Conversation: 682-008
Prev: 682-007 Next: 682-009Start Date: Friday, March 10, 1972 5:50 PM
End Date: Friday, March 10, 1972 6:10 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; White House photographer; Matthews, Dianne C.; United States Secret Service agents; Bull, Stephen B.; Watson, Arthur K.; White House operator; Fulbright, J. WilliamRecording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:59:00
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 01:20:26
NARA Description:
On March 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, Dianne C. Matthews, United States Secret Service agents, Stephen B. Bull, Arthur K. Watson, White House operator, and J. William Fulbright met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 1:10 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 682-008 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 682-8
Date: March 10, 1972
Time: 12:50 pm - 1:10 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger; the White House photographer was present at the
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
beginning of the meeting.
[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress]
Contact with the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-William P. Rogers
-Unknown assistant secretary
-Backchannel
-Arthur K. Watson
Kissinger’s schedule
-J. William Fulbright
The President’s schedule
-Meeting with Watson
-Meeting with Dianne C. Matthews
Matthews entered at 12:52 pm.
Matthews’s departure
-Reasons
-Engagement
-Fiancé
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Foreign Service
-Wedding
-Timing
-Virginia Beach
-Note from the President
Matthews left at 12:53 pm.
The President’s forthcoming meeting with Watson
-Topics of discussion
-Channel to PRC
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
Kissinger’s schedule
-Previous meeting with Businessmen
-The President’s view
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Kissinger’s workload
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Forthcoming meeting with Fulbright
-Forthcoming meeting with businessmen
-George Meany
-Joseph Irwin Miller
-Peter M. Flanigan
Kissinger met with an unknown man [Secret Service agent].
Meeting with Watson
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:53 pm.
Meeting with Watson
Bull left at an unknown time before 12:55 pm.
PRC trip
-George R.S. Baring [Earl of Cromer]
-Congratulations of Edward R.G. Health
-Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
Kissinger’s schedule
Watson entered at 12:55 pm.
Congratulations on speech
Backchannels to the PRC
-Gerald R. Ford and [Thomas]Hale Boggs
-Visit to PRC
-The President
-State Department
-Leaks
-The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
-Watson’s experience
-Algeria
-Watson’s message to the State Department
-Cable
-[First name unknown] deBeaumarchais[sp?]
Watson’s new house
-The President’s schedule
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Watson’s previous house
Kissinger’s schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with Fulbright
Watson left at 12:59 pm.
News summary
-News story on possible joint US-Soviet manned space mission
-Frank Borman
-Trip to the Soviet Union
-The President’s approval
Trip to greet returning astronauts
-State Department
-Leaks
Kissinger’s schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with Fulbright
The President talked with the White House operator at 12:59 pm.
[Conversation No. 682-8A]
[See Conversation No. 21-41]
[End of telephone conversation]
Kissinger’s schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with Fulbright
New York Times article
-Chou En-lai
-Norodom Sihanouk
-Meeting with North Vietnamese
-Chou En-Lai
-Meeting
The President talked with Fulbright between 1:00 pm and 1:02 pm; one item has been withdrawn
from this conversation.
[Conversation No. 682-8B]
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
[See Conversation No. 21-42]
[End of telephone conversation]
The PRC trip
-Fulbright’s view
-Rogers
-Mathias
-Talk with Kissinger
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Forthcoming conference
-David Rockefeller
-Comments
-Earl of Cromer
-British reaction to trip
-Shanghai communiqué
-State Department
-Memorandum on Taiwan, Republic of China
-Committee leadership
-Letters from the President
-Heath
-Georges J.R. Pompidou
-Willy Brandt
-Eisaku Sato
-Heath
-Pompidou
-Winston Lord
-Earl of Cromer
-Kissinger
-Briefing
-The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
-Japanese
-Kissinger’s forthcoming trip
-British
-Cromer
-Brandt
-Heath
-State Department leaks
-Watson
-John N. Irwin, II
-Kissinger’s view
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
State Department
-Robert J. McCloskey
-Haldeman
-Talk with Rogers
-Rogers’s role in forthcoming Soviet trip
-The President’s view
-Secretaries of State
-Foreign Service
-Cordell Hull
-Kissinger’s forthcoming talk with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Richard M. Helms
-State Department
-The President’s possible meeting with Dobrynin
-Forthcoming US-Soviet summit
-Meetings
-The President and Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Brezhnev, Aleksei N. Kosygin and Nikolai V. Podgorny
-Andrei A. Gromyko
-Rogers’s forthcoming meetings
-Kosygin
-Podgorny
Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with Fulbright
Kissinger left at 1:10 pm.