Conversation No. 636-11

Date: December 10, 1971
Time: 5:38 pm - 6:27 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Jerrold L. Schecter; the White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

     Photographs
          -Types

     Tour of rooms

     The President
          -Remarks from Schecter

     The White House
                                         22

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                              Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)


     -History
     -Abraham Lincoln bust
          -Unknown sculptor
     -Winston S. Churchill

Presidential portrait and bust
     -Sculptor
           -The President’s relationship with
     -Photographer

Oval Office history
     -The President’s past experiences
     -Harry S Truman
          -Meeting with Charles J. Kersten, Congressman from Wisconsin, 1948, and the
                 President
                 -Eastern Europe
                      -East-West relations
                            -Ambassadors
                                 -Polish-Americans
                      -The President’s meetings with Democrats
                      -Globe
                      -Marshall Plan
     -Dwight D. Eisenhower
     -Oval Office “effect”
          -The President’s recollection as Vice President
     -John F. Kennedy
          -Call to the President
          -Bay of Pigs
     -Lyndon B. Johnson
     -Meetings
          -Other locations
                 -Executive Office Building [EOB] office
                 -Camp David
                 -Key Biscayne and San Clemente
     -Oval Office “effect”
     -Johnson
          -Use of Oval Office
                 -Televisions
                      -Lack of them
                      -Examples of hoe the President receives news
                            -Summary
                                         23

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                                  Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)


                           -New York Times
                           -Washington Post
                           -News programs
                                 “Meet the Press”
                           -Weekend reading
                                 -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                                 -Patrick J. Buchanan
                                 -William L. Safire
                                 -Al [Surname unknown]
                           -President’s reading choices
                                 -Commentary
                                 -Time
                                 -New Republic
                                 -National Review
                                 -The London Observer
                                       -Importance to the President

Television
     -President’s advice
           -Watching oneself

Decision-making process
     -Clarity

Oval Office
     -Cleanliness
          -The President's desk
                -EOB office
                -Camp David
                     -Exceptions

Physical and mental condition of the President
     -Essential for the job
     -John Connally

Decision-making process
     -Consensus
     -Oval Office, Lincoln Sitting Room, Camp David, EOB

Delegation of authority
     -Grover Cleveland
                                              24

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                    Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. 10/06)
                                                             Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)


             -Ability to delegate authority
             -Comparisons
        -Important decisions
             -President’s advice

Press
        -The President’s feelings
        -Attempts to accept press criticism
             -Not take it personally

News summary
    -Issues compared to personal material

The President's reading habits
     -History
           -Biography
     -Carl Sandburg's Lincoln
     -Churchill
     -Benjamin Disraeli
     -Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt
     -[Thomas] Woodrow Wilson
     -Andrew Jackson
     -Churchill
     -Blake’s Disraeli
     -Diary
           -Dictaphone
                 -Rose Mary Woods

Notes
     -President’s schedule
           -Upcoming trip to the Waldorf Hotel
     -[Forename unknown] Bell
           -Death
           -Wife and daughter
                -The President’s expresses sympathy
     -Night
     -Reminders

Dictation
     -Woods
     -Marjorie P. Acker
                                          25

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)


     -The President as Congressman

Decisions made in the Oval Office
     -Cambodia
          -Final order
          -EOB office
          -Camp David
     -November 3, 1969 speech on Vietnam
     -EOB
     -Camp David
     -Henry A. Kissinger
     -John D. Ehrlichman
          -Part of decision making process
     -Legislative matter
          -Clark MacGregor
                -EOB office
                -Campaign bill

Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
     -Types of conversation between the President and Mrs. Nixon
     -White House decoration
     -Delegation of authority
     -The President
          -Menus
          -Wines

Entertainment at the White House
     -Woods
          -Guest lists
                -Other responsibilities

Wines
    -The President's knowledge
         -International experiences

The President's diet
     -Restaurants compared to wine
     -“Spartan” existence

Relaxation
     -Camp David
                                        26

                        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                 Tape Subject Log
                                   (rev. 10/06)
                                                               Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)


        -Florida
        -California

Decorum as President
    -Dignity
    -Humanizing the Presidency
         -Eisenhower
               -Military background

The President as Congressman
     -Becoming President
     -Selection as Vice President
          -Unpredictability

Use of the EOB office
     -Informal compared to formal
           -Oval Office
                 -Quietness
           -Camp David
           -California
           -Florida

Events of last few months
     -People’s Republic of China [PRC] and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR
           Summits
     -Economics
           -Vietnam
           -Inflation, unemployment

Press
        -Relationship

Congressional criticism

Decision making
     -Hazards
     -Anger

Washington Post and the New York Times
    -Reading habits
    -Herbert L. Block
                                              27

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                Conv. No. 636-11 (cont.)



     Mental discipline
         -Development
                -Campaigning
                     -Victory and defeast

     Foreign leaders

     Pictures in the Oval Office
           -Rembrandt Peale
           -Julie Nixon Eisenhower

     Tour of other rooms

The President and Schecter left at 6:27 pm.