Conversation No. 613-6

Date: November 2, 1971
Time: 5:25 pm - 6:55 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, Clark MacGregor, Henry A. Kissinger,
Richard K. Cook and Ronald L. Ziegler; Stephen B. Bull and the White House photographer
were present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Ford
            -Schedule

[Seating arrangements]

     Arends's district

     Vietnam
          -Troop withdrawal
               -Political situation in House of Representatives
                     -October 19, 1971 vote
                                   12

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                           Tape Subject Log
                             (rev. 10/06)



          -Chart
               -April 1, 1971 vote
                    -Draft bill
               -Withdrawal deadline
          -Democrats
          -Republicans
          -Procurement Bill
               -Michael J. Mansfield Amendment
                    -MacGregor
               -Schedule
     -Rate
     -Numbers
-Need for secrecy in meeting
-Negotiations
     -Status
     -Troop withdrawal
            -Timing
                  -Announcement
            -Prisoners of war [POWs]
            -North Vietnamese strategy
     -US Air Force
     -POWs
     -Ceasefire
-South Vietnamese military capability
-Casualties
-POWs
     -Hanoi
     -Possible number
     -Missing in action [MIAs]
-Negotiations
     -Kissinger’s experience
     -North Vietnamese strategy
     -The President's cease-fire offer
     -Military aid
     -POWs
            -Deadline
     -Aid
     -Nguyen Van Thieu
            -Political settlement
     -Laos and Cambodia
-POWs
                                      13

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                              Tape Subject Log
                                (rev. 10/06)
                                                              Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


          -Possible military operations
                 -Blockade
                 -North Vietnam
                       -Bombing
                 -Escalation
    -Political situation in House of Representatives
          -Possible action
          -Rate of troop withdrawal
                 -Recent average
    -Status of the war
    -POWs
          -1972 election
          -USS Pueblo
          -Negotiations
    -Political situation in House of Representatives
          -Timing of vote
    -Negotiations
    -Political situation in House of Representatives
          -Speaker
    -The President's forthcoming statement
          -Timing
    -Negotiations
          -The President's opponents
                 -Historical record
                 -Activities
          -Possible House action
                 -Conferees
    -Political situation in House of Representatives
          -Carl B. Albert
                 -Possible delay in action
          -Lewis Deschler
          -Pending legislation
                 -Mansfield Amendment
                 -Rhodesian chrome amendment
                 -Gordon L. Allott
                       -Military pay raise amendment
                 -Charles McC. Mathias
                       -Government employees comparability pay raise amendment

Rhodesian chrome
    -State Department
                                              14

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)



     Vietnam
          -Political situation in House of Representatives
                -Pending legislation
                       -Rules Committee
                       -Appropriations bill
                             -Delay
                                  -George H. Mahon
                                  -Albert
                       -Otto E. Passman
                             -Foreign aid bill
                                  -Timing

     Foreign aid program
          -Possible continuing resolution
                -Albert, Mahon, Frank T. Bow, Ford
                -House actions
                     -Timing
                -Mansfield Amendment
                -Mahon and Bow
                -Allen J. Ellender and Mansfield
          -Appropriations bill
                -Passman's scheduling

An unknown person [Manolo Sanchez?] entered at an unknown time after 5:25 pm.

     Refreshments

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 6:22 pm.

          -Possible continuing resolution
               -Dr. John A. Hannah
               -Stuart Symington and Lowell P. Weicker
          -Frank F. Church's views
               -Humanitarian
               -Israel
          -Importance
               -National security
               -William P. Rogers
                     -Korea, Thailand
               -Treaty obligations
                                         15

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                           Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


                -South Vietnam, Thailand, Japan
     -Mansfield amendment
          -Possible continuing resolution
                -Legislative strategy
     -Senate vote, October 29, 1971
          -Marshall Plan
          -Robert J. Dole
          -Administration efforts
                -Football analogy
          -George D. Aiken
          -Previous votes on amendments
          -Democrats on Foreign Relations Committee
          -Edward M. Kennedy, Edmund S. Muskie, Hubert H. Humphrey, George S.
                McGovern and Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson

Vietnam
     -Republicans' support of, 1960-68
          -Historical record
     -Views of the President's congressional opponents
          -Robert L. Leggett

