Conversation: 809-002
Prev: 809-001 Next: 809-003Start Date: Saturday, October 28, 1972 1:10 PM
End Date: Saturday, October 28, 1972 2:26 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; [Unknown person(s)]; Woods, Rose Mary; Kissinger, Henry A.; Colson, Charles W.Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On October 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), Rose Mary Woods, Henry A. Kissinger, and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:10 am to 10:26 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 809-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 809-2
2
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
Date: October 28, 1972
Time: 9:10 am - 10:26 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
Watergate
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] news broadcast
-Condensation of proposed special
-Effect
-Damage
-Lyndon K. ("Mort") Allin’s News Summary item
-Quality of program
-Content
-Charles W. Colson’s conversation with Frank Stanton
-Political impact
-Colson’s conversation with Stanton
-Special
-News broadcast
Radio speeches
-Schedule
-"One America"
-National defense
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-News effect of defense speech
-Vietnam
Vietnam
-Settlement
-Proximity to 1972 election
-Political effect
-Samuel Lubell’s view
-American Broadcasting Company [ABC] interviews in Columbus,
Ohio
-Henry A. Kissinger, William P. Rogers
-Hanoi
-As campaign issue
-Administration handling
-George S. McGovern's position
3
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Attainment of terms in 1969
-R. Sargent Shriver
-Counters to McGovern's position
-McGeorge Bundy
-George W. Ball
-W[illiam] Averell Harriman
-Howard K. Smith
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 38s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
*****************************************************************
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.
President's schedule
-Ziegler
Bull left at an unknown time before 9:24 am.
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 1s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.
4
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
The President’s schedule
-Ziegler
-Gerald L. Warren
Bull left at an unknown time before 9:24 am.
Legislation
-Social Security
-The President’s recent vetoes
-News coverage
-Signing, October 30, 1972
-Credit
-News coverage
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 34s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
*****************************************************************
CBS news story
-Stanton
-Colson’s view concerning broadcast
-Duration
-Upcoming segment
-Feature story
-Variety
Press relations
-1967
*****************************************************************
5
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 7m 40s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
*****************************************************************
Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.
Ziegler's schedule
-Voting
-Telephone call
Bull left at an unknown time before 9:24 am.
Radio speeches
-Schedule
-"One America"
-National defense
-Amnesty
-Last minute changes
-Ziegler’s possible statement
-News worthiness
-Editing
-Vietnam
-Speculation
-"One America"
-Quality
-Federal spending [October 7, 1972]
William L. Safire [Philosophy of Government, October 21, 1972]
-American Farmer [October 27, 1972]
-Education [October 25, 1972]
-Crime [October 15, 1972]
-Urban affairs [November 1, 1972]
-Foreign policy [November 4, 1972]
-Goals [November 5, 1972]
-Television spot
6
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 44s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
Ziegler talked with Haldeman between 9:24 am and 9:27 am.
[Conversation No. 809-2A]
[See Conversation No. 32-78]
[End of telephone conversation]
Announcement
-Ziegler's forthcoming call to Warren
The President’s schedule
-Camp David
-Surrogates meeting
-Camp David
-Residence
-Auditorium
-Women
-Duration
Kissinger’s schedule
-Surrogates briefing on Vietnam
-Political content
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Necessity
-Haig
-Paul C. Warnke
-Ethnic press briefing
7
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
The President’s schedule
-Ethnic press, October 27, 1972
-Value
-Timing
-Benefit
-Cultivation of contacts
-Poles, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Swedes, Danes
-Contact after the election
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 24s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
*****************************************************************
Watergate
-CBS program
-Administration's position
-Editors
-1972 election
-Truth
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Post-election strategy
-Money
-James Keogh’s book [President Nixon and the Press]
-Edith Efron’s book [The News Twisters]
-Propaganda war
The President left and Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:27 am.
Speech
The President’s schedule
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Bull’s telephone conversation with the President, October 27, 1972
-Speech
-Camp David
-Speech
-Speech
-Timing
-Western audiences
-Andrews Air Force Base
Bull left at an unknown time before 9:36 am. The President entered at an unknown time before
9:36 am.
Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 9:27 am and 9:36 am.
