Conversation: 483-019
Prev: 483-018 Next: 483-020Start Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1971 9:20 PM
End Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1971 10:14 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Mitchell, John N.; Dean, John W., III; White House photographer; Ziegler, Ronald L.; [Unknown person(s)]; White House operator; Morrison, SueRecording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 03:51:47
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 04:42:28
NARA Description:
On April 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John N. Mitchell, John W. Dean, III, White House photographer, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Sue Morrison met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:20 pm to 5:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 483-019 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 483-19
Date: April 20, 1971 Conv. No.483-18 (cont.)
Time: 4:20 pm - 5:14 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, John N. Mitchell, and John W. Dean, III; the
White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting
Supreme Court decision on busing
-Questions
-Chief Justice Warren Burger
-Administration's school aid program
-Impact
-Approach
-Take credit or distance administration
-Implications
-Local options
-Statement
Mitchell's trip
Photo
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal-Returnable]
[Duration: 44s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
******************************************************************************
62
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
Supreme Court decision on school busing
Mitchell's visitors
Supreme Court decision on busing
-Implications
-De jure
-Application
-Los Angeles County case
-De jure
-Gerrymandering
-Unanimity
-Burger
-Implications
-Racial balance
-Necessity
-Opinion
-Charlotte-Mecklenburg case
-Incidents of racial balance
-Walter F. Mondale
-Abraham A. Ribicoff
-Guidelines
-Equity proceedings
-Dual school systems
-Previous decisions
-Neighborhood schools
-Desegregation/racial balance
-Non-contiguous school districts
-Charlotte-Mecklenburg case
-Future impact
-General principle
-Resegregation
-Washington, DC
-Possible effect on South
-Cities
-Neighborhood schools
-School districts
-The courts
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP]
-Jack Greenberg
-Joe Brown
63
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Power under Title VI
-School districts
-Compliance under court order
-Procedure
-HEW "zealots"
-Non-contiguous districts
-Racial balance Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
-Whitten amendment
-State legislatures
-Racial balance
Ronald L. Ziegler was present at an unknown time after 4:20 pm.
-Leonard Garment and Dean
-Administration's legislative proposals
-Possible administration statement
-Local school board responsibility
-Local school authorities
-District courts
-HEW
-De facto segregation
-White House involvement
-Possible comment by the President
-President’s view
-Burger
-Administration's position
-Resignation to court decision
-Possible administration statement
-Spending for busing
-Administration’s attitude
-Ziegler's possible statement
-Possible wording
-Changes
-Local school authorities and district courts
-Compliance with Court's mandate
-Possible public effects
-Conveys administration’s attitude
-Burden on local school authorities and district courts
-Justice Department/HEW
-Ziegler's possible statement
-Local school district obligations
64
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-District Courts
-HEW/Justice Department
-Public interpretation
-Compliance with the law
-Administration's position
-Obligation to follow law of the land
-Local school districts and district court responsibilities
-Ziegler's possible statement Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
-Federal enforcement procedure requirements
-HEW/Justice statutory responsibilities
-Federal role
-Edward L. Morgan
-HEW's responsibilities
-Redrawing of school district lines
-Administration's policy
-Arguments/controversies
-HEW's position
-Ziegler's possible statement
-President’s view
-President's statement March 24, 1970
-Law of the land
-Constitutional precepts
-President's statements on busing, neighborhood schools
-Law of the land
-Justice/HEW's statutory responsibilities
-Local school district and district courts responsibilities
-Justice/HEW powers
-Whitten amendment
-President’s March 24, 1970 statement
-Desegregation of school systems
-Context
-Law of the land
-Administration's position
-Press conference
-Law of the land
-Context
-Compliance
-Enforcement of desegregation
-Local districts/district courts
-Relevance of past decisions
-Law of the land
65
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
The President's schedule, April 21, 1971
-Meeting with Graham B. Steenhoven
-US table tennis team
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
Supreme Court decision on school busing
-Burger
The President's schedule Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
-Picture of the President and Mitchell
-Phyllis Slocum [sp?]
-Meeting with Republican Senators
Desegregation
-Burger
Haldeman and Dean left at 4:42 pm.
Ziegler left at an unknown time before 4:59 pm.
