service agents
-President's opinion
Visitors to White House
-Dwight Chapin [?]
-Bull
President’s introduction
-Applause
-Effect
-Congressional members
-Children
-Bull
Thomas C. Korologos
Stag dinners
-4-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Invitations
-Republican National Committee [RNC]
-Republican state chairmen
-Cabinet
-Supporters of President
-Convenience for President
-Women attendees
-Compared to men
Women
-Number of appointees
-Qualifications for high positions
-Compared to Blacks, Mexican Americans
-Women in administration
-Performance
Vietnam Veterans
-Radio speech
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Compared to police officers
The President talked with Ehrlichman at an unknown time between 4:15 pm and 5:50 pm.
Rockefeller
-Capital punishment
-Organized Crime
-Drugs
-Possession amount
-Distribution
-President’s speech on crime, drugs
[End of telephone conversation]
Ehrlichman talked with the President at an unknown time between 4:15 pm and 5:50 pm.
Telephone call
-5-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
[End of telephone conversation]
Ehrlichman
POWs
-Event at White House
-Announcement
-Timing
-Other events
-Sammy Davis, Jr. show
-Vietnam Veterans
-Armed Forces Day
-Memorial Day
-Vietnam War dead
-Parade
-Television [TV] coverage
-Radio speech
-Naval Academy
-Armed Forces Day
-Officers
-Memorial Day
-Unknown soldier
-Missing in action [MIA]
-Dinner
-Announcement
-Event for children
-Children at dinner
-Behavior
-Numbers
-Later party
-Tour of White House
-MIA
-Meetings with President
President's meeting with freshmen Congress members
-Format
-Size
-6-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Location
-Cabinet Room
-Reaction
-Oval office
******************************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Speech [?]
-Earl L. Butz
-Moral theme
Dinners for contributors
-1972 Election
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Evening at the White House
-Introductions of individuals
-Paul Keyes’ role
-Impresario
-Assistance
-George H. W. Bush
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Tricia Nixon Cox
-Show themes
-Irving Berlin
-“Broken Hearted” [?]
-Female performer
-Country
-“Okie from Muskogee”
-Patriotic music
-Berlin
-President’s introduction
-Orchestra medley
-7-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Harry L. (“Bing”) Crosby
-Finale
-“No Business Like Show Business”
-Army Chorus
-“God Bless America”
-Patriotism
-Jack Benny
-Supporter of President
-Classical music
-Comedy
-Lucille Ball
-Appeal to children
-Reruns of "I Love Lucy"
-Value
-Compared to dinners
-President’s experience
-Entertainers
-Benny
-Davis
-Positive publicity
-Washington Post
-Ziegler
-Washington Post coverage
Donald Radcliffe
Stag dinners
-Press coverage
-Effect
-Toasts
-Advantages
-Army Chorus
-Songs
Evenings at White House
-Army Chorus
-"Road to Mandalay"
-Response of men
-8-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Response of women
-"Strolling Strings"
Nyugen Van Thieu's visit
-Arrival ceremony
-El Toro Air Base
-President’s attendance
-Parade
-Crowd
-Statements
-Accommodations in California
-House
-Compared to hotel
-La Jolla
-San Clemente
-Rose Mary Woods
President's schedule
-John Ford dinner
-Citation
-President's appearance
-Reception
-President as host
-Room capacity
-Attendees
-Film institute trustees
-Supporters of President
-Taft Schreiber’s opinion
-President's appearance at dinner
-Compared to John B. Connally event
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] taping of dinner
-Excerpts of Ford's films
-Marine Corps Band
- Schreiber
-Medal of Freedom
-Daily Variety article
-Reception
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Head table
-Introductions
-Photographs
-Drafting schedule
-Camp David
-Dinner
-Meetings with President
-Departure
-Ehrlichman
-Afternoon visits
-International Conference on Vietnam
-Henry A. Kissinger and Rogers
-State Department lunch
-National Security Council [NSC] meeting
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Cabinet meeting
-Cabinet meeting
-Ehrlichman
-Peter J. Brennan
-Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
-Budget
-Surrogate program
-Aid to Vietnam
-Rogers
-Report to President
Haldeman talked with the White House operator and Rogers at an unknown time between 4:15
pm and 5:50 pm. The President conferred with Haldeman during the call.
[Conversation No. 418-2A]
[See Conversation No. 37-61]
President’s schedule
-Cabinet meeting
-Aid to Vietnam
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
[End of telephone conversation]
Contributors
-Congressional leaders
-Reaction to Rogers
-Line in speech
-President's stature in other countries
-Concerns of supporters
-Rogers' handling
-Compared to Kissinger
-Public relations
-Rogers’ role
Melvin R. Laird
-Consultant to White House
-Attendance at meetings
-Cabinet
-congressional leaders
-Strategy on Congressional relations
-Bryce N. Harlow
-Recruitment to White House staff
-Defense Department
-Harlow
-Compared to Ehrlichman, Brennan [?], Peter M. Flanigan, William E. Timmons,
Korologos, Richard M. Cook
-Congress’s opinion
-Need for White House staff with Congressional background
-Timmons’ position
President’s schedule
-Meeting with federal Woman’s Award recipients
-Press [?]
