Conversation 780-007

On September 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Alexander P. Butterfield, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:26 am to 10:20 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 780-007 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 780-7

Date: September 16, 1972
Time: 9:26 am - 10:20 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

The President talked with Charles W. Colson between 9:26 am and 9:27 am.

[Conversation No. 780-7A]

              Washington Post article
                 -National Archives

              Indictment of White House aide
                  -Harry S. Truman aide
                      -Jail term
                  -Harry H. Vaughan
                  -Missouri
                  -Mathew J. Connelly
                      -Press secretary
                      -Jail term
                      -Research
                           -Kennneth W. Clawson
                  -Lyndon B. Johnson aide

                                          (rev. Oct-06)

                     -Walter W. Jenkins

             The President's schedule
                 -Kissinger

[End of telephone conversation]

             Washington Post article
                -Colson
                -The President’s view
                -Media coverage
                -National Archives

Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:27 am.

             The President's schedule
                 -Kissinger meeting
                     -Haldeman

Bull left at an unknown time before 9:46 am.

             Kissinger

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 10s        ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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             Kissinger's trip
                 -Previous meeting with the President
                     -Kissinger's schedule
                           -Talks with Le Duc Tho
                           -Talks with Leonid I. Brezhnev

                           (rev. Oct-06)

            -Talks with Georges J.R. Pompidou
            -Talks with Edward R.G. Heath
            -Talks with Willy Brandt
        -Comparison to the President
        -Negotiations
    -Kissinger's meeting with William P. Rogers
    -Kissinger's negotiating results
        -The President’s view
        -Importance of press briefing
        -Peter G. Peterson
        -Government agencies
            -The President’s re-election
            -State Department
            -Commerce Department

Possible leaks
    -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
    -Dan Rather’s story
         -Kissinger
         -Leaked documents
             -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
             -Blockade
                  -Effectiveness
                       -Tonnage shipped into Vietnam
         -David R. Young, Jr.
             -The President’s instructions
             -Richard M. Helms
             -Distribution of documents
             -William H. Rehnquist
                  -Document distribution
         -Distribution of documents
             -Kissinger, Haig
             -Personal action
         -Young
             -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] investigation

White House personnel
-John W. Dean, III
    -John D. Ehrlichman
    -The President’s view
    -Lawrence F. O'Brien, Jr.

                          (rev. Oct-06)

-Ehrlichman
     -O’Brien
     -The President’s view
-Dean
     -The President’s view
     -Differences between Dean and Ehrlichman
          -Haldeman’s view
-Ehrlichman
     -Firing of personnel
          -Walter J. Hickel
     -President’s view
-Dean
     -Haldeman’s view
     -Image
     -Social relations
     -Rock music
     -Discotheques
     -Hollywood
     -Kissinger
          -The President’s view
     -Judgement of people
          -Haldeman’s view
     -Frank C. Carlucci
     -The President’s view
     -Compared to Robert Stripling, House Un-American Activities Committee
     [HUAC] investigator
          -The President’s view
     -Actions
-Second term
     -Dean
     -Fredric V. Malek
     -Colson
     -Carlucci
     -Haldeman’s view
          -White House personnel
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Ehrlichman
-Staff actions
-Ziegler
     -Performance as press secretary
          -The President’s view

                          (rev. Oct-06)

-George E. Christian
     -John B. Connally
     -Aid to the President
     -Writing ability
         -Foreign policy speech
         -Style
              -White House speech writers
                   -The President’s view
     -Working relations
         -Haldeman’s view
     -Speech style
         -The President's style
              -Compared to Connally
         -White House speech writers
              -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                   -The President’s view
-Dean
-Second term plans
     -Cleanup period
         -Schedule
     -Vacancies
         -Cuts
         -Changes in personnel
     -White House staff cuts
         -Jobs outside administration
         -Promotions
         -Departmental jobs
         -H. Dale Grubb
              -National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
         -Haldeman aide
              -Study of agencies
              -Appointments by the President and Cabinet officers
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
     -Changes
     -Cutbacks
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
     -Role
     -Reduction-in-force [RIF]
-State Department
-Congressional relations
     -Revision in philosophy

                                     (rev. Oct-06)

                  -Effect of 1972 election victory margin
             -White House Congressional liaison
                  -Cutback
                  -Attitude
                  -Johnson years
                       -Bryce Harlow
          -Edward C. Nixon

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 29s        ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

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          -Edward Nixon
             -Protocol office
                  -East wing
                  -Capabilities
                      -Relations with public
                      -Possible role
             -Relations with business groups
             -Teachers
                  -Roger E. Johnson
                  -Capabilities
                  -Relations with people
                  -Image as the President's friend

          Watergate
             -Media coverage
                  -Television report
                  -Interview of Cubans
                       -Communist conspiracy
                           -Democratic Party
                       -George S. McGovern

                                        (rev. Oct-06)

Henry Kissinger entered at 9:46 am.

