643–13

Conversation No. 643-13

Date: January 3, 1972
Time: 4:44 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with John N. Mitchell.
[The recording began at an unknown time while the conversation was in progress]

Yeoman Charles E. Radford
-Removal
-Relations with Jack N. Anderson
-Unknown chief petty officer
-Indebtedness
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] participation in White House infiltration
-John D. Ehrlichman’s forthcoming meeting with Mitchell

Anderson
-Possible litigation
-Timing
-1972 election
-Statute of limitations
-Possession and publication of documents
-JCS
-New York Times investigative reporting team
-Contact with Radford
-Source of story

Radford
-Reassignment
-Office closure
-Anderson
-Possible revelation of admirals’ activities
 29

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Delivery of secret material to JCS
-Office
-Closure

Radford
-Options
-Melvin R. Laird
-Plan
-Ehrlichman
-Impunity

The President's need to sign documents

William D. Eberle
-Performance
-Trade negotiations
-Compared with Peter G. Peterson
-The President’s view

White House staff
-Performance

John B. Connally
-Relations with White House
-Daniel L. Schorr’s story about Azores trip
-Preston Smith
-Maury Cohen [sp?]
-Mitchell's conversation with Ehrlichman
-The President's and Mitchell's law firm [Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, and
Alexander
-Unknown suit

[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:44 pm and
5:15 pm.]

[Conversation No. 643-13A]

[See Conversation No. 18-13]

[End of telephone conversation]
 30

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


Connally
-Smith
-[Forename unknown] Gallagher's [sp?] letter
-New York
-Relations with White House
-Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, and Alexander
-The President's schedule
-California

[The President talked with William P. Rogers at unknown time between 4:44 pm and 5:15 pm.]

[See Conversation No. 18-14]

An unknown man entered and conferred with the President at an unknown time after 4:44 pm.

Manolo Sanchez
-Location

[End of conferral]

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 5:15 pm.

The President conferred with Mitchell at an unknown time.

Robert S. Ingersoll
-Possible ambassadorship
-Japan

[End of conferral]

[End of telephone conversation]

Appointments
-Ambassadorship to Japan
-Fredrick M. Eaton
-Rogers's views
-Age
-Appearance
-Conflict of interest
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-Morton
 31

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Ingersoll
-Morton


**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 19s ]


H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at an unknown time after 4:44 pm.


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

**********************************************************************


Ronald W. Reagan
-Conflict with Elliot L. Richardson
-Mitchell as arbitrator
-Ehrlichman's advice
-Richardson's prerogatives
-Concessions
-The President's concession on Medicaid
-George P. Shultz
-John N. Ashbrook
-Reagan's possible response
-Welfare reform
-Reagan's planned press conference
-Concession
-1972 election
-Refusal to compromise
-Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO] legal service issue
-Compared with Nelson A. Rockefeller

New York
-Rockefeller
-Tax package
-Work with Mitchell
 32

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Conservatives


**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 49s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

**********************************************************************


Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Schedule
-[California]
-State of the Union message
-Drafts

Connally
-Administration's support
-Smith
-Investigators
-Los Angeles Times
-Cohen
-Attacks on Connally
-Reasons
-Ben F. Barnes
-Mood
-Golf in El Dorado
-Investigation
-Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, and Alexander
-Suit

Trade negotiations with Japan
-Eberle's presence in California
-Kakuei Tanaka
-Maurice H. Stans
-Stans
 33

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Henry A. Kissinger
-Past performance
-Eberle
-Stans
-Presence
-Dinner
-Stans
-Tanaka
-Kissinger’s view
-Stans compared to Eberle
-Tanaka
-David M. Kennedy

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 33s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

**********************************************************************

Indiana
-John A. Schneider
-Position with administration
-Frederic V. Malek
-Background
-State treasurer

Deputy Secretary of Defense
-Schneider
-Necessity
-William P. Clements, Jr.
-Finances
-Compared with David Packard
-Robert C. Seamans, Jr.
-Conservatives
-Background
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
 34

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)



Appointments
-Conservatives
-Defense Department and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
[HEW]

Defense Department
-Expenditures compared to authorizations
-Secretary
-Barry M. Goldwater
-Timing
-Impact
-John G. Tower
-Deputy Secretary
-Legislation to split job
-Goldwater
-George H. W. Bush
-Qualifications
-Loyalty
-United Nations [UN] position
-UN
-Possible political ambitions
-UN position
-Prestige
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Confirmation
-Relations with Congress
-Joseph D. Tydings
-Loyalty
-Legislative programs
-Peterson's job
-Possible downgrade

