Conversation: 866-004
Prev: 866-003 Next: 866-005Start Date: Thursday, March 1, 1973 2:47 PM
End Date: Thursday, March 1, 1973 3:44 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; White House operator; Rabin, Yitzhak; [Unknown person(s)]; Dean, John W., IIIRecording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On March 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Yitzhak Rabin, unknown person(s), and John W. Dean, III met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:47 am and 10:44 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 866-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 866-4
Date: March 1, 1973
Time: 9:47 am – 10:44 am
-3-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
Prisoners of war [POWs]
-List
-Dates of release
-Release
-Transportation
-Starting time
President's press conference
International Conference on Vietnam
-Signing of documents
-Kissinger's handling
-William P. Rogers
Berlin Wall crises
-Malcolm E. Smith, Jr.’s book [Kennedy’s 13 Great Mistakes in the White House]
-John F. Kennedy
-Skybolt decision
-Nassau meeting
-France, Great Britain
-[Maurice] Harold Macmillan, Gen. Charles A. J. M. de Gaulle
- De Gaulle’s veto of common market entry
-Withdrawal from NATO
-Kennedy’s handling
-Kissinger's article in Reporter
Kennedy’s handling of foreign policy
-Cuban missile crisis
Italy, Turkey, Great Britain, France
-Skybolt
-Nassau meeting
-Public relations
-Compared with President
-Jordan crisis
-India-Pakistan war
-4-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Cien Fuegos
National Security Council [NSC] meetings
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Frequency
-Subject
-George P. Shultz and Richard G. Kleindienst
-Attendance
-John N. Mitchell, John B. Connally
-European Economic Community [EEC]
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-New European policy
-Pentagon
-Elliot L. Richardson, Rogers
-Changes
-William P. Clements, Jr., [David] Kenneth Rush, Rogers
-attendance
-precedent
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Deputies
-Richardson
-Balance of views
-Meeting on Latin America
-Rush
-Subjects
-SALT, Europe, Latin America
-Kissinger’s report
World report
-Completion
-Kissinger’s trips
Treasury Department
-Shultz
-Under Secretary candidate
-Helmut (“Hal”) Sonnenfeldt
-Sonnenfeldt
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Intelligence
-5-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Hard-line attitude
-Replacement
-Lawrence S. Eagleburger
-Desire to leave
-Promotion
-Transfer to new position
-Defense Department
-Richardson
-International Security Affairs [ISA]
-Candidate
-Chuck Cooper
-Relations with Kissinger
Treasury Department
-Shultz
-East-West trade
-William E. Simon
-Prospects
-Shultz
-Value to administration
-Toughness
-Compared to Connally
-Public relations finesse
-Thoughtfulness
-Loyalty
-Peter G. Peterson
-Departure
-Behavior since departure
-Job offer
-Comments against administration
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 9:56 am.
POWs’ release
-Press relations
-Henry A. Kissinger’s call to President
-Governors’ dinner
-Kissinger, Haldeman, Ziegler, President's knowledge
-Relations with North Vietnam
-6-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Behind the scenes action
-Rogers
-Troop withdrawals
-Messages
-Compared with Jordan crises
-State Department
-Compared to India-Pakistan negotiations
-Air craft carrier
-West Pakistan
-Press relations
-Headlines
-Washington Star
-Ziegler’s briefing
-President's call to Ziegler
-John C. Arbuckle
-Associated Press [AP]
Vietnam settlement
-Press questions on President's reaction to settlement
-Statement for press
-Implementation of agreement
-POW release
-Highest priority item
-US position
-Linkage with other issues
-Troop withdrawals, mines
-North Vietnam’s adherence
-Cease-fire
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Rationale for war
-POWs
-Ziegler’s press briefing
-President’s reaction
-Thieu
-POWs release
Ziegler left at 10:05 am.
Golda Meir's visit
-7-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Crisis
-United Nations [UN] condemnation of airliner destruction
-Meir’s visit to US
-Election in Israel
-John A. Scali
-Conversation with Israel’s UN ambassador [Yosef Tekoah]
-Yitzhak Rabin
-Tekoah’s partisanship
Negotiations and weapons
-Meir’s position
-Interim agreement
-Running in election
-Interim settlement
-Private talks
-President’s request
-Anwar el-Sadat
-Egypt, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Initiative
-Airplanes
-Briefing paper
-Defense Department recommendations
-US aid
-Purchase, production
-Kissinger’s recommendations
-Number of airplanes
-F-4s and A-4s
-Meir’s political position
-President's dealings with Meir
-Airplane production, purchase
-Numbers
-State Department
-Area of discussion
-Delivery
Alliance For Progress
-Disaster
-Latin America
-8-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Results
-Brazil
-Communist
Kennedy’s foreign policy
-Smith’s book
-Europe
-Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
-Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard
-De Gaulle
-Opinion of Kennedy
-Roland Evans
-Adenauer
-Jacquelline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’s statement
-Pierre Salinger's statement
-Opinion of Kennedy
-Germany’s domestic politics
-Willy Brandt
-Chancellor
-Christian Democratic Party
-Adenauer, Erhard’s departure
-Offset agreement
-Socialist parliamentary coalition
-Brandt, Karl Schiller
-Brazil
-Joas Goulart
-Indonesia
-Achmed Sukarno
-Relations with Europe
-Eisenhower
-Compared with John Foster Dulles
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
-Adenauer, Germany
-De Gaulle
De Gaulle
-American press reports
-Kennedy
-President’s opinion