             Greetings

             US-Soviet Union relations
                -Timing of announcements
                    -Haig
                -Rogers’s reaction to negotiations
                -US-Soviet Union trade agreement
                -Kissinger’s meeting with Roger’s
                    -October 1972
                         -Normal diplomatic routes
                         -European Security Conference
                         -Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions [MFBR]
                         -Agreement date
                    -Rogers
                         -Meetings with foreign ministers
                    -Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT]
                         -Diplomatic channels
                         -Announcement
                         -State Department prepatory work
                    -Rogers’s reaction
                    -European Security Conference
                    -MBFR
                    -SALT II
                    -Trade agreement
                         -Haldeman’s view
                -SALT
                    -Ceremony
                    -Andrei A. Gromyko
                         -Meeting with Kissinger
                         -Timing
                         -Publicity
                    -Leonid I. Brezhnev meeting with the President
                -SALT ceremony
                    -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                    -Gromyko
                         -Trip to Camp David
                              -Dinner arrangements
                         -New facilities
                         -Message to Brezhnev

                      (rev. Oct-06)

         -Press reaction
         -White House meeting
              -Rogers
              -US embassy in Moscow
                   -Personnel
              -Dinner arrangements
-Timing of announcements
    -SALT
    -US-Soviet Union trade agreement
         -Announcement date
         -Haldeman’s view
         -Legal discussions
-US-Soviet Union Trade Agreement
    -Rogers
         -Reaction to breakthrough
    -Scope of agreement
         -Kissinger’s view
    -Monetary figures
    -Trade center in Moscow
         -Facilities
    -International arbitration
    -Announcement
         -Businessmen conference
              -Donald McI. Kendall
              -Peter G. Peterson’s role
              -Armand Hammer
                   -Komitet Gossudarstvennoi Bezopastnosti [KGB] allegation
              -Support for President’s policy
    -Pre-notification concerns
         -Haldeman’s view
         -Grain sale to Soviet Union
              -Problems
         -Soviet Union actions
         -Public perception
         -Grain dealers
              -Profit
         -Earl L. Butz
              -Retroactive policy
         -US Business in the Soviet Union
              -Arbitration
              -Soviet courts

                      (rev. Oct-06)

-Timing of announcements
    -Maritime agreement
    -European security conference
    -SALT II
         -Announcement
         -Trade agreement
              -Media coverage
              -Soviet view
              -Options
    -European security conference and MBFR
         -Rogers
              -Soviet negotiating style
    -The President’s schedule
    -SALT II
    -East Germany/West Germany treaty
         -Berlin
         -Impact on US
-Brezhnev message to the President
    -Lin Piao
         -Airplane crash
              -Possible bomb
              -Photographs
                  -Dental and medical work in the Soviet Union
-Brezhnev gift to the President
    -Tray
    -State flags
         -Semi-precious stones
    -Pictures of presidents
         -George Washington
         -Abraham Lincoln
         -The President
-White House gift
    -Tray with state flags
    -The President’s gift to Brezhnev
    -Coins
    -Presidential flag
-Brezhnev
    -Relations with the President
         -Kissinger’s view
    -Minister for Shipping
         -Maritime agreement

                           (rev. Oct-06)

                  -Timetable for conclusion
        -Visit to Camp David
            -Laurel lodge
            -Possible May 1973 arrival

1972 election
    -Pompidou
        -French television
             -Comments on Vietnam War
                  -1972 Presidential election
    -Abram Chayes
        -England
        -Edward R.G. Heath
             -Reports
             -Pompidou
        -Chatham House meeting
             -George S. McGovern position
             -Left-wing Labor Party
                  -Reaction
    -Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
        -European relations with US
             -Approach
             -Meeting with the President after 1972 election

Kissinger’s press forthcoming conference
    -1972 accomplishments
        -Relations between great powers
        -World peace
        -US negotiations
             -PRC and the Soviet Union
        -Basis of relations
             -Direct confrontation
             -Cooperativeness
                  -Importance
                  -Meeting with Japanese
                  -Latin American
                  -Africa
    -Messages from the President
    -Paris Herald-Tribune editorial
        -Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
        -The President’s initiative

                                      (rev. Oct-06)

                 -Announcements
                    -White House initiative

Haldeman left at 10:00 am.