Foreign aid program
     -Popular opinion
     -Marshall Plan
           -Arends's vote in 1947
                -Chicago Tribune
                      -Theodore Roosevelt
     -Democrats' views

Vietnam
     -Democrats
          -Responsibility
          -Actions
     -The President's actions
          -Reduction of forces, casualties
     -Leggett's speech
          -Democrats
     -Humphrey, Muskie and Kennedy
     -Ngo Dinh Diem's murder
          -John F. Kennedy
     -Troop withdrawal announcement
                                         16

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


           -Rate
           -Forthcoming announcement
                 -Timing

Foreign aid program
     -Arends’s possible action
           -MacGregor
     -Possible continuing resolution
           -Forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
     -Possible Senate action
           -Rogers
                 -Statement
                 -Forthcoming meeting with Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
                       -Bill
           -Senate liberals
           -Israel
                 -Aid
                       -Military compared to humanitarian
                       -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
     -Greece, Turkey, Israel and South Vietnam
           -US allies
           -Internal governments
     -Forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
           -Timing
                 -November 15, 1971
           -Handling
     -Democrats voting for the President's program
           -Forthcoming election
                 -The President’s endorsements
                       -Republicans
                             -Mathias
                 -MacGregor's possible meeting with Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson
                       -Republican National Committee

House of Representatives
    -Southern Democrats
          -Budget

Busing
     -Grand Rapids judge, Albert J. Engle, Jr.
          -Order
                                         17

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                  Tape Subject Log
                                    (rev. 10/06)
                                                              Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


          -Father, Albert J. Engle
          -Order
                -John N. Mitchell
                     -Conversation with Ford
                     -Possible intervention
                            -Supreme Court
                            -Department of Justice
                -White House response
                     -Mitchell and John D. Ehrlichman
     -The South
     -Order
          -Suburban school districts
          -Number
     -Public opinion

Philip A. Hart
      -Recall petition

Busing
     -Possible Justice Department intervention
          -Grand Rapids case
     -MacGregor
     -Possible constitutional amendment
     -Democrats
          -Forthcoming vote
     -Grand Rapids case
          -Mitchell
          -Judge Engle
                -Discontinuation of order
                      -Possible consequence

Vietnam
     -POWs
         -1972 election
     -Negotiations
         -Mansfield Amendment
         -US options
                -Bombing
                -Cambodia and Laos
         -POWs
                                             18

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


     Foreign aid program
          -The President’s forthcoming conversation with Kissinger
                -Announcement
                     -Timing
          -Possible continuing resolution
                -Timing of vote

     Vietnam
          -Forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
               -Timing
          -Troop withdrawal
               -Rate
                     -Impact
               -Deadline

     University of Michigan
          -Football game previous week

     [General conversation]

     Arends’s possible conversation with Peter M. Flanigan
         -Dean Burch

Ford, Arends, MacGregor, Cook and Ziegler left at 6:22 pm.

     MacGregor

     Vietnam
          -Forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
               -Timing
                    -Foreign aid program
                          -Possible continuing resolution
                    -Troop withdrawal
                          -Rate
                    -Possible reaction
                          -Doves
                          -Ford and Arends
                          -Doves

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 6:22 pm.
                                               19

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/06)
                                                                       Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


     Oval Office
          -Rose Mary Woods
               -Paintings

Bull left at an unknown time before 6:53 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Troop withdrawal
               -Deadline
                     -Consequence
          -POWs
               -The President's conversation with Josip Broz Tito
          -Hawks
          -Recent meeting
               -The President’s allies
          -Forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
               -Timing
                     -Foreign aid
                     -Mansfield Resolution
                     -Negotiations
                           -Le Duc Tho
                                 -W[illiam] Averell Harriman's possible action
          -Negotiations
               -Le Duc Tho
                     -Paris
                     -Senate's possible reaction
               -US options
                     -Publicity
               -US strategy
                     -North Vietnam
                           -Dilatory line
                                 -USSR
               -September 13, 1971 action
               -US strategy
                     -Congress’s actions
                     -Timing
                           -Meetings
                           -Draft
                     -William J. Porter
                           -Liaison office
                                 -POWs
                                  20

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                          Tape Subject Log
                            (rev. 10/06)
                                                          Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


