522-1

Conversation No. 522-1

Date: June 16, 1971
Time: 9:05 am - 10:38 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander Butterfield.

Papers
-Promptness of arrival

H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 9:10 am.

White House social functions
-Treatment of guests
-Robert S. Oelman of National Cash Register
-Socializing with Cabinet officer
-Karl R. Bendetsen
-Meeting with President
-Conduct of Cabinet officers
-Nathan Cummings
-Carl G. Gerstacker
-List of contacts for Cabinet officers
-Harold L. Kennedy
-Donald W. King
-Joseph Meyerhoff
-Contact with Cabinet officers
-Contact with President
-Conduct of administration officials
-Frank J. Shakespeare
-Paul W. McCracken
-Maurice H. Stans
-Congressman and Senators
-Bendetsen
-Conversation with Shakespeare
-Cabinet members role
-Secretary of the Treasury
-Secretary of Defense
-Secretary of Commerce
-Arthur F. Burns
-Need for a plan
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-Peter G. Peterson
-Nathaniel Samuels
-John A. Scali
-Helmut (“Hal”) Sonnenfeldt
-Peterson contacts
-Cummings
-Aquaintence with Meyerhoff
-President's role
-Contact with guests
-Louis K. Eilers
-Oelman
-Dell E. Webb
-Health
-Cooper Holt
-National Silent Black Majority representative [Clay Clairborne]
-Relationship with President
-Gerstacker
-Mack Truck representative [Zenon C.R. Hansen]
-Bendetsen
-Stag dinners
-Guests contact with administration officials
-Typical evening for guests
-Circulation of guest list
-Extent of circulation
-Administration officials' contacts on plane trips
-Press
-Planning of contacts
-Benefits
-Use of Cabinet officers
-Use of White House staff
-Contact with President's supporters
-Preparation
-Contact with guests
-Need for aggressive staff members
-Elliot L. Richardson
-John S. Davies
-John E. Nidecker
-Shakespeare
-George H.W. Bush

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.
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President's schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 9:25 am.
White House social functions
-Treatment of guests
-Circulation of guest list
-Shakespeare
-Use Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Staff role
-Beginning dinners on time
-Role of women
-State dinner
-Receiving in Yellow Oval Room
-Assembling of guests
-Invitation times
-Staff role in working crowd
-Sonnenfeldt
-Scali
-Sonnenfeldt
-Henry A. Kissinger role
-Charles W. Colson role
-Peter M. Flanigan dinner
-Eilers
-Bendetsen
-Oelman of National Cash Register
-Dudley Swim

An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.

[Delivery of documents]

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 9:25 am.

[Signing of documents]

-Use of dinners
-Pre-dinner briefing
-Coverage of points

An unknownperson entered at an unknown time after 9:10 am.

-New York Times example
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The unknown person left at an unknown time before 9:25 am.


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable] Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
[Duration: 17s ]


THE PRESIDENT AND ALEXANDER BUTTERFIELD LEFT AT 9:25 AM.

MANOLO SANCHEZ ENTERED AT AN UNKNOWN TIME AFTER 9:25 AM.

THE PRESIDENT RETURNED AND SANCHEZ LEFT AT AN UNKNOWN TIME BEFORE
9:56 AM.


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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


-Pre-dinner briefings
-President’s staff
-John B. Connally
-Public relations
-Focus on President's effort
-International Business Machines [IBM] precedent
-President's demeanor during dinner
-Focus on dinner's purpose
-Effect of entertainment
-US Army Chorus
-Dinner attendance
-Attendance at Willy Brandt dinner
-Kissinger
-Necessity
-Sherman Adams attendance record
-Kissinger availability
-Martin J. Hillenbrand
-Staff availability
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-John D. Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Flanigan
-George P. Shultz
-Peterson
-Herbert G. Klein
-Klein role
-Skill with people Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Staff desire for contacts
-Scali
-Staff effort at wedding
-Mr. and Mrs. Norman Chandler
-William P. Rogers role
-Dinner attendance
-Rose Mary Woods attendance
-Effort of staff
-Benefits
-Comfort of guests
-President’s experiences
-Haldeman’s observation
-French hospitality
-Contacts with Charles De Gaulle
-US compared with France
-German hospitality
-Kurt Kiesinger dinner
-British hospitality
-William B. McComber, Jr.
-William R. Codus
-McComber

Okinawa signing ceremony
-Rogers’ request
-Reading of message from President
-President's attendance
-Rogers’ role
-Japanese sensitivities