[Conversation No. 809-2B]
Radio speeches
-Schedule
-"One America"
-National defense
-Follow-up apparatus
[End of telephone conversation]
Radio speeches
-Schedule
-Follow-up apparatus
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 27s ]
Rose Mary Woods entered at 9:36 am.
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
*****************************************************************
Speeches
-Changes
-Timing
-Changes
Kissinger entered at 9:37 am.
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 52s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
*****************************************************************
Woods left at 9:39 am.
Vietnam
-Story of negotiations
-Kissinger’s efforts
-News summary
-Political charges by opposition
-ABC interviews
-Columbus, Ohio
-Kissinger’s possible surrogates briefing
-Kissinger's presentation
-Haig
-Rogers
-The President’s role
-Political nature
-Warnke
-Newspaper leaks
-Rogers
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Political points
-Points to be made
-Colson
-Political nature
-Lubell
-Settlement
-Timing
-The President's letter to Kissinger
-Use
-Hanoi
-Trip
-Publicity
-Time
-Jerrold L. Schecter
-Political charges by opposition
-Columbus, Ohio
-Reaction by administration
-Kissinger’s role
-Rogers's possible presentation to surrogates
-Substance of proposal
-Subtleties
-George S. McGovern's position compared to the Administration’s
-Substance of agreement
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Cease-fire
-Communist government in South Vietnam
-Contrast to McGovern's position
-POW’s
-Withdrawal
-Disarmament of South Vietnam
-Peace with surrender compared to peace with honor
-1972 election
-Priority of making right kind of settlement
-Terms
-POWs
-Cease-fire
-Non-Communist government in Vietnam
-Publication of agreement
-McGovern's stance
-Political distortion
-Public relations
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Presentation of administration's position
-The President’s schedule
People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Grain deal announcement
-The President’s radio address on the American Farmer
-Agriculture Department
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Earl L. Butz
-PRC note
-Consequences
-Price's staff
-Instruction to Haldeman
-Butz
Speeches
-Route of speeches
-[National Security Council] [NSC]
-Agriculture Department
-Information channels
-Change of speeches by the President
-Price’s responsibility
-Check of speeches
-Staff
-Problems
-National defense speech
-Timing
-Changes
Warnke briefing
-Haig
-Kissinger
-Press briefing
-Information in briefing
-Amount of information
-The President’s 1968 briefing
-McGovern
-Offer of briefing
Vietnam
-North Vietnamese
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Meeting with Kissinger
-Press
-Timing of settlement signing
-November 1, 1972
-Consultation with the President and Saigon
-Acceptance by South Vietnamese
-Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with Marilyn Berger of Washington Post
-Liberals
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Chiang Kai-Shek
-Berger
-Public opinion
-Berger
-Nixon compared to McGovern
-Non-Communist coalition
-Surrender
-Kissinger handling
-Surrogates briefing
-The President’s capability
-Haig
-Politicization
Woods entered at an unknown time after 9:39 am.
Speech changes
Woods left at an unknown before 10:12 am.
Foreign policy
-Kissinger's call to Jay Lovestone, October 27, 1972
-Forthcoming meeting
-George Meany
-Foreign policy briefings
-Meany
-Purchase of national radio time
-Timing
-Possible endorsement of McGovern
-Briefing
-Haig
-Postponement
-Lovestone
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
Vietnam
-Media and press relations
-Marvin L. Kalb
-Washington Post
-New York Times
-The President's instruction to Kissinger
-Washington Post
-Opinion makers
-Max Frankel
-Howard K. Smith's broadcast
-Kissinger
-Bundy
-Timing of agreement
-Kissinger's possible conversation with Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.