                    -Trade agreement negotiations
                         -Peterson’s efforts
                -Dealing with other powers
                    -Efforts at highest level
                         -Second-level negotiations
                    -Kissinger’s effectiveness
                         -Qualities
                              -Kissinger’s role
                         -Relationship to the President
                         -Trade ministers
                    -PRC
                         -Chou En-Lai
                -US current relations
                    -Chou En-Lai
                    -Brezhnev
                    -Pompidou
                    -Heath
                    -Brandt
                         -Attitude towards US
                         -Television appearance with Kissinger
                -The President’s policies
                -Kissinger’s schedule
                    -Haircut
            -Negotiations
                -Timetable of breakthroughs
                    -Kissinger’s wording
                         -The President’s suggestions
                -The President’s review of progress
                    -Lend-lease
                    -SALT
                    -MBFR
                    -Brezhnev and the President’s previous summer in Moscow
                         -Communique
                    -Kissinger’s meeting with Brezhnev
                         -Interchange of messages

                          (rev. Oct-06)

              -State Department
    -Presidential level talks
         -Details
         -Issues
-Trade agreement
    -Brezhnev
    -Soviet Jewish emigration
-Lend-lease
    -Monetary figures
    -Timetable for payments by Soviets
    -Five-year plan
         -1976
         -Commodity credit corporation credit [CCC]
-Press relations
    -Publicity
    -Kissinger’s view
         -Maritime agreement
         -Most-favored nation status [MFN] for Soviet Union

Kissinger’s schedule
    -Barber

Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
    -US-Soviet Union relations
        -Maritime agreement
        -MFN
        -Lend-lease agreement
        -Trade center
        -Negotiations
              -The President’s communications with Brezhnev
              -Kissinger’s communications with the President
                  -Cables
                       -Commercial channels
              -MBFR
                  -Communiqué
                       -Haig
    -Rogers
        -Paris negotiations
              -Proposals
              -North Vietnamese proposal for public release
                  -International Control Commission [ICC]

                                       (rev. Oct-06)

                         -Possible leak
                         -Kissinger’s forthcoming negotiations
                             -Timing
                                  -US domestic impact

            Vietnam peace talks
                -North Vietnam
                    -Possible settlement
                        -Kissinger’s views
                        -Concerns
                    -Motivations
                        -Meeting length
                    -Meeting length
                        -Le Duc Tho
                             -Ziegler’s briefing
                        -Timetable for negotiating
                    -The President’s trip to west coast
                        -News coverage
                        -Campaign finance dinner
                -Timetable for negotiations
                    -News coverage
                        -The President’s view
                    -Ziegler
                        -Announcement
                -North Vietnamese proposal
                    -Administration response
                        -McGovern
                    -Disclosure of peace talks

            Photograph session
                -Ziegler
            Vietnam peace talks
                -Settlement
                     Kissinger’s conversation with Le Duc Tho

An unknown woman entered at an unknown time after 10:00 am.

            Photograph session
            -Ziegler
            -Timing
            -Kissinger

                                         (rev. Oct-06)

                  -Haircut

The unknown woman left at an unknown time before 10:15 am.

              Vietnam peace talks
                  -Kissinger’s schedule
                      -Le Duc Tho
                  -Administration’s interest
                      -Rogers
                  -North Vietnamese
                      -The President’s view
                      -Behavior in war

              Vietnam
                  -Leak of blockade story
                      -Source
                           -CIA
                           -State Department
                  -Ray S. Cline
                      -State Department
                      -Background
                           -CIA
                      -Rogers
                      -Study
                      -Purpose
                           -Kissinger

Alexander P. Butterfield and Ziegler entered at 10:15 am.

              Kissinger’s schedule
                  -Haircut

Butterfield left at 10:16 am.

              Folders for Haig

Ziegler left at 10:18 am.

              The President’s schedule
                  -Trip to New York
                  -Invitation to Kissinger

                                          (rev. Oct-06)

                      -Camp David

             Kissinger meeting with Peterson
                 -Peterson’s role

             Vietnam peace talks
                 -North Vietnamese position
                     -Perception of US in negotiations
                 -Bombing of North Vietnam
                     -The President’s view
                          -Sorties
                     -Kissinger’s view
                          -October, November 1972
                 -Effects of blockade on North Vietnam
                     -CIA study
                     -Oil
                     -Railways
                          -Bombing
                 -North Vietnam
                     -The President’s re-election
                     -Louis P. Harris poll
                          -Bombing
                          -Mining
                          -Communist government in [South Vietnam]

Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 10:18 am.

