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Conversation: 552-003

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Start Date: 30-Jul-1971 10:23 AM

End Date: 30-Jul-1971 12:30 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Kissinger, Henry A.[Unknown person(s)]Harris, LouisZiegler, Ronald L.White House operatorNixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan)

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:11:16

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:16:44

552a.mp3

552b.mp3

NARA Description:

On July 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Louis Harris, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:23 am to 12:30 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 552-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 552-3

Date: July 30, 1971
Time: 10:23 am - 12:30 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     The President's schedule
          -John N. Mitchell
          -Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
               -California trip
                      -Ronald W. Reagan's planned speech
                           -Cancellation
               -The President's proposed trip to the Bohemian Grove
                      -Encampments
                           -Mitchell, John B. Connally

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 10:25 am.

     The US-People’s Republic of China [PRC] initiative
          -Message from Harvard University
              -East Asian Center

Haldeman talked to an unknown person at an unknown time after 10:25 am.

     Request

[End of conversation]

                -Kissinger
                     -Texas A&M

     Presidential letter to Soviet Union Cosmonaut's daughter
          -Public release
                -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
                -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
          -Haig
                -Handling
                                              3

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/08)



     US-Soviet Union relations
         -Andrei A. Gromyko
               -Leonid I. Brezhnev contact with the President
                    -Channel
                          -Action
                          -Leaks
                    -Anti-ballistic missiles [ABM]
                                                                      Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
[The President talked with Louis Harris between 10:27 am and 10:34 am]

[Conversation No. 552-3A]

[See Conversation No. 7-38]

     Presidential letter to Soviet Union Cosmonaut’s daughter
          -Dobrynin
          -Public release
                -Source

[The above portion of the office conversation between Kissinger and Haldeman took place
simultaneously with telephone Conversation No. 552-3A]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Poll
            -Re-issue
            -Frank Leonard
                 -Nelson A. Rockefeller
                      -Management of staff

     Foreign policy
          -Photograph
               -The President
                    -Role
               -Kissinger
          -Hugh S. Sidey

     Vietnam War
          -Le Duc Tho
               -Conversation with French foreign minister
               -Maurice Schumann
               -North Vietnamese
                                         4

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/08)



     -Dobrynin
     -Chances of settlement
     -Kissinger’s conversation with Dobrynin
           -Nguyen Van Thieu
     -Proposals
     -Situation

The PRC initiative                                            Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
     -Letter from Harvard University student
     -Francois De Ticornot De Rose

Letter
      -Release
      -Source
      -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
      -Form

Spiro T. Agnew
     -John D. Ehrlichman's attitude
     -Staff relations
           -John A. Scali
           -Ehrlichman

US foreign aid
     -The President’s conversation with Otto E. Passman
     -Post-World War II period
           -Amount
                -Military aid
                -Economic assistance

US foreign policy
     -Kissinger's conversation with James L. Buckley
     -Conservatives
          -Shift in support for the President
                -Effect
                      -1972
     -Buckley's possible meeting with the President
     -Kissinger’s conversation with William F. Buckley, Jr.
          -The President
     -New York Conservative Party
          -Presidential endorsement
     -Administration relations with Conservatives
                                       5

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. 10/08)



           -Kissinger, Mitchell
           -New York
                 -J. Daniel Mahoney
           -Issues
                 -The PRC
                 -National defense
                 -Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
                 -William Buckley                              Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
           -Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with James Burnham
                 -Meeting
                 -National Review
           -[Frank S.?] Meyer
           -North Vietnam’s reaction to the PRC initiative
           -Soviet Union’s reaction to the PRC imitative
                 -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                 -Summit
                       -Schedule
     -William P. Rogers
     -Emperor Hirohito
           -Meeting with the President
                 -Anchorage, Alaska
                 -Arrangements
                 -Effect
           -Coordination with Rogers
           -Agnew
           -State Department

Conservatives
    -Relations with the President
          -James Buckley
          -1960, 1968, 1962
                -John Birch Society
                     -1962 California activities
    -The President's record
          -Cambodia, Laos
    -Patrick J. Buchanan
    -National Review
    -Activities
          -Young Americans for Freedom [YAFs]
                                              6

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/08)



    The President's schedule
         -The President’s proposed September 27, 1971 meeting with Hirohito in Alaska
              -Emilio Garrastazu Medici’s visit
              -Scheduling
                     -Logistics
         -Arrangements for foreign visits

    Mitchell                                                           Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
         -Handling
         -News summary

    The PRC initiative
         -Reaction
              -Liberals
              -Clayton Fritchey
              -W. Averell Harriman
                    -Executive privilege
                         -Previous Laotian negotiations
                         -The President
                               -Chou En-lai
                    -Memorandum on Le Duc Tho
                    -Reaction to secret negotiations
              -Fritchey
              -Philadelphia Bulletin item
                    -Responsibility for the PRC initiative
                         -State Department
                               -Marshall Green
                               -Handling of the President's foreign trip
                                     -Briefing books


