419–19

Conversation No. 419-19

Date: March 14, 1973
Time: 9:25 am - 9:50 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

Press relations
-Announcement
-Arrival
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Kissinger’s proofing

Vietnam
-Cease-fire violations
-President's statement
-Compliance with cease-fire provisions
-Enforcement options
 -21-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)



-South Vietnam
-Cease-fire
-US accomplishments
-Strength of forces
-Non-Communist government
-North Vietnam
-Cease-fire violations
-Re-armament with artillery
-US action
-Timing
-Cease-fire agreement
-Reasons
-US bombing, mining halt
-Cease-fire violations
-Reasons
-Effects of US bombing
-US resolve
-Renewed offensive

-North Vietnam’s offensive
-Impact on US
-Criticism of President’s policies
-Peace movement
-“Peace with honor”
-Prisoners of war [POWs] repatriation
-Domestic policy
-Foreign policy
-Public opinion
-POWs
-Support for President’s policies
-US retaliation
-Public opinion
-Violations
-Aid to North Vietnam
-Cancellation
-Publicity campaign
-Impact on offensive
-Timing
 -22-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)



-Viability of South Vietnam
-Need for US engagement
-President’s political position
-Peace settlement
-Negotiations
-December 1972 bombing
-Criticism
-Eugene J. McCarthy
-Peace settlement
-POWs
-US withdrawal
-Criticism
-Violations
-Joseph W. Alsop’s column
-Cease-fire violations
-Press statement
-Tone
-Bellicosity
-US messages to North Vietnam
-Escalation of threat
-Press statement
-US concern
-Condonement
-North Vietnam’s compliance
-US messages to People’s Republic of China [PRC], Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics [USSR]
-US bombing

Aid to Pakistan
-Release
-Publicity
-President’s statement
-State Department
-Reactions
-Indira Gandhi
-Kissinger’s cable to Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-India
-Purchase of materials
 -23-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)




Vietnam
-Impact of war on US
-Kissinger’s negotiations
-Bombing
-Withdrawal
-Compared to France’s withdrawal from Algeria
-Gen. Charles A. J. M. deGaulle
-Nationalization of France’s holdings
-Compared to South Vietnam
-France’s citizens
-Impact of war on South Vietnam
-Vietnamization
-Self-determination
-Self-defense
-President’s policies
-Effectiveness
-Choices
-Kissinger’s cable from Paris
-December 1972
-POWs for withdrawal
-South Vietnam’s viability
-Public attitude
-“Peace with honor”
-Concern for cease-fire violations
-Response to fall of South Vietnam
-US actions
-Defense Department
-Air strikes in Cambodia
-Plantations
-Chup Plantation
-President’s call to Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Report
-Air strikes in Cambodia
-Chup Plantation
-Kissinger’s message from President
-Civilians
-Problem
 -24-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)



-Cambodia
-1971 Chup Plantation operation
-Defense
-Installations
-Air strikes in Cambodia
-Decision
-Defense Department
-Lon Nol
-Request
-US ambassador’s role
-Ho Chi Minh Trail
-US air strikes
-Impact on North Vietnam
-POW repatriation
-Kissinger’s opinion
-Notification
-Delay
US message to North Vietnam
-Cease-fire violations
-North Vietnam’s military operation
-Consequences
-US resolve
-POWs
-Experience in prison
-Solitary confinement, torture
-Capt. Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr.
-Col. Robinson Risner
-Non-verbal communication
-Change in conditions in 1969
-Major [first name unknown] Bai
-Relocation
-Group housing
-1968 US election [?]
-Denton and Risner
-Fear of President
-Charges of misconduct
-Volunteering information
-Political impact
 -25-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)



-Support for Vietnam aid
-Effect of atrocity stories
-Justification
-Denton and Risner
-PRC, USSR
-Compliance with cease-fire agreement
-North Vietnam

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 9:25 am.

President's schedule

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 9:50 am.

Vietnam
-Aid to North Vietnam
-North Vietnam presence in Laos, Cambodia
-Infiltration
-POWs
-Denton and Risner’s meeting with President
-Raid on Son Tay prison in North Vietnam
-“Operation Draft”
-Reaction to December 1972 bombing
-B-52s compared to jet fighters
-Fear among North Vietnamese
-December 21, 1972 bombing resumption
-North Vietnamese prison guards
-Support for President’s policies
-Skill of US pilots
-Shock
-Visit from high-level North Vietnamese official
-Denton and Risner [?]
-Treatment
-Good relations with US
-Kissinger’s trip to Hanoi
-President’s possible trip to Hanoi
-Bombing
-Effect of B-52 use
 -26-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept-2010)
Conversation No. 419-19 (cont’d)



-Shock
-Caution
-Normalization of relations
-Infiltration
-North Vietnam’s desire and necessity
-Risk of protracted war
-“Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam”
-Value
-Adherence
-Commitment of North Vietnam
-Spring military offensive
-Effect on publicity
-Impact on US-USSR summit
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-President’s political position
-Warning regarding offensive
-Jeopardy
-Opportunity regarding critics
-President’s press conference [?]
-Hanoi statements
-Barry M. Goldwater, Sr.

Kissinger’s schedule
-David K. E. Bruce
-Meeting with Dobrynin
-Meeting with President
-Foreign policy
-Conversation with William P. Rogers
-Bruce

Kissinger left at 9:50 am.