           -Blockade
                -The President’s forthcoming trip to PRC, USSR
     -POWs
           -1972 election
                -North Vietnamese strategy
     -Soviets
           -Communist Party talks
                -Transcript
                      -Summit
                            -The President’s reelection
-Previous US actions
     -Cambodia
     -Withdrawal
     -Negotiations
     -May 14, 1969 speech
     -February 1969
           -Bombing
-Possible US military action
     -1972 election
           -Bombing
           -POWs
     -Timing
     -Options
           -Bombing
           -Blockade
           -Timing
                -1972 election
           -Blockade
                -USSR
           -Bombing
-Negotiations
     -Le Duc Tho
     -Foreign aid program
           -Possible continuing resolution
                -Senate
     -Xuan Thuy
     -Prospects
-Mansfield Resolution
     -The President's Senate opponents
           -Actions
                -Compared to the President’s 1952 comments
                                           21

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/06)
                                                                 Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


                -Frequency of introduction
     -Mansfield
     -Pentagon Papers
     -Ngo Dinh Diem murder
          -Thieu
                -Election
          -John Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, Roger Hilsman and Henry
                Cabot Lodge
          -Rusk
                -Cables
                      -Harriman
     -The President's opponents
          -Demonstrations
                -The President's press conference of September 16, 1971
                -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.'s trip to South Vietnam
          -State Department
          -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
          -The President's September 16 press conference
                -Significance
          -Bureaucracy
                -Reaction to the President’s successors

UN vote on Taiwan, Republic of China
    -The President's statement
    -The President's opponents' reaction
    -US activities
    -News magazines' coverage
    -Edward Kennedy's speech
    -US popular opinion
          -Reaction to UN conduct
    -The President’s reaction
          -Ronald L. Ziegler’s statement
    -Kissinger's previous trip to the People's Republic of China [PRC]
          -Timing
    -Foreign aid
          -Continuing resolution

The President's successes
     -Kissinger's staff meeting
          -White House action
                 -Number of participants
                                        22

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                              Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


          -Press
          -Bureaucracy

UN vote on Taiwan
    -The President's statement
          -Press reaction
    -Ronald W. Reagan

The President's opponents
     -Liberals

Possible Presidents
     -Nelson A. Rockefeller
           -Views regarding John W. Gardner
     -Democrats
           -Jackson
     -Reagan

Vietnam
     -Negotiations
         -Foreign aid program
                -Possible continuing resolution
         -Kissinger's previous trip to the PRC
                -Backgrounders
         -Alternatives
         -The President's note to Tito
         -Kissinger's forthcoming meeting with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                -Content
                     -Tito
                     -POWs
                     -Thieu

Middle East
    -Kissinger's negotiations
          -Timing
                -Dobrynin
    -State Department
          -The President’s possible handling
          -Israel
                -Phantoms
                     -USSR
                                        23

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. 10/06)
                                                          Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


                       -Diplomatic leverage
     -The President's forthcoming conversations
          -William P. Rogers and John N. Mitchell
     -Kissinger's forthcoming conversations
          -Dobrynin
          -Mitchell
          -Yitzhak Rabin
     -Kissinger’s forthcoming recommendations
          -Timing

World War I
    -Australian casualties
         -Gallipoli
         -New Zealand
         -World War II

Vietnam
     -Casualties
     -1970 election
          -Senators
                 -Indiana
                 -George A. Murphy and Robert H. Finch
                 -Ralph T. Smith of Illinois
                 -John V. Tunney
                       -Murphy
                       -Finch and Reagan
                       -Murphy

The President's foreign policy
     -International monetary policy
     -UN vote, foreign aid vote
           -Press reaction

Kissinger's schedule
     -New York Times Editorial Board
           -John B. Oakes
     -Washington Star

The President's forthcoming trip to the PRC
     -Kissinger's schedule
          -1972 election
                                               24

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                Conv. No. 613-6 (cont.)


                -Television
                     -Chicago

     New York Times
         -Pentagon Papers
         -Oakes
         -Kissinger's schedule
         -William McMahon's comments
         -Editorial Board
               -Daniel Schwarz
               -Abraham M. Rosenthal
         -Kissinger's schedule
               -Oakes

     The President’s schedule
          -Forthcoming state dinner for McMahon


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
[National Security]
[Duration: 8s ]


     AUSTRALIA


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14

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The President and Kissinger left at 6:55 pm.