Supreme Court decision on school busing
-De facto segregation
-Ruling
-Dual school systems
-The South
-The President's position
-Garment
-Hypocrisy
-Opinions within administration
-Richard A. Moore
-Public reaction
The President's schedule, April 18, 1971
-Drive through Washington with Julie Nixon Eisenhower
Supreme Court
-Possible resignations
-Burger
-John Marshall Harlan
-Tenure
-Mitchell's conversation with Burger
-Herbert Brownell
-Burger
66
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Republican
-Harlan
-Burger
-Hill case
-Legal opinions
-William O. Douglas
-Hugo L. Black
-Thurgood Marshall Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
-Health
Mitchell's trip to Florida
-Meeting with Marshall and Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Florida
-President's meeting with American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE], April 16,
1971
-Mitchell and Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo's call to the President
-Television
Influence of television
-Impact on nation
-President's speech on Southeast Asia, April 7, 1971
-Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr. case
-President's visit to California
-Laos
-President's speech on Vietnam
-President's People's Republic of China [PRC] initiative
-Significance
-”Doves”
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Economic report
-Stock market
-Rise
-Number of stockholders
National mood
-Psychology
-Mitchell's meeting with Lee R. Nunn
-Nunn's trip to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, West Coast
-Popular attitude towards the President
-Columnists
-Polls
67
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Press corps
The President's meeting with John L. McClellan
-McClellan's views regarding the President's supporters
-Democrats
-McClellan's support for the President
-Mrs. Norma McClellan
Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
The President's schedule
-James O. Eastland
Eastland
-James C. Wright
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Privacy]
[Duration: 8s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**********************************************************************
-Support for the President
-Votes
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 4:42 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 4:59 pm.
Jack N. Anderson
Haldeman entered at an unknown time after 4:42 pm.
The President's schedule
-Meeting with Eastland and Roman L. Hruska
68
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Mitchell
-Executive Office Building [EOB]
-Hugh Scott
Scott
Eastland
-Louisiana
-Support for the President Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
Southern Democrats
-Eastland
-McClellan
-Richard B. Russell
-Spessard L. Holland
-David H. Gambrell
-Lawton M. Chiles, Jr.
Republicans
-McClellan's criticism
Schedule
-Upcoming meeting with Republican Senators
-Supreme Court decision of school busing
The President's schedule, April 21, 1971
-Morning
-Afternoon
Mitchell's schedule, April 21, 1971
-Secretary Sue Morrison
The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:42 pm and
4:59 pm.
[Conversation No. 483-19A]
[See Conversation No. 2-13]
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule, April 21, 1971
69
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
The President talked with Sue Morrison between 4:59 pm and 5:01 pm.
[Conversation No. 483-19B]
[See Conversation No. 2-14]
[End of telephone conversation]
Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
The President's schedule
-Meeting with Steenhoven
-Mitchell
-Meeting with national 4-H Club leaders
-Meeting with Henry A. Kissinger
Morrison
-Maiden name
Harry S. Dent
-Schedule
-Location
Supreme Court decision on school busing
-Impact
-Supreme Court
-The South
-HEW
-Possible shake-up
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Robert H. Finch
-John G. Veneman
-Lewis H. Butler
-Unknown name
-Order
-Morgan
-Dean
-Morgan
-Requirements
-President's position
-Butler
-Bureaucracy
-Richardson
-Finch
70
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Richardson’s possible response
-Non-contiguous zoning
-Busing
-Administration’s position
-School authorities' obligations
-Plans for District Courts
-HEW
-Plans for school districts Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
-Consultant role
Mitchell's schedule, April 21, 1971
-HEW
-Richardson
-Meeting with the President
-Richardson
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Timing
-Richardson
-Ehrlichman
Supreme Court decision on school busing
-Possible administration initiatives
-Leadership on issue
-Credit for decision
-Blacks
Southern blacks
-Support for administration
-1968 election
-White liberals
-Possible response to Supreme Court decision on busing
Desegregation
-Effect of integration on black colleges
-Black schools
-Black teachers
-Separate society
-Gradualism
Supreme Court decision on school busing
-President's position
-Staff meeting
71
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Law
-Demagoguery
-Instructions for Ziegler
The President's schedule
-Upcoming photo with Mitchell
The President's schedule, April 21, 1971
-Meeting with Haldeman and Mitchell Conv. No. 483-19 (cont.)
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 14s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
**********************************************************************
An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 5:01 pm.
The President's schedule
-Picture with Mitchell
The unknown man left at an unknown time before 5:14 pm.
The President's schedule
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 32s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
**********************************************************************
72
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
The President, Mitchell, and Haldeman left at 5:14 pm
Conversation
Conv. No. 483-19
No. 483-20
(cont.)
Date: April 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:14 pm and 5:17 pm
Location: Oval Office
Alexander P. Butterfield met with unknown persons (Secret Service agent).
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Non-historical Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 6s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
The President's location
-Duration of absence
-Cabinet Room
Unknown man's schedule
The President's location
The unknown persons left at an unknown time before 5:17 pm.
73
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)