             The President's schedule
                 -Papers

The President, Kissinger and Ziegler left at 10:20 am.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

I mean, though, that there was a, but you can check in that.
You might, well, anyway, get one of your guys on it right away.
It isn't, it wasn't, no, it's somebody much, it's somebody much closer to one of the Missouri group.
It was his press secretary, Connelly, wasn't it?
Connelly.
Connelly.
That's right.
And he went to jail.
All right, go ahead.
I won't do work on that again.
Thank you.
He doesn't.
It doesn't matter to him.
I'll tell him to take 15 minutes to do letter odds and ends in accordance to see him.
OK?
He said, come in.
Just come in at 945.
When does he need to start?
About 15 minutes.
We can do our pitch.
I waited last night at about 12.
And we talked about, no, he didn't get in until about half hour late, so I wouldn't call for him.
We talked about what to read.
I kept going up in the elevator.
He had six hours, six hours of straight conversation, and 25 hours, 25 hours of sexual impression.
He saw, he,
all of those files?
Is it an enormous ?
Well, what it does, though, is .
Sure.
I have sat through meetings
I know he's doing great things.
And he is.
He's doing great things.
No question about it.
And he'll go up here next week sometime.
He'll send a little camera.
But I really felt that way.
He does have to express it.
No question about that.
Good God, we can't have him come back and hide.
Make it appear to nothing.
He told me yesterday.
about whatever it is.
Anyway, study that out.
Now, young, maybe young as you are this morning, and I want it on my desk before, I'll get it, tell it to get a hold of that asshole over there, Helms.
I want the distribution list.
I want every person who will not distribute the names.
How many?
This will be a very good test, Bob,
Except for, I know, of course, Henry.
We'll have that right after the election.
Everybody that's on the list will be fired.
You see, everyone.
This is a general practice.
We don't know which one did it.
But somebody on this list has been leaking these CIA documents.
So that's what I want.
I just want to tell you how many staffs there are.
I just want to know everybody who has that, that, that, that, that.
I would also like to know that I was then impressed with me.
I'm more impressed with John Irving.
I think he's a playboy.
He realizes he's good.
John is too busy.
And also John is damn honorable.
He is an honorable man.
And Dean is honorable.
He is a saint.
He is good.
He's good.
The difference, the key difference between, the critical difference between John and John Ehrlichman and John Dean, in the context you're talking about, is that Ehrlichman is not a leader.
Rosen is tough, but he is not a hero.
He's a good man, but he is tough.
He is a guy with a, in spite of,
has seen enough here.
And he's a good judge of people.
He isn't taken in by people.
He tends to give the benefit.
Some people give people the un-benefit.
I assume some guy is no good until he proves he's good.
He tends to assume he's good.
But he watches it.
And when he proves he's no good, he turns on them.
I don't think the two are a hell of a combination, but what I mean is, I'm watching Dean, just as I'm watching that Carlucci.
If he's enough of a hater, and he's smart enough, you know, what you really need is somebody that has nothing to do with the screw the other side.
Dean is obviously not the guy that likes to screw anything.
That's really what he is.
I don't know what he's like.
He's very different.
He's a beautifully educated man in our particular, but he's the same kind of a guy as Bob Sterling used to be.
Bob Sterling had a modest education, but he was a private, super guy.
And he was a pension.
And he got up and he killed people and he slaughtered.
He played every trick in the game.
And that's what Dean will do.
In other words, when he says, get out of there, get those vials, I've got
And I think we've got a half of that.
He is a hell of a person.
He's got to be the best.
For me, he's the kind we want.
And he's terrific.
And it's not like I follow him up with the turkey creation thing.
I am.
I'm talking to Colin about it.
And John, I just need a man of his quality.
You know, really, I can sense when I see a great writer, he is a hell of a writer.
He's got the style.
Let's see how he does on the foreign policy thing, all right?
And then that'll give us a pretty good clue.
I can send it back.
But they never come up with any of this kind of thing.
I have to write this kind of line.
Well, Christian's a kind of guy you could work with, too.
I think so.
He's a good, strong son of God.
But he can write the balanced kind of thing.
This is the way I talk.
It's the way Conway talks.
Conway and I talk a great deal the same.
Because we're politically, we know how to go for the jump.
We balance things.
And that's the thing.
And it's not just because Price and the rest don't try.
They can't do it.
They cannot.
It's my time.
I'm excited for you.
Oh, I have an idea of coming very shortly.
Good.
All the voices.
Good.
Including the White House.
This is the first place we want to read it.
It would be too bad for some people.
But they understand.
A lot of them want to go back anyway.
A lot of them want to go back.
A lot of them that are good, we can move to other places.
