About this recording
336–8
- H. R. Haldeman
- Henry A. Kissinger
- White House operator
- [David] Kenneth Rush
May 8, 1972
Conversation No. 336-8
Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 1:15 - 2:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
[Discontinuities in the conversation appear in the original recording.]
President’s schedule
-A meeting
-Time
Vietnam
-President’s policies
-Veterans
-Support
-Opposition
-President’s actions
-John B. Connally
-Blockade
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Seperability
-Risks
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Hue
-Television coverage
-Nature of reports
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Negotiations
-Kissinger’s schedule
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Paris trip
-Collapse
-Soviet Summit
-Agreements
-Timing of blockade
-Possible South Vietname collapse
-Melvin R. Laird
-Senate
-J. William Fulbright, John C. Stennis
-Advice
-Risks
-South Vietnam collapse
-Hue
-South Vietnamese morale
-Blockade and mining of Haiphong
-South Vietnamese morale
-Soviet summit
-Timing
-Possible South Vietnam collapse
-Postponement
-Timing
-Negotiations
-North Vietnam offensive
-Political risks
-Kennedy
-Connally’s advice
-President’s goals
-Peace
Abortion
-President’s letter to Terence Cardinal Cooke
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Release
-Circumstances
-Review
-Ehrlichman
-John N. Mitchell
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Haldeman’s advice
-Mitchell
-Ehrlichman
-Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP] role
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Ehrlichman’s advice
-Issue of public release
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Ehrlichman
-Buchanan
-Public release
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-New York legislation
-Effect
-Release
-Ehrlichman’s explanation
-Rockefeller
-Abortion bill
-Rockefeller’s veto
-Release
-Flanigan’s advice
-Anti-abortion supporters
-Rockefeller’s report
-Demonstrations in Albany
Henry A. Kissinger entered at 1:35 pm.
German treaties
-Call from Egon Bahr
-Message from the President
Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Forthcoming meeting with Kissinger
-[David] Kenneth Rush
Vietnam
-Blockade
-Support
-William P. Rogers
-Timing
-Rush
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8A]
[See Conversation No. 24-3]
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Soviet summit
-Impact of blockade
-Haldeman’s view
Kissinger talked with rush at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8B]
[See Conversation No. 24-4]
[End of telephone conversation]
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8C]
Call To Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Blockade
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Risks
-Hue collapse
-Significance
-South Vietnam collapse
-Significance
-Brezhnev
-Summit agreements
-World peace
-Timing
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Camp David
-Soviet summit
-German treaty
-President’s decision
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Hue collapse
-Timing
-Significance
-Timing
-President’s decision
-The President’s view
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 1:35 pm.
Delivery of lunch
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 2:10 pm.
Vietnam
-Blockade
-President’s decision
-Timing
-German Treaty
-Failure to act
-Meaning
-The President’s view
-Timing
-Negotiations
-Delay in decision
-Possible South Vietnam collapse
-Possible US defeat
-Laird’s view
-Soviet interpretation
-North Vietnam offensive
-Kissinger’s view
-Hue
-Objectives
-Saigon
-Soviet summit
-Probability of military setbacks
-Kissinger’s view
-Kontum
-Press reporting
-The President’s view
-Probability of Kontum collapse
-Rogers
-Connally’s advice
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-US bargaining position
-Public opinion
-Soviet Summit
-US bombing
-Hanoi
-Haiphong
-Cancellation possibility
-Bombing
-Duration
-Kisssinger’s view
-South Vietnam collapse
-Impact
-Cancellation
-Impact on forthcoming election
-Importance
-Impact on US loss in Southeast Asia
-Soviet prestige
-North Vietnam offensive
-Tanks
-Laird
-Numbers and size
-US tanks in South Vietnam
-Laird
-Soviet summit
-President’s decision to blockade
-Air strikes
-Hanoi, Haipong
-Risk of South Vietnam collapse
-Blockade and mining
-Effect on North Vietnam strategy
-Duration
-Impact on North Vietnam
-Impact on Soviets
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Likelihood
-Kissinger’s view
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Air strikes
-Connally’s advice
-Effectiveness
-Blockade
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Effectiveness
-South Vietnam survival
-Comparison with bombing
-South Vietnam defeat
-Consequences for US
-Connally’s view
-Rogers’s view
-Haldeman’s view
-Domestic public opinion
-Haiphong
-Consequences for the President
-Forthcoming presidential campaign
-Blockade
-President’s purpose
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Laird’s view
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Numbers
-US withdrawal
-Impact on North Vietnam
-President’s final decision
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Democratic Caucus
-Kissinger briefing
-President’s meeting with Michael J. Mansfield
-Resolution to end the war
-Delay
-Soviet summit
-President’s meeting with Congressional leaders
-Fulbright, Stennis
-Attendees
-Fulbright
-Allen J. Ellender
-Timing
-Attendees
-Possible Congressional response
-Kissinger’s view
-Senate request
-Blockade decision
-Haldeman’s opinion
-Comparison with Cambodia
-Briefing of Congressmen
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Rogers
-Laird
-Kissinger
-President’s speech
-Notification of Congressional leaders
-Mansfield
-Handling
-President’s manner
-Haldeman’s view
-Rogers
-Fulbright
-Comparison with President’s Cambodian announcement
-Timing
-Reasons
-Legal aspects of blockade
-Haig
-Rogers
-Attendees
-Appropriations Committee
-Armed Services Committee
-The President’s view
-Ellender
-Appropriations Committee
-Armed Services Committee
-George H. Mahon
-Telephone call
-A previous dinner attended by Kissinger
-Thomas W. Braden
-Frank F. Church
-Fulbright
-President’s terms
-The President’s view
-Blockade
-Ceasefire
-POWs
-US withdrawal
-Cabinet meeting
-Kissinger’s view
-Rogers
-President’s appearance
-Cabinet Room
-Television speech
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-President’s remarks
-Position
-Support for the President’s decision to blockade
-Haldeman’s view
-Rogers
Haldeman left at 2:10 pm.
