Conversation 450-021

TapeTape 450StartWednesday, February 17, 1971 at 4:52 PMEndWednesday, February 17, 1971 at 5:24 PMTape start time03:02:54Tape end time03:34:23ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Scheel, Walter;  Rogers, William P.;  Kissinger, Henry A.;  White House photographerRecording deviceOval Office

On February 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Walter Scheel, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:52 pm to 5:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 450-021 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 450-21

Date: February 17, 1971
Time: 4:52 pm - 5:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Walter Scheel, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger; the White
House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting

     Introductions

     Refreshments

     Europe
          -President’s position
          -Questions regarding Europe
                -President’s previous press conference
          -Foreign policy report to Congress
                -Rogers role
                -Melvin R. Laird’s role
          -Rogers negotiations
                -East/West relations
                -Middle East
          -Other areas of concern
                -Compared to Europe
                      -President’s press conference

                              -Southeast Asia

     Germany
         -US-German relations
               -Germany-Eastern Europe relations
                     -US position
         -National Security Council [NSC] meetings
         -Berlin negotiations
               -Bonn/Moscow negotiations
               -Forthcoming German elections
               -Berlin problem
               -Status
               -German position
               -Western allies
               -Soviet Union
                     -Position on Berlin
               -Status
               -German position
               -Goals
                     -Concessions
               -Berlin’s situation
                     -Isolation
                     -President’s view
               -Efforts
               -German position
                     -Western allies
                     -Warsaw Pact

     Gifts

Scheel left at 5:19 pm

     Scheel’s comments
          -Follow-up discussion
                -German policies
                     -German political situation

Rogers left at 5:22 pm

             -Berlin negotiations
                   -Soviet tactics

                -President’s view

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

[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under deed of gift 08/07/2019. Segment cleared for
release.]
[450-021-w002]
[Duration: 6s]

       Walter Scheel’s comments
              -Berlin negotiations
                      -The President’s opinion
                      -Negotiating ability

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

     President’s press conference
           -The President’s handling
           -Vietnam
                -President’s comments
          -Cuban question
                -Kissinger’s view

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

[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-008. Segment declassified on 08/30/2017. Archivist: MAS]
[National Security]
[450-021-w001]
[Duration: 8s]

       The President’s press conference
              -Cuban question
                     -Press conference question dealing with potential missile capability

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

       President’s press conference
          -Television use
                -Effect on positions
                      -Paris negotiations
          -Vietnam
                -Prisoners of War [POWs]
          -Laos