I mean, will you get out of the place you haven't got back?
Will you tell us we want to move up?
Well, you can take a lot of some of our people that are good, but really aren't the best, and help put them over to God in heaven.
But I'm so glad that you do have this ball bank in the study room.
Yes.
I have an apartment.
Yes, sir.
Everybody in the secretary appoints.
Everybody in the president appoints.
I don't want any doubt on that.
You know, I don't want to get anybody here.
I want a CIA that we can't change.
That's the way to do it.
I think we've got to give a lot of thought to our own approach to Congress.
I think we ought to take, assuming you get the big mandate, we ought to change the White House congressional liaison back to what it used to be.
Get out of being a service association.
Sure.
And we do an awful lot of just plain service to Congress.
This all built up during the Johnson years, and this was a thing, you know, Bryce discussed it.
I don't think so.
I think you have to do it because that's the way it's been.
But I think we've got to just serve Congress.
We make no bones about that either.
Just say we're bearing back
You know, I do hope that you, whether it's possible, we can work that thing out with Dave, my brother.
But you know, I don't know, I suppose it's a waste.
He could certainly do that East Wing thing, and I'd be able to smile.
Maybe that was a waste for him.
You know, he's a, now, I mean,
most people would be like, Christ, he could use that goddamn telephone and be a day above her life.
Nobody ever has ever his hand on her, you know what I mean?
Don't you think so?
Sure could.
He's worked with capital and the business groups, you know, he can handle that.
He gets along well with teachers.
For people who feel like they belong to the president's brother, you know, there's something there.
Roger Johnson could never do what he could do.
First of all, he's much smarter than Roger.
And he's younger and more alert.
He could do the kind of stuff we had hoped Roger would do.
But with Roger, people just weren't willing to talk to him.
One time around, they found out he didn't have any stroke.
They would never find out that Eddie didn't have any stroke.
So far, pretty well.
And did you see or hear about the TD last night?
Because it was just sensational.
They went and interviewed the goddamn Cubans, and each one of them said, yeah, we're trying to stop this communist conspiracy that's taking over the Democratic Party.
In effect, called them government communists, and just boom, they just cracked all over us.
He didn't even want to hear it.
I didn't have to hardline trade.
I don't know about it.
No, I said that everything we want to do is to make sure these announcements happen in October, and the President asked me specifically to work with you and hold you responsible for the fact that these states emerge out of normal diplomatic exchanges in October, that you take European Security Conference and mutual force reduction.
You've got the Soviet note.
All we want from you is to get agreement of everybody.
All the president wants is to get agreement by October 20th.
And then it emerges.
He says, oh, yes, I'm going to see all these foreign ministers.
I'm going to work it out.
It's all worked out.
Then he said, what about Saul?
I didn't even give him the date.
I said, that also will be handled in normal diplomatic channels.
And we just want to make the announcement here, but you do the preparatory work.
And that's really, he spent 20 minutes explaining to me why I shouldn't make the announcements of the days.
And I said, well, I didn't put it that way.
I said, that's exactly what the president felt, what he talked to me about last night.
And he said he wanted you to handle the implementation of this and the days.
He was thrilled.
He was delighted.
Well, this is the second, the days we have.
And October 2nd or 3rd for the salt, depositing the salt.
Oh, we're going to have a ceremony of depositing salt.
Are you thinking that's a good idea?
Hell yes.
Well, it grew me close to this.
Well, that's what I would have done with redness.
And then the rockers wait.
Why don't you do it the 3rd?
Morning of the service.
He's having dinner with you the 2nd.
Well, uh, Gretzner said that's what television has to do.
They'll do exactly what you want.
He plays equally well in the press.
He plays equally well.
He plays bigger.
He plays bigger.
See, he didn't have a meeting here.
He didn't have a meeting here.
In the office.
I think there'll be progress.
I told him he could bring one or two from the answer.
Sure, whatever they want.
No, no.
They want 18 people, he said.
No, we're not going to knock on that.
The smaller, the better.
The 12th is fine.
October 3rd is fine.
October 10th is trade.
This may slip a day or two because there are a lot of legal discussions, but it will be that week.
Will you want it on the 10th?
Yes.
All right.
It will be on the 10th.
It'd be better for it not to slip.
All right.
We'll do it on the 10th.
It's practically all set anyway.
It's evident.
You told Bill about that.
You know, practically, it didn't give a damn.
I'm rather talking about... That's typical.
What he cares about is what made him come out of the project.
Did you hear the big thing?
Bob was on the figurehead.
He's determined.
He's determined.