Commerce Department Secretary
-Peterson
-Helen D. Bentley
-Letter from Vice President Spiro T. Agnew to the President
-Mitchell
-Language
 35

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


Martha (Beall) Mitchell
-Position on list of Top Ten Most Admired Women in World
-George H. Gallup
-Ethel (Skakel) Kennedy
-Shirley Chisholm
-Cover photograph for unknown newsmagazine
-Replacement by Angela Davis
-Martha Mitchell's reaction

Defense Department
-Deputy Secretary
-Flanigan
-Confirmation
-Laird
-Role
-Qualifications
-Relations with Kissinger
-Washington Special Action Group [WSAG] meetings
-Qualifications
-Confirmation
-Tydings issue

Eberle

Malek
-Job performance

Eberle
-Position
-Performance
-Peterson’s position
-Testimony

Flanigan
-Possible position with Defense Department
-Clark MacGregor
-Kissinger
 36

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Previous relations
-State Department
-Kissinger
-Qualities

Kissinger
-Breakfast meeting with Mitchell, January 3, 1972
-Kissinger's relationship with Rogers and State Department

Gerard C. Smith
-Meeting with the President, January 3, 1972
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] negotiations
-Vienna
-Rogers's presence
-Kissinger's view
-Rogers’s knowledge of negotiations

Kissinger
-Meeting with Mitchell
-India-Pakistan War
-Rogers's and Richard F. Pederson's actions
-Backgrounders
-Effects on foreign policy
-Democrats
-Relations with State Department
-Leaks
-Kissinger’s possible handling
-Middle East
-Back channels
-Soviet Union
-Forthcoming summit
-Rogers's dealings with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Kissinger’s talk with Haldeman in Key Biscayne
-Possible resignation
-Timing
-Moscow Summit
-Importance to Administration
-Rogers and Laird
-State Department

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 4:44 pm.
 37

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)



The President's schedule

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 6:00 pm.

Kissinger
-Return from Azores
-Statement to press
-India-Pakistan relations
-State Department
-State Department
-Radford
-Anderson’s columns
-Reports from others
-Rogers
-Foreign policy

India-Pakistan War
-New York Times task force
-Kissinger
-Request for interview with Rogers
-Rogers's response
-Kissinger's cooperation
-Ehrlichman's reaction
-New York Times' report on Anderson and his sources
-Reasons
-Public interest
-The President's interview with Dan Rather, January 2, 1972
-New York Times task force
-Kissinger's cooperation
-Reasons
-State Department
-Leaks to Marvin L. Kalb, et al.
-Rogers's meeting with Haldeman, January 3, 1972
-Rogers's concerns

Kissinger
-Relations with State Department
-Self-defense
-The Administration’s foreign policy
-Middle East
 38

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Soviet Union
-Dobrynin
-Forthcoming summit
-Talk with Mitchell
-The President’s interests

State Department
-Rogers’s conversations with Dobrynin
-Notification of Kissinger
-Compared with Kissinger’s conversations with Dobrynin
-Briefing the President
-Middle East
-Rogers’s conversation with Dobrynin
-Briefing the President
-Substance
-Kissinger’s view

Rogers
-Relations with the President
-Kissinger's view
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Meeting with the President and J. Edgar Hoover on plane
-Birthday cake
-Dinner with the President, Hoover and Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo

Kissinger
-Relations with the President
-Kissinger's conversation with Haldeman
-Meetings
-Tone
-India-Pakistan War
-Kissinger’s press conference comments
-Talks with the President
-Responsibilities for Rogers
-Consequences
-Kissinger
-Kissinger’s talking paper
-The President’s meeting with Indira Gandhi
-State Department

Kissinger
 39

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Relations with the President
-Kissinger’s view
-Niceties
-Calls from the President and Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Relations with State Department and Rogers
-Kissinger's possible action
-Consequences
-Hawks’ departure
-Dove
-Leaks

Radford
-Kissinger's views
-State Department
-Meeting with Mitchell, January 3, 1972
-Possible firing of Adm. Thomas H. Moorer

State Department
-The President's forthcoming trip to Moscow
-Structuring of activities
-Kissinger's views
-Rogers's responsibilities
-Informing Rogers
-Middle East and Moscow
-Memoranda


