Conversation: 543-006
Prev: 543-005 Next: 543-007Start Date: Thursday, July 22, 1971 9:35 PM
End Date: Thursday, July 22, 1971 10:20 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]; Laird, Melvin R.; Kissinger, Henry A.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); White House operator; Sanchez, ManoloRecording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:12:46
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:00:58
NARA Description:
On July 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), Melvin R. Laird, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:35 pm and 6:20 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 543-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 543-6
Date: July 22, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:35 pm and 6:20 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President talked with an unknown man.
[Conversation No. 543-6A]
H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
[End of conversation]
Haldeman entered at 5:36 pm.
The President's schedule
-The President's meeting with Melvin R. Laird
-Forthcoming visit to the People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Public reaction
-Motorcade and communications considerations
-Radio communication
Laird and Henry A. Kissinger entered at 5:36 pm.
[The President talked with the White House operator at 5:36 pm]
[Conversation No. 543-6B]
[Telephone call not completed]
[End of telephone conversation]
Gloria Steinem
-Contact with Kissinger, the President
-Dinner with Laird
-Merv Griffin
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-New Yorker
-Contacts during campaign in 1968
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
Foreign relations
-US-Japan
-Laird's trip to Japan
-Changes in Cabinet
-Former Defense Agency Chief
-Yasuhiro Nakasone
-New Defense Agency Chief
-Eisaku Sato
-Review of Japanese defense forces
-Seventh and Eleventh Divisions
-Troops
-Equipment
-Compared to Germany and the US
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 9s ]
JAPAN
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
******************************************************************************
-Military equipment
-US sales to Japan
-Budget
-Size of Japanese Defense Forces
-Modernization
-Japanese Air Force
-F-4 Phantoms
-US policy towards Japan
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-National Security Decision Memorandum [NSDM]
-Economic Assistance Fund
-Vietnam
-Cambodia
-Japan’s role in Asia
******************************************************************************
Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National Security]
[Duration: 56s ]
CHINA
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
******************************************************************************
-Laird’s trip to Japan
-Laird’s conversations with Japanese officials
-The Nixon Doctrine
-PRC
-Announcement of the PRC initiative
-Taiwan
-Spiro T. Agnew, John B. Connally, Donald H. Rumsfeld
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[National Security]
[Duration: 3m 44s ]
MILITARY
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
******************************************************************************
-Laird’s conversation with Sato
-The President’s July 6, 1971 Kansas City speech
-PRC
-Rochester, New York, Alabama
-Laird’s meeting with Japanese Ambassador (Nobuhiko
Conv.Ushiba)
No. 543-6 (cont.)
-William P. Rogers
-Sato
-Diet
-First visit by a Secretary of Defense
-Okinawa
An unknown man (Manolo Sanchez?) entered at an unknown time after 5:36 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown man (Sanchez?) left at an unknown time before 6:20 pm.
-US Embassy in Japan
-Staff
-Armin H. Meyer
-Compared to US Embassy in the Republic of Korea [ROK]
-Staff
-William J. Porter
-Military attaché
-Porter
-US-ROK relations
-Laird’s trip to ROK
-Modernization
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[National Security]
[Duration: 4m 47s ]
KOREA
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
******************************************************************************
-Visits with ROK troops
-Visits with US troops Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)
-Drug abuse
-Japan
-Sexual activity
-”Trial marriages”
-Kissinger’s opinion
-Contraception, abortion
-Demilitarized zone [DMZ]
-People’s Democratic Republic of Korea [PDRK]
-Proximity of PDRK Air Force to Seoul
-Laird’s 1955 visit to ROK
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[National Security]
[Duration: 1m 40s ]
KOREA, UNITED NATIONS [UN]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
******************************************************************************
US military
-Morale
-ROK
-Japan
-Drug abuse
-Laird’s conversation with Jerome H. Jaffe
-Hawaii
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-Perceptions from news reports
-Walter Cronkite
-Troops in South Vietnam
-Heroin
-Marijuana
-Public perception
South Vietnam Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)
-Military supplies
-Future conditions
-US troop withdrawal
-Congressional funding
-Effect on negotiations
-Possible settlement
-Effect
David Packard
-The President's conversations during Laird's absence
-Trip to California
-Bohemian Grove
-Conversation with Kissinger
-Departure from office
The Vietnam War
-US forces
-Fire Base Mary Ann
-Kissinger’s knowledge
-Command problems
-Casualties
-Investigation
-The Geneva Convention violation
-Burning of North Vietnamese bodies
-Compared to Guadalcanal
-United State Marine Corps [USMC]
-Japanese Casualties
-Demilitarized zone [DMZ]
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Possible US action
-Troop strength
-Potential casualties
-South Vietnam
-Casualties
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
-Timing
-PRC trip
-B-52 bombing sorties
-Laos
-Military situation
-Press coverage
-Cambodia
-Plain of Jars Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)
-Meo tribesmen
-Souvanna Phouma
-North Vietnam
-Cambodia
-Situation
-Conroys
-Pnhom Penh
-Lon Nol
-Compared with perception given by network television coverage
-North Vietnam
-Military situation
-Laos
-Cambodia
-Effect of US bombing sorties
Congress
-Laird's testimony
-John C. Stennis
-Stance
-Laos
-Negotiations
-Anti-ballistic missiles [ABM]
-Weapons tests
-Military manpower
-Troop strength in South Vietnam
-Selective Service
-PRC initiative
-Congressional support for the President
-Armed Services committees
-Laird's testimonies
-Effectiveness
-Department of the Army
-Budget
-Morale
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Privacy]
[Duration: 37s ]
Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**********************************************************************
Spiro T. Agnew
-Laird’s Congressional testimony
-Blacks
-Effect of comments on voters
-Perceptions
Laird left at an unknown time before 6:20 pm.
Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Forthcoming meeting
-President’s schedule
-Support for the administration's policies
-Compared to John V. Lindsay
-Kissinger’s advice
Vietnam War settlement
-Forthcoming negotiations in Paris
-Possibility of cancellation
-Record of secret negotiations
-Options for US action
Rockefeller
-Support for the President
-The President's leadership
-Rockefeller's New York contacts
-Effectiveness of comments
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)
The PRC initiative
-Letters to Kissinger
-Harvard professor
Kissinger left at 6:20 pm.
Conv. No. 543-6 (cont.)