861–19

Conversation No. 861-19

Date: February 22, 1973
Time: 12:46 pm - 1:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with William E. Timmons.
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)



Congressional relations
-Evening at the White House
-Invitations
-Gerald R. Ford
-Carl B. Albert
-Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
-Hugh Scott
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-Irving Berlin
-Invitations
-Mansfield
-Reluctance
-State Dinners
-Thomas P. (“Tip”) O’Neill
-President’s reluctance
-Ford
-Frequent meetings
-Veterans
-Church service
-Cancellations or regrets
-Supporters
-Future invitations
-Opponents
-William B. Saxbe
-Remarks
-Samuel L. Devine
-Apology
-Church service

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 12:49 pm.

-Evening at the White House
-Evening at the White House
-Invitations
-Republicans
-House and Senate
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


-Compared with State Dinners

Timmons left at 12:50 pm.

Ronald L. Ziegler’s view on press briefing

Metropolitan Club
-Kissinger’s meeting with Joseph W. Alsop
-Column
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]’s press coverage

Kissinger’s press briefing
-Press coverage
-People’s Republic of China [PRC] liaison office
-Importance
-List of Prisoners of War [POWs]
-John T. Downey’s release
-Questions
-Taiwan
-Aid to North Vietnam
-Reconstruction
-Meaning
-Real issue
-North Vietnam’s foreign relations
-US
-Neutral countries
-PRC, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Peter Lisagor
-Questions
-Laos
-Murrey Marder
-Question
-Discussion in Peking
-Laos, Cambodia
-Cease-fire
-Withdrawal of foreign troops
-Support of Savang Vatthana
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


-Royalty
-Political settlement
-Souvanna Phouma
-US commitments
-Cease-fire, withdrawal of foreign troops

Press relations
-Hostility to President
-John W. Arbuckle
-Reasons for hostility
-Envy
-Cease-fire announcement
-Press response

Laos
-Cease-fire
-Settlement
-Souvanna Phouma
-Negotiations
-Incentives to abide by settlement
-North Vietnam’s role
-Aid
-Cable
-Congress
-Incentive

William P. Rogers

The President's schedule
-Camp David meeting
-Meeting at the White House, Old Executive Office Building [OEB]
-George P. Shultz
-President’s departure for Camp David
-Kissinger on television [TV]
-Scheduling

Rogers
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


-Meeting with Kissinger and President
-Breakfast meeting
-Timing of appearance
-Hafiz Ismail

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:50 pm.

Rogers
-Breakfast meeting
-Kissinger’s attendance
-Arrangements
-Paris trip

Bull left at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

-Rogers's trip
-William H. Sullivan’s, William J. Porter’s attendance on trip
-Middle East

Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:50 pm.

Rogers's meeting with Kissinger and President
-Porter
-Sullivan
-Kissinger’s telephone call

Bull [?] left at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and
1:08 pm.

[Conversation No. 861-19A]

[See Conversation No. 43-164]

[End of telephone conversation]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


Breakfast meeting
-Timing

Press relations
-Kissinger’s press briefing
-PRC
-Vietnam cease-fire and settlement
-Aid to North Vietnam
-Budget battle
-Consequences of rejection
-Alsop
-Support for President
-President’s Congressional dinner
-Right-wing, isolationist
-Voting record

Republicans
-Past isolationism
-Compared with liberal internationalists’ arguments
-Vietnam War

Aid to North Vietnam
-Opposition
-Domestic spending
-Schools
-Ghettos
-Polls
-Compared with 1947
-Congress
-Support

Kissinger talked with William P. Rogers at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 1:08 pm.

[Conversation No. 861-19B]

[See Conversation No. 43-165]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


[End of telephone conversation]

Rogers
-Role

Kissinger’s schedule
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Alsop
-Brezhnev
-Scheduling
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Meeting with Kissinger
-Camp David
-Cable

President’s schedule
-Brezhnev’s visit
-France
-Trip to Europe

Press relations
-Alsop
-Foreign aid
-The President's support while in Congress
-Opposition
-Liberal Democrats
-Vietnam War
-Responsibility
-Humanitarian
-Alsop
-Japan and Germany
-North Vietnam
-Liberal intellectuals’ support
-Aid to Japan and Germany compared with North Vietnam

Congressional relations
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)
Conversation No. 861-19 (cont’d)


-Breakfast meeting with leaders
-President’s statement about aid to Vietnam
-Opposition

William F. (“Billy”) Graham
-Telephone call with President
-Son
-Age
-Support for President
-School
-Support for President
-Bombing
-Compared with Harvard University

Bombing
-Support
-Letters to Kissinger
-Fear of losing

Withdrawal from Vietnam
-Consequences
-POWs
-Sense of failure

Alsop

Kissinger met with an unknown person at an unknown time before 1:08 pm.

Identification of person

Kissinger left at 1:08 pm.
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov.-09)