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Charles E. (“Chip”) Bohlen
-Reaction to France’s withdrawal from NATO
-Economics
-EEC
-Brussels
World leaders
-Edward R. G. Heath
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Leonid I Brezhnev
-US relations
-Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En-lai
-President's dealings
Golda Meir’s visit to US
-President's talk with Mrs. Marvin Mandel
-Middle East
-Airliner incident
Airliner incident
-UN resolution
-Investigation
-US vote
-Condemnation of Israel
-Kissinger's opposition
-Meir’s visit to US
-Scali
-Vote in UN
-President’s knowledge
-Preoccupation with POWs
-State Department
-Israel’s action
-Meir
Golda Meir’s visit to the US
-US aid
-Airplanes
-Numbers
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Meir’s support
-Negotiations
-Interim agreement
-General Principles
-Private talks
Kissinger’s call to Rabin
Bay of Pigs
-Smith’s book
-Congress
-Briefing
-Cabinet meeting
-Dean Rusk
-Robert S. McNamara
-Douglas Ddillon
-Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer
-Allen W. Dulles
-David Bissell
-McGeorge Bundy
-Paul H. Nitze
-Thomas Mann
-Adolf Berle
-Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
-Richard Goodwin
-J. William Fulbright
-Compared to President’s meetings
-William L. Safire, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Patrick J. Buchanan
-US Air Force
-Fulbright
-Kennedy’s approach
-Compared to President’s approach
-Removal of Fidel Castro
-US involvement
-Denial
-Loss of surprise
-Rumors of US action against Castro
-Chester Bowles
-Anger
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-Rusk
-Leaks to press
-Kennedy’s comment to New York Times publisher
-Pentagon Papers
-Damage to US government
Smith's book
-Quality
-Analysis of mistakes with Europe
-Kennedy
-NSC staff
US relations with Europe
-Arnold Bordstram [?]
-President's policies
-USSR
-NATO
-Leaders
-Quality
-US consultation
-Dwight Eisenhower
-EEC
-Domestic politics
-Criticism of US
-President's policies
-Berlin
-Modernization of NATO
-New Program
-Haig
Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster [?]
-NATO
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Great Britain
-Complaints
-Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions [MBFR]
-USSR
-Build-up of forces
-Missiles
-Dr. Edward Teller
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-MBFR
-SALT meeting
-Richardson
-Clements
-Negotiations
-Anti-ballistic Missile [ABM]
-Multiple Independently-Targeted Reentry Vehicle [MIRV]
-US domestic support
-Areas of discussion
Kissinger’s call to Rabin
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 10:05 am and
10:36 am.
[Conversation No. 866-4A]
[See Conversation No. 37-13]
[End of telephone conversation]
Bay of Pigs
-Smith’s book
-Leaks
-Kennedy’s press conference
-Policy planning meeting
-Goodwin
-Confidentiality
-Air cover
-Naval cover
-Air strikes
-Effects on Cuban air force, shipping
-Amphibious landing
-Anti-Castro Cubans
-Demoralization
Kissinger talked with Rabin at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:36 am.
[Conversation No. 4B]
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
[See Conversation No. 37-14]
[End of telephone conversation]
President’s press conference
-Ziegler
-Kissinger's opinion
-Timing
-POW issue
-East-West trade
-Announcement
-Ziegler
-Shultz, Frederick B Dent
-Questions
-Vietnam cease-fire
-Violations
-Meeting with Meir
-US military restraint
-Infiltration
-Civil war
-Evolutionary process
-Nguyen Van Thieu government
-International Commission of Control and Supervision [ICCS]
-Joint Military Commission
-Cease-fire violation
-US helicopter
-ICCS
-Laos
-Bombing strikes
-Cease-fire
-US position
-Cambodia and Laos
-Cease-fire agreement
-Withdrawal of North Vietnam’s forces
-Timing
-Bombing
-Comments on military activities
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
-B-52 strikes
-Cambodia
-News reports
US observers
NATO
-Haig as commander
-Possible appointment
-Promotion
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] chairman
-Navy, Air Force
-Strategic thinkers
Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
-Retirement
-Opportunism
-McNamara, Nitze
-Performance in office
-Chile
-Navy morale
Adm. Thomas H. Moorer's and Clements's opinion
-Handling of racial problems
-Compared with marines
Unknown person entered at an unknown time after 10:05 am.
John W. Dean, III
Unknown person left at an unknown time before 10:35 am.
Meeting with Meir
-Conclusion
-Israel’s ambassador to us [Yitzhak Rabin]
John W. Dean, III entered at 10:36 am.
Richard G. Kleindienst
Kissinger left at 10:37 am.
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
End of meeting
Kleindienst
-Conversation with Dean
-Talk with L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-Change in Gray's position
-Fedearl Bureau of Investigation [FBI] files
-Gray's offer to Congress
-Attorney General's approval
-Attorney General's criteria for turning over to
Congress
-Hiss case
-No cooperation from F.B.I.
-Six Crises
-Executive privilege
-Clark Mollenhoff questions
-Cooperation of FBI and Justice Department
-Ziegler
An unknown person entered at an unknown time before 10:37 am.
Copy of Six Crises
-Delivery
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 10:44 am.
FBI
-Smith’s book Kennedy
-Harassment of newsmen during steel crisis
-Material for publicity
-Robert F. Kennedy misuse of authority
Amnesty issue
-Carl Sandburg on Abraham Lincoln
-Lincoln's position
-Amnesty for South
-No amnesty for number of deserters
-16-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. May-2010)
Conversation No. 866-4 (cont’d)
An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:36 am
Hiss case
-President's 1950 or 1951 speech
The unknown man left at 10:44 am.
Hiss case
Dean left at 10:44 am.