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Conversation: 527-016

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Start Date: 23-Jun-1971 9:14 AM

End Date: 23-Jun-1971 10:12 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Ehrlichman, John D.Kissinger, Henry A.Albert, Carl B.White House operator[Unknown person(s)]MacGregor, ClarkBull, Stephen B.

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 04:49:40

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 05:39:32

527a.mp3

527b.mp3

527c.mp3

527d.mp3

NARA Description:

On June 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s) [Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield's secretary], Henry A. Kissinger, Carl B. Albert, White House operator, unknown person(s), Clark MacGregor, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:14 am to 10:12 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 527-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 527-16

Date: June 23, 1971
Time: 9:14 am - 10:12 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield breakfast
         -John D. Ehrlichman
         -Mansfield
                -Aid to President
         -Henry A. Kissinger

[The President talked with Ehrlichman at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 9:25 am]

[Conversation No. 527-16A]

     Request for presence
         -Ehrlichman's schedule
                -Telephone call

[The President talked with Senator Mansfield's secretary between 9:22 am and 9:25 am]

[Conversation No. 527-16B]

[See Conversation No. 5-133]

[End of telephone conversation]

Kissinger entered at 9:25 am.
                                               50

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/08)



     Vietnam Peace negotiations
          -North Vietnamese reaction to Clark M. Clifford's statement
               -National Liberation Front [NLF] statement
                    -Prisoners of War [POW] release

     Pentagon Papers
          -Ken Crawford’s conversation with Lyndon B. Johnson
               -Newsweek coverage                                   Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
               -Johnson view of Pentagon Papers
                     -Robert F. Kennedy
                     -Robert S. McNamara
               -Johnson attendance at Democratic Convention
                     -Convention procedures
                     -George S. McGovern
                     -Johnson efforts in 1972
               -Vietnam
                     -President's peace program
                     -President and Johnson cooperation
                     -Clifford
                           -Attendance at Lyndon B. Johnson Library
               -Democratic convention
          -Administration tactics
               -State of public morality
               -Last meeting with North Vietnamese
                     -Kissinger’s Stance
                           -Rationale

Ehrlichman entered at 9:31 am.

          -US presence in Vietnam
               -Johnson
               -Revelation to Nguyen Van Thieu

     President’s conversation with Mansfield
          -Tone
          -Ehrlichman
          -Declassification procedures
                -World War II
                -Korean War
                -Bay of Pigs
                -Cuban missile confrontation
                -Political protections
                                  51

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                          Tape Subject Log
                            (rev. 10/08)



            -Reflection on previous administrations
      -Need for continued classification
            -Relations with foreign governments
                  -Romania
                  -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
            -Ehrlichman's role
-Joint statement
-Senate action                                          Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
      -Timing
-Tone of President's delivery
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Senate actions
      -Previous administrations’ behavior
      -Anti-ballistic missile [ABM] treaty
-Vietnam negotiations
      -President's discussions with North Vietnam
            -Effect of senate action
                  -Phased withdrawal
                  -Drawbacks of declaring a date
                  -Publication of sequence of events
                        -Consulation with Mansfield
            -Ceasefire objective
                  -Date of ceasefire
                  -Thieu
                  -Imposition of communist government
            -Breakdown of negotiations
                  -Administration response
      -North Vietnamese perception
      -Impact on US policy
            -Johnson
            -Options if talks break down
                  -Bombing
                        -Dikes
                        -Haiphong
                        -Rationale
                  -Counter to Senate action
                  -William P. Rogers
            -Other policy "cards"
            -Clifford
                  -NFL comments
            -David K.E. Bruce's demeanor in Paris
                  -Reaction to North Vietnamese
                                   52

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                           Tape Subject Log
                             (rev. 10/08)



                  -Ronald L. Ziegler's briefing
            -Other policy cards
                  -Soviet Union reaction
                  -PRC
            -Chou En-lai interview with Seymour Topping of New York Times
                  -Soviet Union compared with PRC style
                  -PRC remarks concerning President
                        -State Department Formosa statement Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
            -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's trip to Southeast Asia
                  -Stop in Vietnam
      -Focus of Agnew's remarks
            -Pentagon Papers
            -Senate action
      -Administration response
            -Attack
            -Rationale
            -Mansfield's problems
                  -Release of documents
            -Injunction
                  -Nature of revelations
                        -Jacob K. Javits’ attack on John F. Kennedy
                        -Ngo Dinh Diem's assassination
            -President's comments to Mansfield
                  -Diem's assassination
                        -Henry Cabot Lodge
                        -Kennedy
            -Johnson's reaction
            -Attacks on Johnson
                  -Testimony by Johnson administration personnel
                        -Johnson's files
            -Chicago Sun Times story
                  -Source
                  -Diem's murder
      -Marguerite Higgins’ book
-President's classified information
      -Laos involvement
      -Cambodia involvement
      -Peace negotiations
      -Reason for classification
      -Extent of Cambodia bombing
-Sun Times
      -Emergence of other documents
                                        53