**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13
[National Security]
[Duration: 4s ]


INTELLIGENCE


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 13

**********************************************************************
 40

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)



-Joseph J. Sisco

Rogers
-Relations with Kissinger and the President
-Candor
-Performance
-Leaking
-Loyalty
-Cambodia
-Kissinger's views
-Relations with the President
-Vietnam
-Bombing
-Possible talk with Mitchell and Haldeman
-Kissinger, the President
-Discussion of problems
-1972 election
-Personality conflicts
-Trip to Soviet Union for negotiations
-Kissinger
-Kissinger's view
-Publicity
-Kissinger
-Qualities
-Foreign affairs
-Knowledge
-Public relations
-Compared with Kissinger
-Balance and self-confidence
-Kissinger

India-Pakistan War
-Inevitability
-US policy
-Kissinger
-Soviets
-Lack of cooperation
-The President's meeting with Soviet Agricultural Minister [Vladimir
Matskevich]
-Gandhi
 41

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Rogers's possible views
-Possible talk with Haldeman
-State Department

Kissinger and Rogers
-Contrast
-Concern for historical compared to immediate image
-Concern for “editorial page” compared to “front page” image
-Long compared to short view
-Rationality and self control
-Rogers
-Composure
-Conversation with John A. Scali
-Manners

Cabinet
-Kissinger's views
-Rogers
-Laird
-Responsibilities

Kissinger and Rogers
-India-Pakistan War
-Leaks
-Value
-Loyalty
-State Department

Kissinger
-Relations with the President
-Kissinger's view
-Trips to Florida, California
-Attendance at forthcoming Japanese dinner
-[Unknown person]
-Calls from the President
-Talks with Haldeman and Mitchell
-Rogers's retention in office
-Kissinger's views
-Possible resignation
-Timing
-1972 election
 42

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Soviet Summit
-Possible announcement
-June 1972
-Middle East
-Kissinger's background
-Kissinger's view
-Talk with Mitchell
-Talk with the President
-1970 elections
-Kissinger’s meetings
-Promises
-India-Pakistan War
-Rogers
-Kissinger's responsibility
-The President’s view
-State Department
-The President's orders at WSAG meeting
-Kissinger’s view
-Relations with Rogers
-Cooperation with New York Times
-Reasons
-Justification of Kissinger’s role
-Kissinger's importance vis-a-vis the President's
-Relations with the President
-Announcements
-Troop withdrawals
-The President’s interview with Dan Rather, January 2, 1972
-Kissinger foreign policy suggestions
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Honesty
-Reaction to India-Pakistan War
-Press treatment

The President’s schedule
-San Clemente
-Possible instructions to Rogers and Kissinger
-Contact with press
-Anderson
-India-Pakistan War
 43

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


New York Times
-The President's instructions
-Pentagon Papers
-Kissinger
-Kissinger
-Interviews
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Haldeman
-Talks with Haldeman and Mitchell
-State Department
-India-Pakistan War
-Possible leaks

The President's trip to California
-Mitchell's schedule
-Talk with Rogers
-Haldeman's presence

Kissinger
-Possible talk
-Possible talk with the President
-Complaints regarding Rogers and State Department
-Possible talk with Mitchell
-Rockefeller
-Relations with Kissinger

The President's schedule
-Recent meeting with Rogers in Florida
-Rogers's interest
-Dinner with Rogers, Hoover and Rebozo
-Plane trip
-Meeting with Hoover, Rogers and Adele (Langston) Rogers
-Haldeman's meeting with Rogers
-Meetings with Rogers
-Kissinger's presence
-Meetings with foreign leaders
-African leaders
-Upper Volta
-Kissinger's presence
-Kissinger’s presence
-Georges J.R. Pompidou
 44

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 643-13 (cont.)


-Willy Brandt
-Manner
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Kissinger's notes
-Trip to California
-Mitchell
-Talk with Kissinger
-Timing
-Talks with Kissinger and Rogers
-The President’s instructions
-Anderson
-Investigation
-Ehrlichman

Kissinger
-Relations with the President
-Hypothetical relations with Connally as President
-Kissinger's tenure in office
-Rogers's tenure in office
-Contrasted with other Cabinet members
-Cambodia and Laos
-Pentagon Papers
-Encouragement

The President's trip to California

Unknown matter

Mitchell and Haldeman left at 6:00 pm.