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[National Security]
[Duration: 1m 23s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

**********************************************************************
                                         7

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/08)




          -Kissinger's staff
               -Contact with the press
          -Philadelphia Bulletin
               -Pentagon Papers
          -Max Lerner
          -Conservatives
               -Handling                                  Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)

Vietnam War
     -Le Duc Tho
     -Settlement

The PRC initiative
     -George Meany's reaction
          -Hardhats
                -Attitude towards the President
                      -Charles W. Colson
          -Conservatives
     -News coverage
          -Kissinger's trip to Pakistan
          -Kissinger's secret trip to Peking
          -Paris Talks
     -Dobrynin
          -Le Duc Tho

Agnew
    -Foreign trip
         -Press coverage
         -Agenda
         -Greece
         -Request for future trip
         -Arrangements
                -Korea, Europe, Arab countries, Greece
         -Theme
                -Golf
                      -Portugal, Spain
                -Duration
                -Press perception
                      -Agnew’s role
                           -Morocco, Spain, Portugal
                           -Congo, Kenya
                                          8

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. 10/08)



                           -Iran
                 -Handling
                       -American communities
                       -Kissinger’s staff
                       -Press conferences
                       -Events
                       -Compared to Kissinger, William P. Rogers
                 -Press coverage                                 Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
                 -Future trips
                       -Iran
                       -Greece
                 -Iran
                       -Forthcoming celebration
                       -Iranian’s reaction
                 -Greece
                       -Agnew’s ethnicity

Iran
       -Forthcoming celebration
            -US attendance
                 -Lyndon B. Johnson
                      -Agnew
                      -Compared to Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt
                      -Kissinger’s opinion
                      -Health
                      -Logistics
                 -Agnew
                 -Johnson

Agnew
    -Compared to President’s handling of foreign trips while Vice President
    -Attitude
    -Comment about Africans
    -Reaction
    -Forthcoming conversation with Ehrlichman
    -Conversation with Kissinger
    -Murray M. Chotiner meeting with the President
    -PRC initiative
          -Source of story
               -Scali
          -Preparation of memorandum
          -Agnew’s request to visit PRC, Taiwan
                                                   9

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/08)



           -Staff
           -Public relations
           -Public image
           -Relations with the President's staff

     White House staff
          -Restrictions on comment
               -Agnew                                              Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
                      -Affect

     Agnew
         -Memorandum on the PRC story
              -Scali
         -Relationship with the President
              -Kissinger's comment to Agnew
         -Kissinger’s opinion

     PRC-Soviet Union relations
         -Agnew’s opinion
               -Conservatives
         -Actions
         -Human Events
         -Intelligence reports
         -Buchanan’s view
         -Conservative view of Communists
               -The President
               -James Buckley

     The President's 1967 speech
          -Bohemian Grove
               -ABM

Kissinger left at 11:20 pm.

     Agnew
         -Handling
             -Scali
             -Haldeman, Ehrlichman

     The Bohemian Grove
          -Presidential visit
                -Walter Baird
                                              10

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



               -Ronald L. Ziegler's conversation with Walter Trohan
               -Wire services
                    -United Press International [UPI]
               -Grove members
                    -Reaction
               -Effect of press attention
               -Members activities
               -Effect of cancellation                                Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
               -Ziegler, Richard Moore
               -Members reaction
                    -Baird
               -Transportation
               -Arrangements
               -Trohan
               -Cancellation of trip
                    -Effect
           -Compared to the Gridiron

     The President's schedule
          -Gridiron
          -White House Correspondent's dinner

The President left at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

[Haldeman talked with an unknown person [Ziegler?] at an unknown time between 11:20 am and
12:20 pm]

[Conversation No. 552-3B]

     Moore
         -Proposed Presidential visit to the Bohemian Grove
              -Reaction

[End of telephone conversation]

The President entered at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

     The Bohemian Grove
          -Presidential visit
                -Background to arrangements
                     -Baird
                -Ziegler
                                             11

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



               -Press coverage
                     -Wire services
    The President's schedule
         -Advance press notice
               -Ziegler
               -Visit to baseball game
         -Perrino's Restaurant
               -The President's visit after the PRC announcement   Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
               -News report on wine

    Handling of response to issues
        -Buchanan
              -Attitude
        -John G. Tower, Peter H. Dominick
        -Haldeman, Colson, Ehrlichman
              -Reaction comparison
        -Clark MacGregor
              -Attitude
        -William E. Timmons

    The Bohemian Grove
         -Attendance
         -The President's 1967 speech


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 4m 5s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15