-John W. Chancellor
-Watergate
- [Arnold] Eric Sevareid
-Kissinger's recent talk with Sevareid
-1972 election
-Timing of agreement
-1972 election
-Possible public perception
-Politics
-Bombing halt
-1972 election
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-US choice of peace strategies
-Hypothetical effect
-Hanoi's public acceptance of May 8, 1972 plan
-Effect on 1972 election
-May 8th, 1972 Plan
1972 campaign
-Magnification of problems
-Close elections
-McGovern supporters’ fear
-Reality of election
-Smear campaign
-Effect on election
-Election prospects
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-States
-Popular vote
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-1952 election
-Administration enemies
-McGovern
-Press
-University professors
-Clergy
-Quality of criticism
-Settlement of war
-Timing
-Political charges
-Kissinger’s briefing
-Election week rhetoric
-CBS news broadcast on Watergate
-Possible hour long special
-Television commentators request for Kissinger interview
-Cronkite
-New York
-Use of interview
-Attribution
-Commentary
-Public appearances of the President in Kentucky and West Virginia
-Network coverage
-Benefits
-William F. (“Billy”) Graham
-Network coverage
-Audiences
Vietnam
-November 3, 1969 speech by the President
-Anniversary
-May 8, 1972 decision
-Importance
-Announcement
-Timing
-Demonstrations
-Reasons
-Mining, aircraft alert
-Soviet Union
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
Radio speeches
-Number
-Time involved
-Education
-Los Angeles Times coverage
Vietnam
-Settlement
-South Vietnam
-Nguyen Van Thieu’s possible meeting with the President
-Post-1972 election strategy
-Thieu
-North Vietnam publication of settlement
-Settlement delay
-Thieu
-Letter from the President to Thieu
-Treatment of the President, Kissinger, Rogers
-Letter from the President
-The President’s friendship and support
-Thieu’s public statements
-Effect on US public support
-Previous letter
-The President’s speeches
-Terms
-US military support
-Departure
-Degree
Kissinger’s schedule
Kissinger left at 10:12 am.
Surrogates briefing on Vietnam
-Kissinger’s view
-Image
-Rogers's delivery of briefing
-Compared to Kissinger
-Political points
-1972 election
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-The President’s role
-Effect
****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 1s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
*****************************************************************
Colson entered at 10:15 am.
Surrogates briefing on Vietnam
-The President’s role
-Rogers
-Kissinger
-Rogers
-Colson’s forthcoming telephone call
-Handling of politics
-Points
-No communist government in South Vietnam
-Guaranteed return of POW's
-Cease-fire
-McGovern program
-Surrender
-POW's
-Need for aggressive campaigning
-Purpose
Compilation of McGovern's quotes
-Shriver's quotes
-Use of quotes
Press relations
-Status
17
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-McGovern election prospects
-Pennsylvania polls
-Interpretation of poll movement
-Poll points related to votes
-Columbus, Ohio
-Timing of poll
-Kissinger's briefing
-Undecided voters
-Follow-up
-Kincaid [sp?] [First name unknown]
-ABC reporter
-Voter opinion
-Political aspect of Vietnam settlement
-Undecided voters
-John A. Scali
-McGovern support
-Louis P. Harris poll
-Harris’s network availability
-CBS news broadcast on Watergate
-Stanton
Watergate
-CBS
-Buchanan
-Distribution to editors
-1972 election
-Martin S. Hayden
-Statements
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-The President’s press conferences
-Grain deal, ITT
-Watergate
-Truth
-White House involvement in scandals
-White paper
-Distribution
-Hayden
-Paul Miller
-Gannett
-Barron’s
18
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Mailing
-Media support for McGovern
-Establishment
-Grain deal
-Cronkite
-News spot
-Treatment of issue
Press relations
-McGovern's tactics
-Bombing
-Robert J. Dole's attack
-Forthcoming appearance on Face the Nation
-McGovern background
-Heckling
-1960 campaign tactics
-Insult to Claudia A. (Taylor) (“Lady Bird”) Johnson
-Tricia Nixon Cox
-The President in New York City
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Cooperation of media
-Tricia Nixon Cox
-Student demonstrations
-Accidental compared to intentional nature
-Statue of Liberty incident
-San Francisco incident
-1960 compared to 1972 campaign
-Public perception
-Poll
Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:15 am.
The President’s schedule
-President's radio speech
-Timing
Bull left at an unknown time before 10:26 am.
*****************************************************************
19
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 11s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15
*****************************************************************
Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:15 am.
The President’s schedule
Bull left at an unknown time before 10:26 am.
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 33s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16
*****************************************************************
CBS
-Colson’s forthcoming telephone call to Stanton
The President, Haldeman and Colson left at 10:26 am.