Conversation: 726-004
Prev: 726-003 Next: 726-005Start Date: Friday, May 19, 1972 3:45 PM
End Date: Friday, May 19, 1972 4:19 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); [Unknown person(s)]; Kissinger, Henry A.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Ehrlichman, John D.Recording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:16:13
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 01:50:12
NARA Description:
On May 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:45 am to 12:19 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 726-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 726-4
21
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-2 (cont.)
Date: May 19, 1972
Time: 11:45 am- 12:19 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Stephen B. Bull and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
President's schedule
-3 o'clock meeting
-Meeting with Robert C. Byrd
-Black lung bill
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Meeting with George P. Shultz
-Meeting with Ehrlichman
-Plans
-President's absence
Bull left at an unknown time before 11:46 am.
-Meeting with Shultz
-Morale
-Personnel
-Following John B. Connally’s policies
-Amount of time
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 11:46 am.
-Length of meeting
-Time
-Shultz
-Time
-Ehrlichman
-Time
-Shultz
-Time
-Ehrlichman
-Meeting on Capitol Hill
-Time
-Briefing books
-Number
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Shultz
-Meeting with President
-Time allotted
22
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Appointments
Soviet Summit
-Robert J. McCloskey call
-Briefing
-William P. Rogers
-Call
-Appearance at McCloskey's briefing
-Purpose
-President's press conference
-Time
-Rogers's briefing
-The President’s view
-Kissinger
-Talking points
-McCloskey
-Bilateral discussions
-Effect on President's press conference
-Purpose
-Kissinger briefing
-Austria
-Date
-Content
-President's press conference
-McCloskey call to Ziegler
-Rogers's call to Ziegler
-Ziegler's response
-Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-Rogers's press briefing
-Ziegler's response
-President's press conference
An unknown woman entered at an unknown time after 11:46 am.
Kissinger
-Meeting with President
-Location
The unknown woman left at an unknown time before 11:55 am.
Soviet Summit
-Rogers's press briefing
23
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Advantages
-Adele (Langston) Rogers
-Presence in Poland
-Rogers
-Visit to Vladimir Lenin's tomb
-Described
-Knowledge
-President's press conference
-Press coverage
-Rogers's press conference
-Press coverage
President's visits to George C. Wallace
-Press coverage
Rogers
-The President’s view
President's press conference
-Purpose
Kissinger
-Meeting with President
-Rogers
-Briefing in Austria
Soviet Summit
-Rogers
-Absence
-President's press conference
-Scope
-Briefings by Rogers, Peter G. Peterson, and Earl L. Butz
-Rogers
-Plenary sessions
-Meeting with Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Meeting with Andrei A. Gromyko
-The President’s view
-Vietnam blockade position
-Briefings
-Science
Kissinger
-Meeting with President
24
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-An unknown woman
-Length of meeting
Haldeman talked with Kissinger at an unknown time between 11:46 am and 11:55 am.
[Conversation No. 726-4A]
Meeting with President
-Location
[End of telephone conversation]
Soviet Summit
-McCloskey
-Rogers
-Call from Ziegler
-Press conference
Kissinger entered at 11:55 am.
-Calls from Rogers and McCloskey
-Reasons
-Kissinger briefing in Salzburg
-President's press conference
-Conflict with Rogers
-Rogers's press conference
-Reasons
-Marvin L. Kalb report
-Rebuttal
-State Department compared with the White House
-Rebuttal
-Rogers
-Position in National Security Council [NSC]
-Talk with Connally
-President's press conference
-The President’s decision
-Relation to Rogers's press briefing
-Time
-Possible attendees
-Rogers
-Staff members
-Purpose
-Attendees
25
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Rogers
-Kissinger
-White House staff
-Kissinger
-William L. Safire
-Herbert G. Klein
-Press office staff
Ziegler
-Call to Rogers
-President's press conference
Kissinger
-Background briefing in Salzburg
President's attitude
-Priorities
-Conflicts
Ziegler left at 11:58 am.
Vietnam
-Spiro T. Agnew's comments
-Target limitations
-President's response
-Air strikes
-Limits
-Melvin R. Laird
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Abrams
-Future as Chief of Staff
-Reasons
-President's orders
-Kissinger’s view
-Psychological campaign
-Laird's amendments
-[David] Kenneth Rush
-Laird-Abrams telephone call
-President's orders
-Air Force comments to Agnew
-Call to Adm. John S. McCain, Jr.
-President's response to Air Force's work
-Rush
26
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Possible call from Haldeman concerning Laird
-Soviet trip
Kissinger's schedule
-A meeting
-Postponement
-Meeting on Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
Adm. Thomad H. Moorer
SALT
-Described
-Conditions
-Gerard C. Smith
-Hawks' position
-Soviet demand
-Weapons freeze
Ehrlichman entered at 12:00 pm.
