Conversation: 702-007
Prev: 702-006 Next: 702-008Start Date: Tuesday, April 4, 1972 8:45 PM
End Date: Tuesday, April 4, 1972 10:06 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Butterfield, Alexander P.; Mitchell, John N.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Sanchez, Manolo; Lucet, Charles; White House photographerRecording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 00:58:02
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 02:19:43
NARA Description:
On April 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Charles Lucet, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:45 pm to 5:06 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 702-007 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 702-7
Date: April 4, 1972
Time: 3:45 pm - 5:06 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
Vietnam
-Air srikes
-Marine panes
-Maneuvers
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Quality
-Close air support
-Air Force
-Accuracy
-Ceiling
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Troop withdrawals
-Impact
-Figures
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Public relations
-Cuts
-US measures
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Haiphong
-Support for blockade
-Weather
-Clearance
-US measures
-Haig
-Proposals
-White House
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Personnel bombs
-Air strikes
-Targets
-South Vietnamese strategy
-News summary
-Quang Tri
-Retreat
-Value
-Russians, Germans, French
-[Napoleon, King of France]Napoleon [Bonaparte]
-Strategy
-Battle of the nations
-Cavalry
-Defeat of allies
-Austrians, Prussians, English
-Waterloo
-Mistakes
-Football
-Value
-Counterattacks
-B3 Area
-Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
-Eighteenth parallel
-William P. Rogers
-Press conference
-State Department
-South Vietnam
-Control of population
-Amount
-Public opinion
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Rockefeller's opinion
-Support for the President
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Stakes for US
-Conduct of foreign policy
-Edmund S. Muskie's and George S. Mcgovern's charges
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Consequences of defeat
-Countermeasures
-Initiative from White House
-Pentagon
-Inaction
-Tet offensive
-Surface to Air Missiles [SAMs]
-Sorties
-Air strikes
-South Vietnam
-Government
-Problem areas
-Joseph Alsop's comments about North Vietnamese Army
-Countermeasures
-Soviets
-Haiphong
-Bombing
-Extent
-Docks
-Ships
-Mining
-Problems
-Types
-Bombing
-Eighteenth parallel
-Bombing in the North
-Soviets
-Reconnaissance
-Haiphong
-Bombing
-North Vietnamese offensive
-DMZ
-Crossing violation
-US response
-Bombing in the North
-Intensity
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Haiphong
-Docks
-Domestic Reaction
-People's Republic of China [PRC] and Soviet Union Reactions
-Ships in harbor
-Preparation for assault
-State Department
-US measures
-Spokesmen for the President
-Melvin R. Laird
-Rogers
-Announcements
-Bangladesh
-Rogers
-Retention in office
-Timing
1972 campaign
-Rogers
-Role
-Laird
-Speeches
Vietnam
-Rogers
-Moscow summit
-Trip to Europe
-News reports
-Moscow summit
-Poland
-North Vietnamese offensive
-US responses
-PRC and Soviet Union Reactions
-Meeting in Paris
-US refusal
US foreign policy
-Kissinger's theoretical memoirs
-Major decisions
-Cambodia invasion
-Nuclear war
-April 1972 offensive
-Relation to election
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-North Vietnam
-Chou En-Lai's advice
Vietnam
-North Vietnamese offensive
-B-52 strikes
-DMZ
-Orders
-Preparations
-SAMs
-Targets
-Vinh
-Opportunities
-Significance
-US bombing
-Justification
-North Vietnamese mistakes
-Kontum
-DMZ
-North Vietnamese intentions
-Alsop's analysis
-John Vann
-North Vietnamese demoralization
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 17s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
The President's National Catholic Educational Association [NCEA] speech
-Quote
-H[erbert] G. Wells
-Educated elite
-Bellicosity
Vietnam
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Weather
-Clearance
-Air strikes
-North of the DMZ
-Intensity
-Target areas
-Weather
-Report
Alexander P. Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 3:45 pm.