Kissinger talked with Haig at 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8D]
-Notification of blockade decision
-Haldeman
-Laird
-Washington Special Action Group [WSAG]
[End of telephone conversation]
-President’s decision
-Kissinger’s view
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Soviet weapons
-Deletions and additions
-Draft
-Rose Mary Woods
-Civilian casualties
-Delivery on television
-Time
-Comparison to John F. Kennedy’s Cuban missile crisis speech
-Length
-Announcement
-Escalation
-US peace offers
-Rejection by North Vietnam
-Wording
-US troops in Vietnam
-Numbers
-Withdrawal
-Number
-Wording
-Soviet weapons
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Delivery to North Vietnam
-US aid to South Vietnam
-Wording
-Implementation of blockade
-Communications
-Soviet aid to North Vietnam
-Surrender
-Hanoi
-Saigon
-Draft
-Woods’s suggestion for the conclusion
-President’s letter to Brezhnev
-Dobrynin
-Kissinger’s review
-Woods
-Completion
Vietnam
-President’s forthcoming speech on the blockade
-Military action
-Ceasefire
-Extent
-Supervision
-Extent
-Outcome
-Previous National Security Council [NSC] meeting
-Outcome
-Laird
-Position
-Rogers
-Support for the President
-Public opinion
-President’s decision
Kissinger left at 2:30 pm.
Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 1:15 - 2:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
[Discontinuities in the conversation appear in the original recording.]
President’s schedule
-A meeting
-Time
Vietnam
-President’s policies
-Veterans
-Support
-Opposition
-President’s actions
-John B. Connally
-Blockade
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Seperability
-Risks
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Hue
-Television coverage
-Nature of reports
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Negotiations
-Kissinger’s schedule
8
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Paris trip
-Collapse
-Soviet Summit
-Agreements
-Timing of blockade
-Possible South Vietname collapse
-Melvin R. Laird
-Senate
-J. William Fulbright, John C. Stennis
-Advice
-Risks
-South Vietnam collapse
-Hue
-South Vietnamese morale
-Blockade and mining of Haiphong
-South Vietnamese morale
-Soviet summit
-Timing
-Possible South Vietnam collapse
-Postponement
-Timing
-Negotiations
-North Vietnam offensive
-Political risks
-Kennedy
-Connally’s advice
-President’s goals
-Peace
Abortion
-President’s letter to Terence Cardinal Cooke
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Release
-Circumstances
-Review
-Ehrlichman
-John N. Mitchell
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Haldeman’s advice
-Mitchell
-Ehrlichman
-Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP] role
9
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Ehrlichman’s advice
-Issue of public release
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Ehrlichman
-Buchanan
-Public release
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-New York legislation
-Effect
-Release
-Ehrlichman’s explanation
-Rockefeller
-Abortion bill
-Rockefeller’s veto
-Release
-Flanigan’s advice
-Anti-abortion supporters
-Rockefeller’s report
-Demonstrations in Albany
Henry A. Kissinger entered at 1:35 pm.
German treaties
-Call from Egon Bahr
-Message from the President
Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Forthcoming meeting with Kissinger
-[David] Kenneth Rush
Vietnam
-Blockade
-Support
-William P. Rogers
-Timing
-Rush
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8A]
[See Conversation No. 24-3]
10
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Soviet summit
-Impact of blockade
-Haldeman’s view
Kissinger talked with rush at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8B]
[See Conversation No. 24-4]
[End of telephone conversation]
Kissinger talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 1:35 and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8C]
Call To Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam
-Blockade
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Risks
-Hue collapse
-Significance
-South Vietnam collapse
-Significance
-Brezhnev
-Summit agreements
-World peace
-Timing
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Camp David
-Soviet summit
-German treaty
-President’s decision
11
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Hue collapse
-Timing
-Significance
-Timing
-President’s decision
-The President’s view
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 1:35 pm.