Pentagon Papers
-New York Times story
-Administration strategy
-Need for leadership
-Ramifications
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-Legal questions
-Public relations questions
-General public
-Times intention
-Attack on administration
-Precedent for obtaining documents
-Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy papers
-Importance of legal action Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Need to stop leaks
-Kissinger’s strategy
-Suspension of responsible parties
-Department undersecretaries
-Scope of strategy
-U. Alexis Johnson
-Reason for leaks


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National Security]
[Duration: 9s ]


FRANCE


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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


-Newest leak
-1972 plans for Saigon defense
-Johnson action
-War buildup
-History
-Press conference
-Perfidy of remarks
-Implication of President's actions
-Extent of Times documents
-Kennedy and Johnson
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-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Harry S. Truman
-Link of President to Eisenhower administration
-Inconsistent action by administration
-Johnson's action in Vietnam
-Administration strategy
-Strategy
-Exposure of Democratic involvement Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Legal questions
-Substantive questions
-Problems
-President's possible actions
-Release of data to Congressional committees
-Problems
-Violation of executive privilege
-Department of Defense [DOD]
-Need for good judgement
-Alexander M.Haig, Jr. (?)
-Declassification and release of information
-Johnson's book
-Extent of truly classified information
-Architects of strategy
-Colson
-Scali
-Ehrlichman
-Clark MacGregor
-Shultz
-William L. Safire
-Colson
-Extent of release
-Release of Kennedy material
-Haig
-Administration controlled release of material
-Methods
-Through Congress
-Focus on reasons for entering war
-Problems for continuance of war
-History of President's position
-Problems with legal action
-Standard release of classifed information
-Implications of Times action
-Secrecy in government
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-Rogers
-Criticism of injunction against Times
-Eventual fallout
-George Randolph Hearst
-DOD reaction to story
-Expect of paper's \"right to know \" argument
-Question to administration
-Protection of current administration Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Public perception
-Secrecy in government
-Necessity
-Acceptance by population

Farm policy
-Publicity question
-John C. Whitacker role
-Personnel changes
-Comments from Congress
-Coherence of administration position
-Robert B. McCoy [?] role
-Robert R. Spitzer role in Farm Bureau
-Recognition of need
-Administration’s position with farmers
-Administration polls
-President's standing
-Need for new polls

Pentagon Papers
-Times story
-Release of papers involving Kennedy
-Benefits to the Administration
-Leak to newspaper
-Protection of government secrecy
-Informing of public
-Entry into war
-Involvement of previous administrations
-Public's right to know
-Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield threat of hearings
-Senate Foreign Relations Committee action
-Scope
-Problems
-Precedent
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-Danger of opening current files
-Laos
-Colson’s theory of executive privilege
-Times action
-Public perception
-Legal action against Times
-J. William Fulbright
-Amount of documentation Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Effect on Congress
-Effect on Times
-Accusations of administration

Unknown person entered at an unknown time after 9:23 am.

Request for Ehrlichman

Unknown person left at an unknown time before 9:56 am.

Times story
-Extent of concern over story
-Administration’s responsibility

Richard T. Burres
-Proposed nomimation to the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB]
-Union opposition
-International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen, and
Helpers of America [Teamsters]
-American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
[AFL-CIO]

Ehrlichman entered at 9:56 am.

President's contact with Kissinger
-Memo for President from earlier meeting
-Strategy regarding Mansfield's action

Times story
-Strategy meeting during the morning
-Kissinger
-Consensus
-Mansfield hearing
-White House and Congress cooperation
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-Decision on scope of inquiry
-Kissinger memo
-Ronald L. Ziegler briefing
-Timing
-Spiro T. Agnew

Haldeman left at 10:00 am.
Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
Burres nomination
-Gerald R. Ford role
-James D. Hodgson
-Desire to see President
-Labor objections
-George Meany
-Frederic V. Malek
-Other candidates' availability
-President's role in selection
-Unnamed Ohio woman
-Robert A. Taft, Jr.
-Burres
-Qualities
-President desires
-Malek role
-Alternative list
-Qualities desired
-Response to Robert C. Byrd, Jr.
-Other candidates
-Hodgson and Shultz candidates
-Labor Department candidate
-Forthcoming meeting
-Malek and Ehrlichman’s meeting
-Malek role
-Candidate listing

