Conversation: 865-022
Prev: 865-021 Next: 865-023Start Date: 28-Feb-1973 11:07 AM
End Date: 28-Feb-1973 11:52 AM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Ziegler, Ronald L.;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On February 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:07 am to 11:52 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 865-022 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 865-22
Date: February 28, 1973
Time: 11:07 am-11:52 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
Kissinger meeting with Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir
-Stonewalling, leaks
-Shootdown of Libyan passenger airline
-Negotiations for interim agreement
-Agreement on general principles
-Commitments
-US military aid
-Plans
-Leverage
-Congress
-Richard M. Helms
-Israel’s Air Force
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-17-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
-Jordan, Egypt
-President’s viewpoint
International Conference on Vietnam
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-North Vietnam
-Joint Military Commission
-Viet Cong representation
Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 11:07 am.
President’s schedule
-Press conference
-Timing
-Golda Meir visit
International Conference on Vietnam
-Economic Commission
-North Vietnam’s position on Prisoners of War [POWs]
-William H. Sullivan
-Unofficial US position
-Commission, mines, US withdrawal
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Escalation
-Press coverage
-News summary
-William P. Rogers
-Silvan Fox
-North Vietnam
-South Vietnam
-US aid
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Ellsworth F. Bunker
-POWs
-North Vietnam
-Demonstrations
-Military operations
-18-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
Cease-fire violations
-North and South Vietnam
-Number and magnitude
-Press coverage
-South Vietnam’s Air Force
-Training flights
President’s press conference
Kennedy’s 13 Mistakes by Malcolm Smith
-Suppression of Kennedy family
-Library of Congress
-Bay of Pigs
-Leaks by Chester Bowles
-State Department
President’s press conference
-Press relations
-Ziegler
-Headlines and stories
-Rogers, troop withdrawal, mining
-President’s press conference
-Delay
-Questions
-US aid
-POW impasse
-Richardson’s statement
-Jerry W. Friedheim’s statement
-Questions
-Withdrawal countdown
-POWs
-Mine removal
-Delay
-Rogers
-Proposed answers and statements
-Ziegler
-North Vietnam
-Compliance
-19-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
-POWs
-POWs
-North Vietnam’s list
-Release
-US retaliation
-American public opinion
-Bombing
-Mining
-Bombing
-Dikes
-International Conference on Vietnam
- -Agreement deadline
-USSR and People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Thieu
-North Vietnam
-Security
-US commitment
Press relations
-Ziegler’s statement
-POWs
-North Vietnam’s compliance
-Civilian prisoners
-Cease-fire
-Mining
-Rogers
Ziegler left at 11:29 am.
Press relations
-Cease-fire
-Critics
-President’s orders to Rogers
-Withdrawal stoppage
-Ziegler’s statements
-Congress
Cease-fire negotiations
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
-North and South Vietnam
-Thieu
-Intransigence
-US response
-Toughness
John F. Kennedy
-Mistake
-Rhetoric
-Berlin
-Meeting with Nikita S. Khrushchev in Vienna
-Preparation
-Compared to President
-Llewellyn E. (“Tommy”) Thompson, Jr.
-Letter delivery
-Indonesia
-Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy
-Achmed Sukarno
-Communist victory
-Lt. Gen. T. N. J. Suharto
-Brazil
-Joao Goulart
-Cuban Missile Crisis
-USSR
-Turkey, Italy, Cuba
-Robert Kennedy, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Nerves
-Bay of Pigs
-Richard M. Bissell
-Air cover
-Landing site
-Joint Chief of Staff [JCS]
-Press reaction
-Popularity
-Henry Fairlie’s book
-Space program
-Moon landing
-21-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
President’s popularity
-Letters
-War critics
-Crisis
-Thomas W. Braden [?]
-McGeorge Bundy
-Opportunism
-Secretary of State
-Edward M (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy
-Vice Presidency
-Lawrence F. O’Brien, Jr.
-New York Times
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston
-Value of criticism
-Free society
John F. Kennedy
-Press coverage
-Bay of Pigs
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-President’s advice
-Advisors
-Public relations
-Polls
-Johnson
-Indecisiveness
-Cuban Missile Crisis
-Settlement
-US bases
-Political effects
-Barry M. Goldwater
-1964 election
-Congressional elections
-Berlin crisis
-Compared with President’s May 8, 1972 Vietnam action
-Handling
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
-US bases in Greece, Turkey, and Italy
-Compared with President’s Cambodia speech
-Rhetoric compared with President
-Fairlie’s book
-Popularity
-Press coverage
-Hugh S. Sidey, Rowland Evans, Joseph W. Alsop, Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.
Press relations
-Pandering
-Objectivity
-Vietnam
-Mistakes
-Critics
-Siding with the enemy
-Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
-Kissinger’s attendance at Rabin’s dinner for Gold Meir
-Rogers
-Liberals
-Congress
-Democrats
-Aid to Vietnam
-Draft issue
-Aid to Vietnam
Congress
-Hugh Scott
-Richard B. Russell
Youth attitudes toward President
-Students compared with faculty
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Possible Presidential candidates
-Ted Kennedy
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)
-Poll
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Kissinger’s view
-Trip to Vietnam
-Selfishness
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-John B. Connally
-Age
-Gen. Charles A. J. M. de Gaulle
-Golda Meir
-Qualifications
-Connally
-Business deals
-Armand Hammer
-Saudi Arabia
-President’s letter of introduction
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Ziegler entered at 11:50 am.
International Conference on Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Official statement on POWs
-Rogers
Kissinger and Ziegler left at 11:52 am.
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)