which is really, you will see, Mr. President, when you announce, I said this with Saul, and I'll say it again with Trey, when this thing is announced and people see it all together, they will recognize that this is the biggest trade and commercial thing.
$3 billion from the Russians to a trade center in Moscow, a U.S. trade center, trade facilities, international arbitration.
What we ought to do here is, on the way to preparation,
I would like to have Kendall get in about twenty of the top business tycoons, and you tell them, or have Peterson tell them, but let Kendall have Peterson, because he's been great, and bring in Hammer, all these people.
All the time, we ought to be careful about.
He's a KGB.
Bring in these people.
So they'll say good things about me.
That's my point.
Mr. President, what did you mean?
They don't get into this pre-notification.
On the trade, we don't have to pre-notify them, Mr. President.
I'll guarantee you.
What it means is that any American doing business in Russia can ask for international arbitration.
He doesn't have to go to Russian courts.
The thing to do is get them in the day we announce it and do it right afterwards.
All right.
Then there's no question of re-notification.
Next week we have a maritime agreement.
We can't hold that because they won't load the ship.
All right.
That's going to make it.
All right.
Now the other one.
All right.
The 10th is period.
The 10th is period, which is fine.
Then Sol 15.
That's a Sunday.
They won't want to do it Sunday.
What do you want?
Preceding Friday or the following Monday.
The trade agreement, we'll have to leave the trade agreement to dominate the magazines, I would think.
But let's do the 17th or so.
All right.
Right now.
Is that all right?
But then shouldn't we have European Security and MPFR the following week rather than have them both?
Yes, that's the next thing I was going to say.
Can we wait until the 24th for European Security?
That's right.
That will be easy.
The hard thing will be to make them come to a point because they'll pull out there at all.
kind of a problem is you're going to be out, you know, on Saturday.
Oh, no, there'll be no problem.
We'll have that.
Because we got this.
Monday would be very good if we can.
Monday, that would be easy for you to do some stuff outside.
No, Solve is totally Solve is totally within our control.
I can lock that on Monday.
I mean, that Solve requires no further consultation.
They wanted to announce it last week.
And I don't know why not.
The 3rd, the 10th, 16th, and anywhere 23rd, 24th, 25th.
No later than the 25th.
Right.
And then there'll be peripheral things happening, for which we can't announce here.
There'll be another treaty between the two Germanies on Berlin and so forth.
I mean, it's just a trend.
It won't do it.
But literally, we will have solved every issue between us and them.
There will be no outstanding issue by November 3rd.
You were starting to say... Yeah, he told me, Srebrenica told me for you, that Lin Piao was on that plane that crashed in Mongolia.
That's what the Chinese... And that they did not shoot him down.
They think that there was a farm for boys.
The last time, he said, next time I come, he'll show me the pictures.
And he said Lin Piao had had dental work done in the Soviet Union, medical work.
And he sent you a tray, I haven't seen it, on which he has had the flag of every state made with
pictures of Sammy Kresge's Russian style.
He said that we have got to get... And a picture of Washington and you.
We've got to get a... Did I tell you to get some sort of... Why don't you get something with the flags of the 50 states on it?
That would be a bad idea.
A tray with the flags of the 50 states.
I would send something back to him
But, you know, when he talks about you, I feel it's really an amazing situation.
for example.
I said, we've cut his maritime agreement.
We've cut his army now.
We called him.
The guy, like a good bureaucrat, gave about 40 things in an hour.
The president said to him, I've just settled with President Nixon that we will agree on this.
You'll settle it, Brian.
But Brian, the guy who was Brian, he was treacherous.
And I gave him all this stuff.
You told me, I said.
I think when I walked out of Camp David with the president, he said to me, the president will live there.
He'll have an office in Laurel.
Oh, he was just through Covey as he wants to go to Camp David.
He's going to come.
He said, not that anyone else.
Of course.
He wants to come in late May.
That's right.
And, you know, all of these leaders, it's an amazing situation.
Mopi Du told me that he had told French television not to say one word about Vietnam while the election campaign was going on.
We don't embarrass them in there much.
Yeah, but— This is the first time they've ever interviewed me.
Shade was there—it was in England—and he said,
that none of the people saw it, but the report he got was it was one of the most frightening things.
He said that it was frightening.
He said he was trying to deny it all now.
But Chase gave a talk in Chatham House, and he said, in which he defended the McGovern position, and he told me that the left-wing labor people came away shocked.
Now, I told them all, and I wondered whether I should have said it at the press conference on your behalf, that you thought our relations with Europe must become too vigorous and that you want to meet with them after the election campaign.