Cross Florida Barge Canal
-Whitaker
-Corps of Engineers
-Drainage effort
-Contact with President
-Benefits of drainage
-Canal termination
-Link to drainage
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-Commercial overtones
-Mail to President
-In favor
-In opposition
-Form
-Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce
-Corps of Engineers' opposition to \"draw down\"
-Rationale Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Enviromentalists contention
-Effect
-Symbolism
-Need for President's action
-Florida state cabinet action
-Effect on governor
-Probable outcome
-Governor's position
-Options
-Wait for further developments
-Rationale
-Whitaker follow up on Cabinet meeting
-Stans and Rogers C.B. Morton comments
-Delays on environmental grounds
-Results

Housing
-George W. Romney comments
-Reasons
-Black constituents
-Content
-Prior Ehrlichman and Romney meeting
-Policy decision
-Extent of Romney problems
-Position paper
-President’s previous meeting with the National Association of Real Estate Boards
[NAREB]
-\"Black Jack\" issue
-Press coverage
-John N. Mitchell role
-Court cases

Domestic policy
-Ehrlichman and Samuel L. Devine meeting
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

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-Welfare reform
-Debate on welfare reform
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
-Robert E. Patricelli role
-Dr. George Wiley role
-Patricelli comments
-Administration position
-Money use Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Residency requirement
-Elliot L. Richardson role
-Difference in House and Senate
-Ehrlichman and Devine meeting
-Backup position
-Experimentation
-Rochester speech
-Need for welfare remarks
-Devotion to foreign policy
-Need for domestic remarks
-Press and public perception
-Foreign versus domestic issues
-Benefits
-Welfare
-Revenue sharing
-Drug remarks
-Housing remarks
-Timing of welfare action
-Press coverage
-Focus on negatives
-President's use of domestic briefings
-Ehrlichman’s debates with the press
-Rochester speech
-Drugs
-Action on drug front
-Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe television appearance on Columbia
Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Effect
-Environment
-Drugs
-Welfare reform
-Problems
-Drugs focus
-Benefit to President
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-Press coverage
-Revenue sharing
-Rochester speech
-Urban problems
-Connally attendance
-Drug remarks
-Welfare
-Revenue sharing Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Role of money
-Property tax
-Press coverage
-Need for comments by President
-President's ability to make issues
-Property tax
-Work as issue in welfare
-Press coverage
-President’s Williamsburg speech
-Impact of Cabinet officers compared with the President
-Past press conferences
-President's preparation
-Scope changes
-Focus sharpening
-Use of prime time
-Williamsburg speech
-Employment
-Rochester speech additions
-Revenue sharing
-Drugs
-Welfare reform

Pentagon Papers
-Administration line
-Democratic \"family fight\"
-Link to present policy

Rochester speech topics
-Pentagon Papers
-Domestic issues
-Speech to doctors on drugs
-Melvin R. Laird choice of Dr. R. Stanford Wilbur for Assistant Secretary
position
-Wilbur's background
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-Announcement in American Medical Association [AMA] speech
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Pentagon Papers
-Legal case
-US involvement in war
-Publication of classified information
-Substance of papers versus publication
-Impact of publication Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Effects
-Precedent set
-Possibility of the purchase of classified information
-Criticism of administration action
-Effects
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Pandora's box involving executive privilege
-Rogers
-Publication of old information
-Relation to Pearl Harbor publication
-Impact on secret Paris negotiations
-Impact on any secret negotiations
-Taiwan
-Soviet Union
-Berlin
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Irrelevance of old information argument
-John A. McCone
-Freedom of Presidential advisers
-Benefits to President
-Impact of early disclosure
-Rogers and Laird
-Advise to the President
-Contact of advisers with press
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Effect on discussions
-Richard M. Helms
-Need for administration coordination
-Scali
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Safire
-Price
-Colson
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

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Farm policy
-President’s previous conversation with Haldeman
-Need for new leadership
-Whitaker effort
-Congressional comments
-Alternatives
-Donald A. Paarlberg Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)
-Earl L. Butz
-Need for \"title\"
-PRC grain shipment
-Democrat role
-Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-War issue effect
-Polls
-Haldeman’s comments
-War issue and farm policy impact
-Butz role
-Need for public relations consciousness
-Radio spot
-Whitaker
-Expertise
-Shortcomings
-Bryce N. Harlow, Clifford M. Hardin, J. Philip Campbell and Connally meeting
-Murray Spitzer credentials
-Press coverage

Rochester speech
-Coverage of domestic issues
-Birmingham speech


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 35s ]
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

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

Ehrlichman left at 10:38 am.


Conv. No. 522-1 (cont.)