The President's schedule
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 4:13 pm.
Vietnam
-Weather
-Report
-Source
-Abrams
-Conversation with Adm.Thomas H. Moorer
-Caution
-Replacement
-Health
-Air strikes
-Proposals
-Moorer
-Richard M. Helms
-Mining
John N. Mitchell and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 4:13 pm.
Greetings
Kissinger's travels
-Soviet Union
-Mexico
[David] Kenneth Rush
Butterfield entered at 4:13 pm.
John D. Ehrlichman
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Delivery of unknown article
Butterfield left at 4:13 pm.
Laird
-Rush
-David Packard
Mitchell's schedule
Kissinger left at 4:13 pm.
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-Key Biscayne
-Swimming Pool
-Charles G. (”Bebe”) Rebozo
-White House Staff
-Campaign
-Golf
-Fishing
-Boating
-Dinner
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 16s ]
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:13 pm.
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:50 pm.
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
Vietnam
-Weather
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Bombing
-Problems
-Air Force
-World War II bombing runs
-Bad weather
-Navy pilots
-Favorable conditions
-Bravery of pilots
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
ITT case
-1972 campaign
-Disposal of case
-Issue in election
-Republican boycott of investigative committees
-Charge of harassment
-Confusion of issue
-Newspaper reporting
Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:13 pm.
-Mitchell
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:50 pm.
-Vance Hartke
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Privacy]
[Duration: 5s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
*****************************************************************
-Media representation
-Conflicts with other Democrats
-Susan Lichtman
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Press conference
-Location
-Law office
-Link to Democrats
-News reports
-Harold S. Geneen
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 5m 35s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
*****************************************************************
-ITT case
-Admission of guilt
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 5m 14s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
*****************************************************************
-San Diego
-ITT contribution
-Amount
-Herman [first name or surname unknown]
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 19m 19s ]
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 4:13 pm.
Bull left at an unknown time before 4:50 pm.
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
*****************************************************************
Charles Lucet and Kissinger entered at 4:50 pm. The White House photographer was present at
the beginning of the meeting.
Greetings
Ambassadors
-Lucet's departure
Mitchell and Haldeman left at 4:50 pm.
Photographs
-Arrangements
Ambassadors
-Lucet
-Stay in US
-New post
-Italy
-Importance
-Number of political parties
Italy
-Proliferation of parties
-The President's 1969 trip
-Compared with France
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Constitution
-Gen. Charles A. J. M. DeGaulle
-Current political issues
-Need for a strong President
-Manlio Brosio
-Political Parties
-Brosio
-Giuseppe Saragat
-Lucet's new position
-Unknown Italian Prime Minister
-Rome
-Beauty
US-France relations
-Assessment
-Stabilization
-De Gaulle
-Georges J. R. Pompidou
-Relations with US
-De Gaulle
-Meeting with the President in 1969
-Intended trip to the US
-Funeral
-The President's attendance
-Cathedral
-Impressions
-The President's trip to France
The President’s schedule
-Trip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
Vietnam
-US actions
US foreign policy
-Soviet trip
-Opportunities for negotiations
-Rogers’s trip
-Europe
-Preparations
-Rogers’s trip
-Brussels
20
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
-Kissinger's trips
-Japan
-Rome
-Visit with Giovanni Battista Motini [Pope Paul VI]
-US and French cooperation
World War I
-Sacrifices
-France
-Germany
-Great Britain
-Issues
-Absence
-Alsace-Lorraine
-Guns Of August
-Mobilization
-Serbia
-Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
-Initial reactions
-Austrian ultimatums
Ambassadors
-Cooperation between Lucet and Graham Martin
-Italy
-Current situation
-Lack of leadership
-Possible coup
Presidential gifts
-Ash trays
-Presidential seal
-Photographs
The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
-Teheran
-Europe
-Rogers's trip
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
-Invitations to the President
Lucet and Kissinger left at 5:06 pm.
21
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)