Vietnam
-Air action
-President's orders
-Complaints to Agnew
-Agnew's position
-Additional action in North Vietnam
-Propaganda
-Failure
-Richard M. Helms
-Replacement
-The President’s view
Ziegler entered at 12:01 pm.
Soviet Summit
-Rogers
-An announcement
-President's press conference
-Clark M. Clifford
-Rogers's press briefing
President's schedule
27
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Meetings with Ehrlichman and Shultz
Soviet Summit
-Ziegler's statement to Rogers
-Plans
-President's press conference
-Rogers's press conference
-Plans
-Statements
-President's press conference
-Time
-Rogers's press conference
-Call from Haldeman
-Problems
-Problems
-Vietnam
-Impression
-President's press conference
-Handling
-Roger's press conference
-Impression
-Haldeman call
-Ziegler call
-Time
-Soviet Summit
Ziegler left at 12:04 pm.
Vietnam
-Psychological warfare
-Delay
-Duration
-Timing
-Soviet Summit
-Leaflets
-Hanoi
-Other forms of propaganda
-Past performance
-Kissinger's understanding
-Air strikes
-Agnew's report on Abrams
28
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
President's schedule
-Briefing books
-Last book
-Locations
-Meeting with George P. Shultz
-Authority
Vietnam
-Psychological warfare
-Leaflet drops
-Locations
-News story
-Rebuttal
Haldeman and Kissinger left at 12:05 pm.
Black lung legislation
-President's signing
-Cost
-Administrative concerns
-Robert C. Byrd's suggestion
-President's veto
-Political damage
-Arch A. Moore
-Pennsylvania
-Ohio
-Illinois
-Congress
-Override
-Byrd
-Senate and House support
- of bill
-Support for President
-Effect on President's reelection chances
-Meeting with President
-Time
-News story
-Date of release
-Moore
29
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Moore
-President's veto
-Call from Ehrlichman
-Byrd
Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] report
-Wallace shooting
-Arthur H. Bremer
-The President’s view
-Political affiliations
-Wallace support
-Diary
-Transcription for President
-Mental state
-Wallace, McGovern
-Motives
-Publicity
-Money
-Political affiliation
-Wallace, McGovern
Wallace
-Meeting with President
-Physical condition
-Morale
-President's visit
-Physical condition
-Analysis
-Effect on Wallace
Busing
-Ehrlichman's briefing
-Constitutional amendment
-The President’s memeorandum
-Congressional conference report
-Congressional action
-Time
-President response
-Legislation
-Time
-Richard M. Scammon's surveys
-Domestic Council
-Edwin L. Harper, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Leonard Garment
30
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-The President’s view
-Political sensitivities
-President's position
-Freedom of choices
-Use of term
-Housing, schools
-Connotations
-Dual school system
-Ehrlichman's trip to Michigan
-Quote on President's position
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 13s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
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-Conference report
-New York Times support
-President's veto
-The President’s view
Welfare reform
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Memorandum to President
-Compromise with Abraham A. Ribicoff
-President's orders
-Ehrlichman's memorandum to Richardson and James D. Hodgson
Rebuttal memorandum
-President's initials
31
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
Budget
-President's position
-House Resolution [HR]1
-Ehrlichman memorandum
-President's signature
-Effect
Shultz
-Confirmation
-Timing with Richard G. Kleindienst's confirmation
-Reason
-Order of confirmation
-Clark MacGregor
Kleindienst
-Confirmation
-Timing
-Swearing-in
-Notary public clerk
-Shultz
-President's role
Shultz
-President's view
-Swearing-in
-President's role
Revenue sharing
-Bill in House of Representatives
-Celebration
-Connally, Ehrlichman's position
-Statement
Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]
-Caspar W. Weinberger plan
-Political considerations
-Funds cutoff
-Contracts with agencies
-Termination
-Method
-Rationalization
-Method
-Possible complaints
32
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Jan-02) Conv. No. 726-4 (cont.)
-Vietnam
Gun control
-Effect of Wallace shooting
-Need for action
-"Saturday night specials"
-Bremer
-Gun control laws in Maryland
-Laws
-Impact on citizen
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Impact on criminals
-Senate bills
-Birch E. Bayh, Jr. Roman L. Hruska
-Administration’s position
-Press office
-Ehrlichman speech
-Philadelphia
-Impact on citizen
-Administration position
-Press coverage
Soviet trip
-Ehrlichman's best wishes
-Meeting with Ehrlichman
Ehrlichman left at 12:19 pm.