President Nixon met with an unknown individual, likely Dr. W. Kenneth Riland, in the Oval Office shortly after concluding a series of consultations with key advisors regarding labor policy, executive clemency, and 1972 campaign planning. While the participants of this specific brief encounter remain officially unidentified, it occurred in the immediate wake of high-level discussions involving John Mitchell, George Shultz, and H.R. Haldeman. These preceding deliberations focused on the potential pardon of Jimmy Hoffa and the administration's management of the Pay Board's economic policies, though the content of this final recorded exchange was not preserved.
On November 1, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 610-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidThe President's schedule
-William McMahon
-Possible statement to the press
*****************************************************************
[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-032. Segment declassified on 05/17/2019. Archivist: MM]
[National Security]
[610-001-w005]
[Duration: 12s]
The President's schedule
-William McMahon
-Weakness
-Henry A. Kissinger’s opinion
-The President’s opinion
-Henry A. Kissinger’s opinion
*****************************************************************
Department of State [DOS]
-News leaks
-Rogers
-White House
-Green
-PRC talks
-Martin J. Hillenbrand
-Soviet talks
-The President's forthcoming meeting with Chou En-lai
-Diplomatic arrangements
-Kissinger
Laird
John N. Mitchell, George P. Shultz and H. R. Haldeman entered and Kissinger left at 4:15 pm.
Kissinger
-The PRC initiative
James R. (“Jimmy”) Hoffa
-Possible clemency
-Possible pardon
-Frank E. Fitzsimmons's efforts
-International Brotherhood of Teamsters
-Executive clemency
-Procedures
-Mitchell
-Recommendation
-Parole board
-Mitchell
-Timing
-Possible parole
-Public perception
-1972 election
-Executive clemency
-Mitchell’s view
-Possible quid pro quo by Fitzsimmons
-Pay Board
-The President’s economic program
-George Meany
Pay Board
-Shultz’s view
-Meany and Leonard Woodcock
-American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-
CIO]
-Woodcock and Fitzsimmons
-Meany
-Public perception
Hoffa
-Fitzsimmons's efforts
-Executive clemency
-Possible conditions
-1972 election
-Teamsters
-Views of Barry M. Goldwater and John J. Rhodes
-Activities of opponents
-Parole board
-Woodcock's meeting with Shultz
-Fitzsimmons
-Meany's views
-I[lwirth] W[ilbur] Abel’s view
-Quid pro quo
-The President’s economic program
-Time served
-Sentence
-Executive clemency
-Parole Board's actions
-James Hoffa, Jr. and attorney
-Hoffa's labor connections
-Resignations
-Hoffa's finances
Teamsters
-Construction unions
-Maurice A. Hutcheson
-Walter P. Reuther
-Robert F. Kennedy
-Fitzsimmons and Woodcock
-United Auto Workers [UAW]
-Reuther
-Alliance for Labor Action
-AFL-CIO
-Woodcock
-General Motors strike
-Differences in viewpoints
-Fitzsimmons
-Social issues
-Dues collection
-Voter registration
-Reuther
-Effectiveness for minorities
-Chicago
Hoffa
-Executive clemency
-Possible conditions
-Others awaiting presidential action
-Restoration of civil rights
-Typicality
-Possible reaction
-Mitchell's lunch with Time-Life and Fortune staffs, November 1, 1971
-Rogers and Kissinger
-Political prisoner question
-Parole period
-Discrimination
-Conduct in prison
-Executive clemency
-Political considerations
-Public perception of labor leaders
-Edward M. Kennedy's possible reaction
-Robert Kennedy
-Possible effects on the Administration
-Benefit
-Criticism
-Teamsters endorsement of Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968
-Executive clemency
-Discrimination
-Timing
-1972 election
-Parole board
-Possible action
-Perception
-Conditions
-Fitzsimmons
-Fitzsimmons
-Possible vote
-Effect on Teamsters and construction workers
Hoffa
-Teamsters' impressions
-Fitzsimmons
-The President's speech to Teamsters convention
-Unionists' support
-Executive clemency
-Possible reaction by critics
-Compared to release of Black Panther
-Dr. Thomas W. Matthew
Matthew
-Executive clemency
-Leonard Garment's memorandum to the President
*****************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under deed of gift 03/17/2020. Segment cleared for
release.]
[Privacy]
[610-001-w008]
[Duration: 26s]
Thomas W. Matthew
-Alleged activities
-Stealing
-Government and finance committee [?]
-Projects
*****************************************************************
James R. (“Jimmy”) Hoffa
-As symbol
-Robert Kennedy's activities
-Executive clemency
-Edward Kennedy's possible reaction
-John L. McClellan's possible reaction
National economy
-Pay Board
-Wage contracts
-Shultz's conversation with Arnold R. Weber
-Retroactivity
-Railroad workers
-Freeze period
-Meany's view
-Retroactivity
-Prices
-Views of Woodcock and Fitzsimmons
-Automobile workers
-Milton Friedman's views
-Sanctity of contracts
-Timing of decision
-Meany's possible action
-Administration's response
-Weber
-John B. Connally
-Contingency plan
-Price commission
-Reasonable standards
-Wage and price freeze
-Possible fate
-Timing
-Support
-Labor
-Canada
-Preparation
-The President's program
-Possible action
-Extension of freeze
-Involvement
-Standards
-Legal status
-Congress
-James Tobin
-Article of October 31, 1971
-Yale University
-John F. Kennedy
-Article
-Content
-Kermit Gordon's view
-Possible reaction
-Presidential intervention
-Tobin
Shultz and Haldeman left at 4:53 pm.
*****************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 03/17/2020.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[610-001-w009]
[Duration: 4m 1s]
1972 campaign
-New Hampshire primary
-Petitions
-December 23, 1971
-Suggested plan
-Delegations
-Announcement of the President’s candidacy
-Timing
-January 5-6, 1972
-Response to New Hampshire Secretary of State
-Delegates and alternates
-Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida primaries
-Timing
-Announcement of the President’s candidacy
-Timing
-January 1972
-Response to New Hampshire Secretary of State
-January 20, 1972 deadline
-Petitions
-Attention
-Potential criticism
-Ronald L. Ziegler
*****************************************************************
National economy
-Pay Board
-Prospects
-Wage and price controls
-Meany's possible action
-Meany’s support with labor
-Shultz
-Mitchell's conversation with Fitzsimmons, October 30, 1971
-Public board
-Administration's action
-Congress
-Labor
-Need for planning
-Shultz and Weber
-Arthur F. Burns
-L. Patrick Gray's actions
-Meany's possible action
-Administration's reaction
-Shultz
Hoffa
-Executive clemency
-Mitchell’s view
-The President’s further actions
The President's schedule
-Mitchell
-McMahon
-Rogers
Mitchell left and Robert L. Kunzig and Frederic L. Malek entered at 5:02 pm.
Kunzig
-Role in administration
-Justice Department
-American Bar Association [ABA]'s action
-General Services Administration [GSA]
-Confirmation as judge
-Nomination
-Retirement of predecessor
-Timing
-Deal with White House
-Previous confirmations
-Hugh Scott
-Possible leak
Presentation of gifts by the President
Kunzig
-Performance
Kunzig and Malek left at 5:18 pm.
Conversation No. 610-2
Date: November 1, 1971
Time: 5:08 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with an unknown person [Dr. W. Kenneth Riland?]
The President talked with an unknown person.
[End of telephone conversation]
The President and the unknown person left at 5:08 pm.No transcript is available for this conversation. The audio may not contain audible speech, or the recording may not yet have been processed.