Kissinger left at 5:24 pm

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

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Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
The most important part of work in the space is Europe.
Can I get support for you from Rouse?
And I go through press conference after press conference, and nobody ever asks me, you know, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a,
... ... ... ...
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've got an employee that's driving away.
We'll send him to security.
We've got an officer coming out of there.
We have a few of us in general press here today.
Is there a W-05 up in the middle of the street?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, thank you, guys.
We have a report call.
We have a report call.
We have a report call.
We have a report call.
I think we've covered most of the things that we should talk about.
We don't have any battlegrounds.
We certainly don't have any by and by in terms of East-West relations.
Sidney, here to go.
Sidney, there's a chance for you to come down.
I've been told that the United States and the United States are very consistent with our views.
We had a very good discussion about the Middle East.
We kind of talked about the community and monetary integration, which took the leading part in that whole program, monetary integration.
And it's been very active and I think it's been very constructive.
And we had a discussion about the council's secretary's stance.
Because he is interested.
So am I.
But I've had a conversation with him here.
I just say thank you for your time.
I'll show you the fact of how our relationship with Europe has really been a problem, you know.
Europe is the most important thing that we can do.
On our behalf, you know, here are some of these agents that we need some of these committees to
It's very important because of its implications, but here I said it.
And yet if you go through more than that sort of thing, there's not one question on here.
I mean, that's all.
And that's the key to the best solution.
It's not bad.
It's good.
It's not bad.
It's good.
But I know that it's a very long time, and there's no good in it.
It's a game, and that's what it says.
It's a game, and there's no good in it.
It's a game, and that's what it says.
And fortunately, it is now subsided to the effect that there are differences between the United States and the Federal Republic in terms of your approach.
We know how dealt in this is.
We know, too, that you're aware, as you and I talked before, of the importance of your ties to the West and the importance at a time that you are understandably trying to
hand down some of the differences with the niece and you're doing so and recognizing the primary purpose of making what you've done.
It's a very, very difficult role to play.
We know that and we do not want to cause
uh... uh... uh...
Henry, can we sit at our knees and carry the hospital?
We discussed the name.
We discussed this problem.
We talked about disagreements about, say, well, not disagreements, but differences in opinion about what
But I'm sure we're pretty much down the line.
It's a very, very, uh, I mean, we're just agreeing on things.
Well, let's imagine, like, instead of you, uh, mention, uh, the schedule that you think might be followed in terms of, uh,
He doesn't think there's going to be much progress until after that.
Yeah, until, uh, until, uh... We have the actions in motion.
And now we have to get back to that.
So there is in fact an extraordinary activity of politicians of the federal government in Berlin.
So this is
is a very good chance for the Soviet DDR to take over the place.
But it is inevitable.
They know exactly what direction it's headed.
Why do we know that during the election, the Democratic Party will not be there?
Because they don't like to hear just one single party represent the Democratic Party.
So they must be there, too.
And it's over then.
But this is one of these...
Because we have, I think, we have to face, I think, a start, real business, not much.
Very good.
And even today, I think about it.
I think about it.
Yes.
I think about it.
I think about it.
The paper, the three Western towns prepared, is the very good thing to do.
I think about it.
I think about it.
I think he just submitted a paper to the Russians about what was happening in that area.
And he worked out the four-part proof that he lost it.
It's a blue paper.
And the Russians had...
made up their mind already to some of the points, except at some point expressed their opinion that it would be a place for further discussion.
So I think we can start and I hope that
I think it's good to say that other than this point, it hasn't made any concessions.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
The fact is that we have to agree on the realities as they are, and everybody likes to get a little bit more, but everybody knows that we have to be just on that point, nothing else.
And at the end, I'm quite convinced that we will touch.
What about a specific point?
It's burning a part of the federal republic.
I notice that crops are moving out of there.
It would have had to be... Look at the other hand, the Oscar-made law has been suspended since the beginning.
That means that it has been...
the land of very high percent of our continent.
Therefore, the three western allies has pre-responsibility.
In fact, they have the insolvency.
But the difficulty is that the four powers do not really
on a common opinion about the legal situation, the situation of Berlin and the international law.
So, finding the statement, they had to pass out the word Berlin because Berlin as a whole is not acceptable for the Russians.
and West Berlin is not acceptable for us.
And so they tried to find a phrasing without mentioning the word Berlin.
They talked of the area of concern on which the forefathers had the responsibility and so on.
This is making it easier.
But now we cannot hope
and come to an examination of the international situation about the security and law and it's 45 and there's no chance to get it now.
So, I think that's the end of this and trying to come to a practical analysis.
Well, if you can think it through, Walter, you'll realize there isn't a limit which Y-16B has to do.
then that is an exergence by the Russians that really is part of the federal economy.
And when they exerge, they exerge the existing list of the Western federal economy.
They exerge that.
Well, they serve the cultural and the...
Cultural and the cultural and the financial.
All cultural and the financial.
And the same social structure
But they do not accept the political links.
That means they say religion is not a state of a land of the very body.
But this is quite right.
It's a sense of how that constitution is thought.
It has a particular position.
All the employees that you have, the Russians, they do not oppose against the federal agency.
wouldn't just walk a line.
What they proposed is the visitor representation of the political...
They proposed an apartment
President, Chancellor, taking their functions, assuming their functions.
Of course they cannot prohibit Mr. Brown to go to Berlin because he is citizen of this country.