Yes, that we were entering a new phase.
That would be a very new thing, a new .
Now is the time to devolve.
When you say new, bigger, that means it doesn't have bigger problems.
No, no, no.
What I could say is we put it on a new basis that the circumstances that produced the previous unity have now been achieved.
And now we need a new framework.
And now the situation has changed from a period of direct confrontation.
We're moving toward more cooperation.
It requires new relationships between our allies and our friends.
And the President puts this at the very highest priority as we go into the next year.
He might put it that way.
Well, I'd like to put it in the context that I brought messages from you.
The major purpose I think I should achieve in this session today is a big initiative by you.
I don't know.
The Paris Arab Tribune had a lead editorial yesterday about my trip to Moscow, and they said,
I'd like to set it up today in such a way so that when all these announcements happen, everyone will think it was done out of fear rather than wish.
It is true, Mr. President.
Peterson has been hacking away at the trade thing for six months.
Are you dealing with the territory of cars?
Is it done at the second level?
It's done at the highest level.
That's the thing that Bill doesn't
And I'm effective not because I'm smart or a good negotiator.
This might be true.
It helps.
It helps.
It certainly helps.
But they know I'm speaking for you.
If that fact didn't exist, if I had to deal with the trade minister...
The same, too.
Well, we have really—I thought on this trip, it's almost unbelievable.
We are in the position where Joe Breschner, the mortal enemy, trusts us more than anybody else, even though we are good friends with both of them.
But even he, he was practically fighting to get on television with me.
I didn't want to be on.
And not because of me.
It was President Nixon.
I read the words when he spoke on television.
You know what I was going to say?
I don't know.
I have a couple of my children.
I thought about it.
Thank you.
Yes, I would put it in the broad scheme of things that we—I don't know what you've got across the back—how do you want to say it—why the
We agreed on the last day that there would be a follow-up meeting when a number of matters had reached a point where presidential pressure... Where a negotiation and discussion, where a decision at the highest level might break the inbox.
And that's where decisions at the highest level
very substantial progress on the lease.
I'd say the ,, very substantial progress, and we are much closer to agreement, not totally much closer now.
One thing I did, and I would say that we discussed, we had some very constructive talk, you know, the way you say this on ,, I heard a discussion, you know, on the FFR, and you're going to see that it's such that.
First, that they discussed these at great length in their meetings in Moscow.
And they were in the .
Yeah.
And they were, they discussed this at great length.
And they reached, they reached, they did not reach agreement at that point, but they, but we were hopeful about agreement at a later time.
We agreed at that time that the best procedure would be about, since that time, President Brezhnev had had a very extensive interchange
matters we had and move forward.
And we now are—I forget that— I get it.
The basic principle of the president is that you negotiate at a high level.
You shouldn't surprise the other fellow.
So a week before I went there, which is true, he conveyed to the Soviets our thoughts and our personal issues on the presidential level.
Then I'll explain what the issues were.
Now, in connection with that, please, I must tell you one private arrangement I made with the president.
About who?
About the business.
Their problem is, first of all, we just want to go and say, I don't care about private arrangements.
Right, but I...
The Lebanese, I mean, the Lebanese, the only party Lebanese that had a figure high enough of people like we did that screwed.
I don't care what... Three quarters of a billion dollars.
I don't care what...
But it will be finished.
I told you that in 75 and 76, it was postponed.
And then starting again in 77, added to the subsequent payments.
The reason is that his five-year plan is running out.
In 76, he's got to pay off that $500 million ECC credit.
And he's in a balance of payments fund.
Under our agreement, he could do it unilaterally, but it would create hell.
So if you don't mind, I would like to confirm to him.
I was sure you'd agree to it.
But I saw the feedback that I brought it back to you and then say on Monday I'll let you know it's going to be cut for the president.
But he agreed to it.
Good.
You see, if you can think of any phrases that can be picked up by headline writers that will make it appear about
No, what I would like to do is to say what we faced was a series of separate negotiations on maritime, on maritime, on maritime, on most favored nations, on land leads,
And what the President asked me to do was to see whether I could talk on his behalf, on a comprehensive basis, tying them all together.
And he personally communicated with the President the week before I came there what his approach was.
And then in a very long, arduous session, in which I had to go back three times to the President.
In fact, I did send several cables.