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


    Social activities
         -Attitude
                -Connally
                -The President
                      -Individual contacts
                                                12

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/08)



                          -Receiving lines
                               -Effectiveness
                               -Colson
    Bohemian Grove
        -Presidential visit cancellation
              -Baird
              -Issue of press coverage
                    -Off-the-record tradition                  Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
                    -Ziegler
        -Herbert C. Hoover
              -Visits to Grove
        -Press coverage
        -Activities
              -Compared to the Gridiron


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 26s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16

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


              -Members
         -Effect of cancellation on the President's schedule
              -California
                     -Reagan
                          -Meeting

    Speech
         -Work
         -The President's 1967 speech
              -John S. Davies
              -Creation
              -Model for speechwriters
         -Use of transitions
         -Topics
                                        13

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/08)



          -Vietnam
          -Spaceflight
     -Use of draft speech

Bohemian Grove
    -President's visit
          -Cancellation
          -Effect on the press                                  Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
          -Effect on the Grove

Connally
    -Schedule
         -International Monetary Fund [IMF]
         -International economic situation
               -Paul A. Volcker

Bohemian Grove
    -Replacement speaker
          -George H.W. Bush
    -The President's cancellation
          -Moore, Mosbacher
          -Handling
          -Grove members
                -Baird
    -California elite
          -Western White House social function
                -Arrangements
                      -Compared to Johnson
    -Response to cancellation
    -Handling of cancellation
          -Press
          -Off-the-record tradition
                -Previous speeches by Rogers, Melvin R. Laird
                -The Gridiron
                -Off-the-record White House events
    -Baird, Trohan
          -Attitude
    -Press coverage

The Press
     -Advance notice on the President's schedule
     -UPI, CBS
                                             14

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/08)



              -Arrangements on Grove speech coverage
                    -The President's 1967 speech
                          -Reaction
                    -The President's position compared to Rogers, Laird
     Bohemian Grove
         -Nixon as Vice President
         -Cancellation
              -Handling of notification                               Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
                    -Haldeman, Baird
                    -Off-the-record tradition
                    -CBS, UPI
                    -Ziegler

     Social functions
          -Connally

Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

     Ziegler

[End of conversation]

                -Attitude
                -White House events
                      -Sequoia, Camp David

     Schedule
          -Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 11:20 am and
12:09 pm]

[Conversation No. 522-3C]

[See Conversation No. 7-39]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Schedule

[The President talked with Mrs. Nixon between 12:09 pm and 12:10 pm]
                                              15

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



[Conversation No. 522-3D]

[See Conversation No. 7-40; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

[End of telephone conversation]
Ziegler entered at 12:10 pm.

     Labor disputes                                                    Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
          -Rail industry
                -Press reports
                -Paul W. McCracken
                -The President's July 30, 1971 meeting with union and management executives
          -George P. Shultz
                -White House involvement
                      -Presidential role
                            -Compared to John F. Kennedy
                      -John Robinson (?)
                      -Donald H. Rumsfeld
                      -Willie J. Usery, Charles Luna

     Bohemian Grove
         -President's trip
               -Press attitude
                     -Off-the-record tradition
                     -UPI, CBS
               -Cancellation
         -Comparison to the Gridiron
               -Off-the-record
         -Tradition of off-the-record handling
         -Attendance
               -Hoover
               -Nixon as Vice President
               -Barry M. Goldwater
                     -Ziegler's conversation with aide
                     -Candidate position
               -The President
         -Grove members
               -Effect of press coverage or leak

     The President's schedule
          -Iowa, Ohio trip
          -California
                                               16

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/08)



                -Timing of announcement
           -Appropriations Committee event

     Presidential letter to Soviet cosmonaut's daughter
          -Release
                -Source
                       -William L. Safire
                -Knowledge of letter                             Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
                       -Rose Mary Woods, Haig
                -Source
                       -Safire, Price
                -Timing of release
                       -Apollo XV
                -Recipient
                       -Soviet Ambassador
                -Circumstances
                -Source
                       -Herbert G. Klein
                -Handling

Ziegler left at 12:20 pm.

     The President's schedule
          -California
                -Timing, transportation
                -Mitchell, Connally


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 11s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19

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


           -California
           -Possible activities
                                             17

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



               -Steel strike
               -IMF
          -Revision of schedule
               -Connally
               -Mitchell
          -Camp David
          -Forthcoming press conference
          -Buchanan's staff                                       Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
               -Preparation of briefing books
          -Types of events
               -Photo opportunities
          -Transportation
               -Camp David
               -Mrs. Nixon
                     -Timing of departure
          -Baird
               -Connally, Mitchell
               -Cancellation of Bohemian Grove visit
                     -Press coverage
                           -Off-the-record tradition
                     -Secret Service contingent
                           -Size
                           -Arrangements

Haldeman left at 12:30 pm.