Conversation No. 419-34

Date: March 14, 1973
Time: 4:25 pm - 5:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

       Ziegler's press conference
             -Executive privilege
                    -John W. Dean, III
             -Watergate
                    -Administration cooperation with investigators
                    -John N. Mitchell
                    -Dean
                    -Richard A. Moore
                    -Further questions on Watergate
             -Executive privilege
                    -Emphasis on cooperation
                    -Restrictions on raw files disclosure

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and
4:34 pm.
                                          -45-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                            Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



[Conversation No. 419-34A]

[See Conversation No. 37-107]

[End of telephone conversation]

       Watergate
            -Donald H. Segretti case
                 -Ziegler's statements
                 -White House involvement

The President talked with John W. Dean, III at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and 4:34 pm.

[Conversation No. 419-34B]

[See Conversation No. 37-108]

[End of telephone conversation]

       Watergate
            -Segretti case
                  -White House involvement
                  -Dwight L. Chapin's involvement
                         -Questions to Ziegler
                  -Political sabotage and espionage
                         -White House involvement
                  -Chapin-Segretti link
                         -Confirmation
                         -L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III's testimony
                               -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] interviews
                                     -Herbert W. Kalmbach
                  -Ziegler's remarks
                         -Use of FBI raw files
                               -American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] guidelines
                                     -Public release
                               -John Chancellor’s file
                                     -Destruction
                                           -Lyndon B. Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover
                                            -46-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                               Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                               -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                               -William E. Timmons
                                     -Wife
                                     -Validity
                               -President’s file
                               -Ziegler’s file
                  -President's reply at press conference
                        -Dean's report
                               -White House involvement
                        -Ervin Committee investigation
                               -Guidelines
                               -Hearsay prohibition
                        -Press questions
                        -President's reaction to reports on Segretti
                        -Dean investigation
                               -Chapin involvement

The President talked with Dean between 4:34 pm and 4:36 pm.

[Conversation No. 419-34C]

[See Conversation No. 37-109]

[End of telephone conversation]

       Watergate
            -President's press conference
                  -Raw files disclosure
                         -Answer
                               -Dean's investigation
                               -Problems
                         -Further comments
                  -Segretti case
                         -Investigation
                         -Segretti's actions
                         -Chapin
                               -Hiring of Segretti
                               -Contacts of Segretti, Mitchell, and Kalmbach
                                      -47-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                        Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)




Wounded Knee incident
    -Patrick J. Buchanan
    -President’s response
          -Justice Department investigation
    -Indians' actions
          -Buchanan
          -Radicals
    -President’s response

Shield laws
      -President’s position
            -Mitchell's policy
            -Ziegler
            -[First name unknown] Dixon’s testimony
                   -Justice Department
            -Support for guidelines
            -Legislation
                   -Questions about First Amendment
                   -Federal compared to state courts
            -Restatement
            -Conflict of rights
                   -Rights of reporters
                   -First Amendment
                   -Protection from crime
            -President’s conversation with reporter
                   -Press coverage
            -Ziegler’s attendance at joint meeting of press organizations [?]
            -Definition of a reporter
                   -Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union [TASS] [?]
                   -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
            -Dangers of law
                   -Emotional rhetoric
                   -Legislation
                          -First Amendment
                          -Passage
                   -Abuse of protection
                   -Congress
                                    -48-

           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                              Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                     Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                  -Discrediting of press
           -State court decisions
                  -Bransburg [?] decision
                  -Federal remedy
                  -Meetings with American Bar Association [ABA]
           -First Amendment
                  -Freedom of the press
                  -Qualifier
                  -End of contract

Congressional relations
     -Executive privilege
           -President’s letter [statement]
           -Responsibility
                  -Fiscal side
                  -Political side
           -Power of presidency
           -Criticism
           -Use by President
                  -Frequency
                         -Records
           -Cooperation with Congress
           -Dan Rather
           -Briefing
           -Dean [?]
           -Television [TV]
           -Alger Hiss case
                  -President’s experience
                         -FBI assistance
                  -Harry S Truman's Executive Order of non-cooperation with Congress
                         -Government departments
                               -Information sharing
                         -Comparison with current administration
                  -Nature of espionage

Watergate
     -Ziegler's talk with James C. Haggerty
           -Executive privilege
                              -49-

      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                        Tape Subject Log
                         (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] case
      -Army-McCarthy hearings
            -Ziegler’s childhood memory
      -Henry A. Kissinger [?]
      -Dan Rather [?]
      -As national issue
            -Hearings on TV
      -Testimony
            -Mitchell, Maurice H. Stans, Chapin, Dean
            -Segretti
            -Subpoenas
-Executive privilege
      -Mitchell
      -Stans
      -Joseph R. McCarthy hearings
      -Mitchell, Stans and Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.
-Hiss case
      -Press stories and reactions
      -Impact on establishment
-Press conference
-Questions
      -Dean
      -Gray
      -Segretti case
            -Dean's investigation
            -White House staff
            -Chapin
-Impact on White House staff
      -Ziegler
            -Confrontations with press
-Ervin hearings
      -Guidelines for conduct
            -Hearsay
-Gray
      -Hearings
            -John V. Tunney
                   -California
            -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
                                      -50-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                     Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                 -Difficulties