-Length
-Other meeting
-Value
-Bull
-Haldeman’s recommendation
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
Public relations
-Goals
-Congress
-Ehrlichman
-Need to decide
-President's image
-World leader, peacemaker
-Rogers
-Preservation
-Compared to John F. Kennedy’s administration
-Civil rights
-Bangladesh
-President's speeches
-Focus on big picture
-Compared to international monetary situation, budget
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics {USSR]
-National spirit
-President’s image as world leader, peacemaker
-Compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
-John Kennedy’s failures
-“John Kennedy’s 13 Great Mistakes in the White House”
-Publishing information
-Haldeman's copy
-Library book
-Check-outs
-Frequency
-Publisher
-Malcolm Smith, Jr.
-Mutual Broadcasting System [MBS]
-Need for reprinting
-Haldeman's meeting with Newsweek reporter
-Writer's point of view
-Kissinger
-Support for President's philosophy
-Nixon Doctrine
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Second Inaugural Address
-Chapter on Laos
-Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem assassination
-Criticism of John Kennedy
Press conference on Laos
-Andrei A. Gromyko
-W[illiam] Averell Harriman
-Smith
-Whereabouts
-First printing
-Purchase
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Goals
-Clarification
-President’s historical legacy
-President as political innovator
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-New Federalism
-Boldness
-Anticommunism
-PRC trip
-Price and wage controls
-Leadership
-Domestic programs
-Legacy
-Avoidance
-Crime
-Problems for President
-New Federalism, New Majority
-Energy, environment
-Public interest
-Oil industry
-CBS TV show
-Negative results
-Taxes
-New Federalism
-Lack of positive credit
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Value
-Government reorganization
-Public interest
-Lack
-White House counselors
-Cabinet departments
-Leadership
-Achievement of goals
-Limitations
-Foreign Policy
-Crises
-Trips
-Africa
-Latin America
-Europe
-USSR
-PRC
-Japan
-Major issues
-Government spending, taxes
-Bureaucracy
-Revenue sharing
-New majority
-Reestablishment of U.S. world leaderships
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-US-PRC relations
-Social issue
-Family
-Police department
-Army
-Volunteers
-Religion
-Patriotism
-Self-help
-Moral integrity
-Sacrifice
-Puritan work ethic
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-“Square America”
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-New Establishment
-Herman Kahn
-Scheduling approach
-Goals
-1974 election
-Scheduling approach
-Senate, governorships
-House of Representatives
-Target districts
-Visit to localities
-Regional balance
-South
-Mississippi
-John C. Stennis event
-New Orleans
-Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
-Al Smith event
-New York
-Iowa
-Herbert Hoover birthplace event
-Focus on big issues
-TV appearances
-Vetoes
President's schedule
-March, April
-State dinners
-Lee Kuan Yew
-Giulio Andreotti
-Lee Kuan Yew
-Stag dinner
-Wife’s attendance
-Speech
-Press coverage
-Howard K. Smith
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-Roscoe Drummond
-Joseph W. Alsop
-Views on world
-Vietnam
-Stag dinners
-Size
-New Establishment
-Leaders
-Howard K. Smith
-Donald McI Kendall
-New Labor
-Conservative Academics
-Texas
-Labor, church leaders
-Foreign policy interest
-“Elites”
-Invitations
-Newbold (“Newby”) Noyes, Jr.
-Katherine L. Graham
-Mike Flynn, New York Daily News
-Adrian Lee [?], [unintelligible name]
-Lee Kuan Yew
-Private dinner
-Press coverage
-Guest list [?]
-State dinners
-Andreotti
-Trip to Key Biscayne
-Congressional recess
-Kakuei Tanaka Visit
-Scheduling
-Relation to trip to USSR
-Another state visit
-Black
-VFW speech
-Trip to California
-Europe trip
-16-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
-[Emperor of Japan] Hirohito
-Tanaka visit
-Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah of Iran] visit to US
Public relations
-Tour of nation
-Value
-Reception
-Influence of POWs
-Events at White House
-Value to President
-Paul Keyes
-Pearl M. Bailey, Willy Brandt
-TV
-Film footage
-Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
-Publicity of previous trips
-Need for activity
Congressional relations
-Objectives
-Budget battle
-Legislated appropriations
-Veto overrides
-Public pressure on Congress
-Surrogates
-Support for President
-Letter writing campaign
-Self-help
-President’s veto
-Aid to North Vietnam
-Compared to budget battle
-Public support
-Rogers, Kissinger, Elliot L Richardson, George P. Shultz, William E. Simon
-Assistant Secretaries
-17-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-2010)
Conversation No. 418-2 (cont’d)
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:15 pm.
Women
Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
-Marriage
[End of segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Sanchez and Haldeman left.