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/08)



          -Sensitive periods
                -World War II
                -Franklin D. Roosevelt letters
                -Korean War
                -Bay of Pigs
                -Cuban missile confrontation
                            -Fidel Castro
                            -Terms of missile withdrawal   Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
                            -Adlai E. Stevenson, II
                            -Robert F. Kennedy
                            -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                -Roosevelt
                -Johnson
                -President's bureaucratic procedures
                      -Option writing
                -World War II
                      -Willard Edwards
                      -Walter Trohan
                      -Emergence of stories
                      -Compromise of sensitive areas
                -Response in kind
                      -Concern for national security
Vietnam Peace negotiations
     -Kissinger’s demeanor
     -Kissinger’s contact with other parties
     -Use of bombing
          -Use of historical record
          -Protection of Americans
          -POWs
                -President’s policy
                -Use of International Red Cross

Mansfield amendment
    -Ehrlichman
          -Call to Gerald R. Ford
          -Ziegler
          -Informing Mansfield
    -Hugh Scott
    -Administration response
          -Statement by executive
                -Effect on Times response
                                         54

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/08)



Pentagon Papers
     -Declassification action by President
          -Priority of Pentagon Papers
          -Date of orders
          -Crawford report
                -Dignity of executive
                -Opponents' strength
                                                            Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
Mansfield amendment
    -Reaction of other Democrats
          -F. Edward Hébert
          -Stennis
          -Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
          -Hébert
                -Deadline rejection
          -Hubert H. Humphrey
                -Effect on Presidential aspirations
                      -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
                           -Chappaquidick
          -Edmund S. Muskie proposal
                -Use of former Presidents' testimony
                      -McNamara's testimony
                      -McGeorge Bundy's testimony
                      -Walt W. Rostow
    -Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor's article
          -Justice of war
          -Defense of administration
    -Need for response
          -President's American Medical Association [AMA] comments

Drug policy
     -Reaction by AMA members
          -Ehrlichman
     -Drug program
          -Harold E. Hughes’ request
                -Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe's testimony
                      -Drawbacks
                -Play on drug theme
                      -President’s speech to the American Association of Retired Persons
                            [AARP]
                -Calls for support from President
                                               55

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



     Pentagon Papers
          -Profile of President's enemies
                -Strength
                -Use of slogans
                      -Relation to Johnson’s policies
                      -Clifford's comments
          -Previous evening's dinner
          -William E. Timmons’ poll                                 Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
                -Significance
                      -Changes
                -View of President's competence
                      -Changes
                -Public's view of Times

Ehrlichman talked with Carl B. Albert at an unknown time between 9:31 am and 11:03 am.

[Conversation No. 527-16E]

[See Conversation No. 5-134]

                -"Right to know" focus
                -Wrong-doing view
                -Role of former Presidents
                -Scott
                -Kissinger visit to Johnson City
                -Punishment for release of classified material
                -Preventative measures

[End of telephone conversation]

[Ehrlichman talked with the White House operator, an unknown woman and Clark MacGregor at
an unknown time between 9:31 am and 11:03 am]

[Conversation No. 527-16D]

[See Conversation No. 5-135]

          -Timmons’ poll
              -Overall involvement of President
              -Credibility of government
              -Candor of administrations
                   -Solution for Nixon administration
                                                56

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                         Tape Subject Log
                                           (rev. 10/08)



                      -Need to focus on theft of documents
           -Release of information
                -President's position
                      -Patrick J. Buchanan
                      -John A. Scali
                -Congressional role
                -Ziegler
                -Kissinger                                            Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
           -Administration response to attacks
                -Critics
                      -Respect
                            -Congress

[End of telephone conversation]

                              -Intellectuals
                                    -Morality

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:31 am.

     Schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:00 am

     Support for the President
         -Administrations response to attacks
                -Mansfield
                      -Respect for critics
                            -Bureaucrats
                      -Intellectuals
                            -Dr. Edward C. Banfield's breakfast
                                  -Dean of Harvard Medical School
                                  -James R. Killian, Jr.
                            -Depth of conversation
                            -1956 election
                                  -W. Averell Harriman's television appearance
                                  -William E. Jenner's view of Harriman appearance

Kissinger left at 10:00 am.

                 -Transmission of documents
                      -MacGregor
                                                57

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



                     -Vice President
                -Kissinger's view of attack on President
                -Release of more secret materials
                -Kissinger
                     -Encouragement from the President

Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:00 am.
                                                                    Conv. No. 527-16 (cont.)
     Schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:12 am.

     Administration response to attacks

Haldeman and Ehrlichman left at 10:12 am.