Press conference questions
      -North Vietnam
            -Infiltration
      -George P. Shultz’s Europe trip
            -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
            -Paris
                   -International finance
            -Press conference
                   -Soviet Jews
                          -Leonid I. Brezhnev [?]
      -Pakistan
            -US arms sale
                   -Announcement
                   -Protest
      -Vietnam agreement
            -North Vietnam’s infiltration
            -PRC, USSR
      -John T. Downey
            -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
            -Release from PRC

Press conferences
      -Balance
      -Frequency
      -Subjects
            -Troop withdrawal
            -Congress, domestic issues
            -Vietnam settlement
                  -TV coverage
      -Announcement before Congress
            -Response
            -Benefits
            Amnesty
      -Frequency
            -Staggered pattern
            -Control
                                          -51-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                           Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                  -Role as event for publicity
            -Compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy
            -Kennedy
                  -Events for publicity
                        -Staggered patterns
            -Press coverage
                  -Live, day time
                        -Value
                  -Amount of play
                        -Radio
                        -Evening
            -Format
                  -East Room
                  -Press Room
                  -East Room as setting
            -Preparation
                  -Amount of time
                  -Worthiness
                  -Use of President’s energy
            -Value of press conferences
            -Types of questions
                  -Participatory

       Rural Environmental Assistance Program [REAP]
             -Paper
                  -Distribution

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:36 pm.

       Henry A. Kissinger
            -Presence at meeting
            -Secretary

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 5:29 pm.

       REAP
           -Bud Linewall [?]
                -Office of Kenneth W. Clawson
                                     -52-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                               Tape Subject Log
                                (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                   Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



      -Column
           -Congressional Record
           -United Press International [UPI]
           -Expansion of story
      -Unnamed woman
           -Number of acres [?]
           -Wealth
      -Washington Post

Press coverage
      -Handling
            -Honest reporting
            -Pressure
                   -Fairness
      -Spiro T. Agnew’s speech
      -Administration’s effectiveness
            -Overtness
            -Repressiveness
      -Control by administration
            -Skillfulness
            -Hardness
            -William S. Paley
            -Credit
            -Respect
            -President’s response to a question
                   -Tone
                   -Power of Presidency
                         -Clarity
      -Quality
      -Networks
            -Use of prime time
            -Concerns
                   -Control by administration

Press conference
      -Vesco case
            -Handling
                 -John D. Ehrlichman
                                            -53-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                           Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                                 -Stans
                                 -Contributions
                           -President’s comments

Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:36 pm.

       Kissinger
             -Location
             -Presence at meeting
             -Timing

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 5:29 pm.



Henry A. Kissinger entered at 5:29 pm.

       Anatoliy F. Dobrynin

Ziegler left at 5:30 pm.

       Pakistan
             -Announcement
                  -US aid

       Watergate
            -Samuel J. Ervin, Jr’s statement
                  -Constitutional requirements
                  -Separation of powers
                  -President’s aides
                        -Questioning
                        -Segretti case [?]
            -President’s press conference
                  -Dean’s investigation
                        -Responses to questions
                              -Clear position
                                     -Standards
                                     -Cooperation
                                   -54-

           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                              Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                     Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



     -FBI investigation
           -Interrogations
                  -Unnamed woman’s [Judy Hoback ?] request
                        -Private interview
                        -Presence of lawyers
     -Handling of press questions
           -Posture
           -Seniority
           -FBI interview of secretary
           -Question for Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP]
           -Follow up about accountability
           -Danger
           -Distortion, hearsay information
           -Final statement
                  -Ervin Committee
     -Segretti
           -Administration’s disapproval
           -Chapin
           -Letters [?]

North Vietnam
     -Forces in Cambodia
           -Withdrawal
           -US aid request
           -President's press conference
                 -Explicit statement aid
                        -Prisoners of war [POWs]
     -Agreement on ending war and restoring peace in Vietnam
           -Article 20
                 -Cambodia and Laos
                 -Cease-fire compliance
                        -Compared withdrawal

Sudan
     -Message
           -Terrorism
     -President’s statement
                                           -55-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                            Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



       USSR
           -Shultz's meeting with Brezhnev
                 -Soviet Jews
                       -Press coverage
                       -Mission
                       -Authorization
                       -President's response at press conference
                             -Hard line
                                    -Most-favored-nation [MFN] status
                                          -Foreign policy
                                    -Shultz’s discussion with Brezhnev
                                          -USSR’s initiative

       US-USSR trade relations
           -Soviet Jews
           -Press coverage
           -Congress
                 -Kissinger's meeting with Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
                       -Decency
                       -Potential as Defense Secretary

       Vietnam
            -Cease-fire
                 -North Vietnam strategy
                        -Tests
                        -US withdrawal
                        -Communications

Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 5:30 pm.

       President’s schedule
             -Telephone call [?]

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.

       Vietnam
            -Cease-fire
                 -North Vietnam strategy
                                              -56-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                         Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. Sept-2010)
                                                               Conversation No. 419-34 (cont’d)



                             -Economic aid
                             -US negotiations with PRC, USSR

       Kissinger's conversation with Dobrynin
             -US-USSR relations
                   -Soviet military aid to North Vietnam
                         -Answers to US challenges
                         -Civilian goods
                         -Tanks

       United Nations [UN]
            -Kurt Waldheim
                  -Offices for Vietcong [VC] or Vietminh
                        -Recall of John A. Scali from post

       President’s statement
             -Aid [?]

Kissinger left at 5:40 pm.