Delivery of lunch
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 2:10 pm.
Vietnam
-Blockade
-President’s decision
-Timing
-German Treaty
-Failure to act
-Meaning
-The President’s view
-Timing
-Negotiations
-Delay in decision
-Possible South Vietnam collapse
-Possible US defeat
-Laird’s view
-Soviet interpretation
-North Vietnam offensive
-Kissinger’s view
-Hue
-Objectives
-Saigon
-Soviet summit
-Probability of military setbacks
-Kissinger’s view
-Kontum
-Press reporting
-The President’s view
-Probability of Kontum collapse
-Rogers
-Connally’s advice
12
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-US bargaining position
-Public opinion
-Soviet Summit
-US bombing
-Hanoi
-Haiphong
-Cancellation possibility
-Bombing
-Duration
-Kisssinger’s view
-South Vietnam collapse
-Impact
-Cancellation
-Impact on forthcoming election
-Importance
-Impact on US loss in Southeast Asia
-Soviet prestige
-North Vietnam offensive
-Tanks
-Laird
-Numbers and size
-US tanks in South Vietnam
-Laird
-Soviet summit
-President’s decision to blockade
-Air strikes
-Hanoi, Haipong
-Risk of South Vietnam collapse
-Blockade and mining
-Effect on North Vietnam strategy
-Duration
-Impact on North Vietnam
-Impact on Soviets
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Likelihood
-Kissinger’s view
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Air strikes
-Connally’s advice
-Effectiveness
-Blockade
13
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Effectiveness
-South Vietnam survival
-Comparison with bombing
-South Vietnam defeat
-Consequences for US
-Connally’s view
-Rogers’s view
-Haldeman’s view
-Domestic public opinion
-Haiphong
-Consequences for the President
-Forthcoming presidential campaign
-Blockade
-President’s purpose
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Laird’s view
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Numbers
-US withdrawal
-Impact on North Vietnam
-President’s final decision
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Democratic Caucus
-Kissinger briefing
-President’s meeting with Michael J. Mansfield
-Resolution to end the war
-Delay
-Soviet summit
-President’s meeting with Congressional leaders
-Fulbright, Stennis
-Attendees
-Fulbright
-Allen J. Ellender
-Timing
-Attendees
-Possible Congressional response
-Kissinger’s view
-Senate request
-Blockade decision
-Haldeman’s opinion
-Comparison with Cambodia
-Briefing of Congressmen
14
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Rogers
-Laird
-Kissinger
-President’s speech
-Notification of Congressional leaders
-Mansfield
-Handling
-President’s manner
-Haldeman’s view
-Rogers
-Fulbright
-Comparison with President’s Cambodian announcement
-Timing
-Reasons
-Legal aspects of blockade
-Haig
-Rogers
-Attendees
-Appropriations Committee
-Armed Services Committee
-The President’s view
-Ellender
-Appropriations Committee
-Armed Services Committee
-George H. Mahon
-Telephone call
-A previous dinner attended by Kissinger
-Thomas W. Braden
-Frank F. Church
-Fulbright
-President’s terms
-The President’s view
-Blockade
-Ceasefire
-POWs
-US withdrawal
-Cabinet meeting
-Kissinger’s view
-Rogers
-President’s appearance
-Cabinet Room
-Television speech
15
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-President’s remarks
-Position
-Support for the President’s decision to blockade
-Haldeman’s view
-Rogers
Haldeman left at 2:10 pm.
Kissinger talked with Haig at 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 336-8D]
-Notification of blockade decision
-Haldeman
-Laird
-Washington Special Action Group [WSAG]
[End of telephone conversation]
-President’s decision
-Kissinger’s view
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Soviet weapons
-Deletions and additions
-Draft
-Rose Mary Woods
-Civilian casualties
-Delivery on television
-Time
-Comparison to John F. Kennedy’s Cuban missile crisis speech
-Length
-Announcement
-Escalation
-US peace offers
-Rejection by North Vietnam
-Wording
-US troops in Vietnam
-Numbers
-Withdrawal
-Number
-Wording
-Soviet weapons
16
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-01)
Conv. No. 336-8 (cont.)
-Delivery to North Vietnam
-US aid to South Vietnam
-Wording
-Implementation of blockade
-Communications
-Soviet aid to North Vietnam
-Surrender
-Hanoi
-Saigon
-Draft
-Woods’s suggestion for the conclusion
-President’s letter to Brezhnev
-Dobrynin
-Kissinger’s review
-Woods
-Completion
Vietnam
-President’s forthcoming speech on the blockade
-Military action
-Ceasefire
-Extent
-Supervision
-Extent
-Outcome
-Previous National Security Council [NSC] meeting
-Outcome
-Laird
-Position
-Rogers
-Support for the President
-Public opinion
-President’s decision
Kissinger left at 2:30 pm.
Secret White House Tapes |