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Conversation: 613-006

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Start Date: 2-Nov-1971 5:25 PM

End Date: 2-Nov-1971 6:55 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Ford, Gerald R.Arends, Leslie C.MacGregor, ClarkKissinger, Henry A.Cook, Richard K.Ziegler, Ronald L.Bull, Stephen B.White House photographerSanchez, ManoloBull, Stephen B.

Recording Device: Oval Office

Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:09:32

Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:38:47

613a.mp3

613b.mp3

613c.mp3

613d.mp3

NARA Description:

On November 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, Clark MacGregor, Henry A. Kissinger, Richard K. Cook, Ronald L. Ziegler and Stephen B. Bull, White House photographer, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:25 pm to 6:55 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 613-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

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.