But this is what they like and there is a
start with a difficult problem
Because until the last years, we had not had sections of the Parliament.
The reality is that we had no sections of the Parliament, no meeting of the Parliament, but we had a committee.
And now it will be difficult to find a definition of what kind of committee it is.
can, for instance, we could have the task committee meetings, but then this is quite clear, and we did pass, we had the task committee meetings, and we did not pass matters, uh, uh,
foreign policy or something like that.
But on the other hand, we should insist to be allowed to have communities.
And the party organizations in Berlin are organizations of the federal parties
and going around
to hand our money on measures every ten years, and the Convention does that, of course.
So, as a federal party, Congress should learn that this must be possible, because we must take on the freedom of Convention.
And then you invite the local organization, invite the federal party to head the convention in Berlin.
This must be possible.
I think the thing that we all agree on is that the Federal Republic makes any concessions on the question of the land.
First, it's got to maintain its political preference very substantially.
And secondly, it's got to get concessions so that the tensions by access will be removed.
Yes, you're just talking about...
I can give you an example.
Michael, for example, it's not on all fours, but it's really the relationship of the pregnant mother, the umbilical cord.
In other words, Berlin, if anybody want to talk, Berlin exists, and that is dependent upon the umbilical cord.
Here's the Federal Republic, and here's the umbilical cord.
Life cannot cut, you cannot allow the Russians, except for the least, Germans, to have the right to cut, to suppress it, to take it off, or otherwise it will die.
That's right, it will die on its own, because you know the heir didn't care.
Because when the child, after his meeting, after he's born, if you want to cut that cord, the mother has to take care.
So it seems to be the guarantee, he must be wanting it, well, in terms of financial...
in terms of individual, personal, and in terms of political access at a low positive level.
Because the positive is the important, is something that of course we ask those people as to whether they should be just positive or not positive.
But the semantics may be that way.
But not the fact that Samaritan's Day was going to cost them.
Not the fact that Berlin exists as a free city, as free people, only because it is tied
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
Dead by.
They accept that philosophy.
It is expressed in a few orders that they accept the links between West Berlin and the Federal Republic of these particular leaders, but they try not to.
If we could, by making very minor political concessions to the president, suggest that our system of presence would be higher or make minor adjustments.
If you turn to that and get access to those categories so that you have, so that you can be closer to the federal government than before, as we've made it, that would be a worthwhile experience.
When you really want a person, financial, personnel, and the, that kind of access to their, that's the kind of, that's the kind of political, political or, as they say, symbolic entities that this political also work and you can't assume.
In connection with the existing links between West Berlin and the Federal Republic, it is a question of who represents the population of West Berlin in foreign affairs.
We are prepared to accept, for instance, to give the passport to the federal public.
We shall.
that the three western allies are the head of the sub-region, the supreme sub-region.
Of course, this may be possible, but the problem is that the one or ten countries who don't accept these passports, they don't want to take them.
They don't.
You have to know your personality.
Yes.
We're always glad to see you.
Remind us that you can't start a Walmart for us.
Many times over your generation, many times we don't start one, right?
But I have to say that it's pretty serious.
We've asked for it all the time.
We're going to look at what, and how, and see what we can do.
It's not by the father of the two, of the two people, you know.
Reverend and all the rest of us, but number one being above, and they all being white.
And it's the room, there's the sides,
I have to go next year.
I have to next year.
The damn thing is such a bore.
Huh?
I mean, I think that they think we all need to go out back upstairs and talk to our friends at the spa.
God damn it, they're dull.
They're not, they're not willing and open-keen to the things that we love and the things that we should.
So, I think it was a huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge,
They find a way here.
Well, we can use our time more than anything.
That's just the point.
But, okay, so I said it's all happening the same as we've seen Jordan go.
Well, they all go solo with the Germans.
What you do is you see the German on position and he goes, that's right, he's another partner.
That's when he's kind of a big freak down the road.
That's right, that's the problem.
We all go solo with people who have not had a go.
And that, that, and then they go back and they go solo.
This is the K-band.
Open your ears for a long time.
Keep your eyes open.
And he's got everything wrong.
He says that I don't want an agreement.
I absolutely can't agree with that.
But this thing kind of sits well for heat.
It's starting to be a piece of the room I'm bashing in.
It's a little corny.
It's a little fuzzy.
John's like that, sir.
That's exactly how I felt, you know.
It was a great moment.
It's extreme.
You know, I said...
I thought you handled the Cuban questions very well
No, I think you're absolutely correct.
And you brought in a pencil weapon, too, so to put.
The idea is, he's saving, not getting concerned.
Donnix Johnson came in on a private basis today.
That's so hard to do.
Yes, that's something that's essential.
It's essential.
Yes.
It's absolutely essential.
Now these, they may not have come 10 years past, but they like to excite the moment that they're negotiating with us, and we are in good faith that they're that way.
First of all, this is from the liars and actors, the greatest liars and greatest actors in the world.
You know all the things about this, sir.
First, I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
I would be in so much pain if I did not do it.
And, I mean, the scale of what you said about the negotiation patterns, for example, that as our forces go down, time is running out for them.
Also, prisoners, as long as they've got a prisoner, there will be Americans.
And Murray Marner on the way out said, well, he's answered it loud and sweet.
Now the only thing is, as citizens, it's okay if you have to abort the operation.
Abort it?
Abort it.
That's right, that's what I'm saying.
But the point you made is really, it is fascinating that, uh, the American press puts one through an Atlantic conference, they have the same question in ten different ways, to see whether you might listen to it.
you