It was an agreement in which I was .
That's a .
And by table, I can say .
And by table, I can give them a few .
They really .
They better .
It's better communication on a direct line to watching for me through commercial channels.
I used it last night.
They pulled the fast one on MPFR.
You see, I drafted their note to us, but then they put a little twist in it.
So at 10 o'clock at night, I told them, all right, the communique is off and the message is off.
I said, we'll just have no communique.
I never have a communique when Ali speaks into it.
I don't need one.
And then I called up Haig on the open line and said, hold the communique.
The next morning they came half an hour before I left and came back.
One of these days I'm going to call my father.
But that's the only thing.
What did you tell Rogers about Paris?
I told Rogers I didn't think I could get away with telling him nothing.
I said they were very eager and they gave me some pieces of paper.
Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to give him
one section from their last version, not from yesterday's plan, but from their plan of four weeks ago, because that they've already published this week.
And then they made also a very specific proposal to us about the International Control Commission.
And I figure that's the sort of scrappy thing.
If he leaks it, it doesn't do any great damage.
I'll give him that section.
too many hoaxes, but he wasn't pushing it hard.
As far as the wheat is concerned, I was trying to think as to what's in it.
Why do they want it in the wheat?
They want a settlement, Mr. President.
If they want it, they probably were going to give.
They want a settlement.
What I think is they made a desperate impression.
Their dilemma is they are desperate to settle, but they are also mortifyingly afraid that after 25 years, they'll settle for something that kills them.
Now, if they wanted to string us along, Mr. President, they would have to say, they would have a maximum time degree meeting.
If they wanted to string us along, they wouldn't ask for a two-day meeting.
And the way I think we could handle the two-day meeting is that we announce a regular meeting in the morning.
Then that evening, at the four o'clock briefing, Ram says, Kitten, join me, Doctor.
The approval of the President has extended the meeting by a day.
After that, we have a three-week free ride, no matter what happens.
Because they won't... You won't agree to disagree with that?
No.
And they'll have...
That's what, the 22nd?
No, no, I won't go to the 22nd.
My thinking is that I'll go to the 26th and 27th.
That's good, that's good.
They want me on the 22nd.
They can't, they can't.
The 26th and 27th is better if you use your time.
Right, so I'll go to the 26th and 27th.
Trouble is, you're going to the west coast on the 26th.
And I don't want to have your news blanketed.
Maybe I should do it the 25th and 26th.
That's good.
It's good to have two, it's good to have the same sort of focus.
Mine is a political career.
I want to run it.
Then we'll do it.
Then we'll do it the 26th and 27th.
It's good.
It shows that I'm still working on the problems.
Good.
Then Ron can announce it wherever he is with you.
Sure.
That will be a sensation.
Then...
We'll have at least one other meeting.
By that time, it's the middle of October.
Then let them go public.
We'll say they're just trying to swing into MacGyver.
They won't go public.
I tell you, they're desperate.
They may not know, but I'm not sure, Mr. President, because you've got no time, that they may not know how to settle it.
But when I said to him yesterday,
He wasn't strong by then.
He wasn't strong.
What the hell is he?
My own view is this, that I can't believe, despite what the CIA puts out, Christ, I've got to bust that goddamn CIA for leaving that.
Do you think they'd leave it or stay?
Could be stay for CIA.
Could be they'd lie and say, if it had stayed, it's lying, who's the former CIA guy?
I don't think that Rogers would leave that sort of thing.
Oh, Christ, no.
Rogers is for the blockade, Christ.
Why didn't they make a study for that purpose?
Well, no, I asked them to make the study, but if they had studied, I believe— He's got to get a haircut.
We'd like to— We'd like to get a picture.
We'd like to get a picture.
And then he could put out a haircut.
Or do you want to wait?
I don't know.
I don't know.
All right, fine.
We'll go out.
I have to get in there.
Yeah, I understand.
Let me give him a hand.
Yeah.
On the, uh...
I'm going to hold you up.
You're going to be surprised inside.
Yeah.
You are?
Maybe tomorrow.
Yeah.
You could have came in if you wanted.
Open it.
I thought I'd be eating tonight at my father's and telling him he has...
They don't know how to handle it.
And they still think that we make caves, now that we may give them something.
But I think that if they are not going to cave, they're going to do it at the last possible moment.
I think they're doing enough for them
On this, on this CIA estimate, it actually proves our point.
Well, if they're getting 2,700 instead of 7,000, we're starving to death.
Exactly.
Isn't that it?
Exactly.
Where are they getting their oil from?
Through the pipeline.
Well, they're getting some of it, but the whole thing is, whether life's at the border, then as we get all the way down through these bomb railways, if they were content
Did you get the papers?