Secret White House Tapes

540–9

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540–9
  • President Richard M. Nixon
  • John D. Ehrlichman
  • George P. Shultz
July 20, 1971
Conversation No. 540-9

Date: July 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 11:09 am and 1:21 pm
Location: Oval Office
13

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




The President met with an unknown person [Stephen B. Bull?].
George P. Shultz
-Forthcoming meeting

John D. Ehrlichman entered at 11:09 am; the unknown person [Bull?] left before 1:21 pm.

The President's trip to the People's Republic of China [PRC] Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Trip advance preparations
-Ehrlichman

School desegregation
-Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]
-Edward L. Morgan's handling of issue
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Shultz
-Committees
-HEW
-Staff
-President’s position
-Leaks
-Texas
-Lawsuits
-Funding
-Morgan
-Strategy for delay
-Richardson
-Edith Green
-Timing
-Congressional adjournment
-Forthcoming economic action
-Shultz, Leonard Garment

Family assistance
-Senate Finance Committee
-John C. Williams role

The Pentagon Papers

Family assistance and welfare reform
-The President's conversation with John B. Connally
14

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Effectiveness of issue in political terms
-Polls
-The working poor
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan's theories
-Support for the President
-Voting record
-Effectiveness of efforts in helping the poor
-Ehrlichman’s conversation with Richardson Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)

Stephen B. Bull (?) entered at an unknown time after 11:09 am.

Shultz

Bull left at an unknown time before 1:21 pm

Welfare
-Psychology
-The President’s view
-Effect on recipients of being on welfare
-Acceptance of charity
-Growth of welfare psychology
-Effect on president’s policies
-The President's family


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal-Returnable]
[Duration: 49s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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-Attitude toward welfare
-Present system
-Need for change
-Impossibility of total abolition of welfare
-Propose reforms
15

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Efforts to put more people on the payroll
-Premiums on working and penalties on welfare
-Study of implementation effort
-James H. Cavanaugh
-HEW
-Richardson
-Possible effect of passage of present legislation
-Possibility of Congressional action Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Russell B. Long, Abraham A. Ribicoff
-Cavanaugh study
-Richardson
-Ronald W. Reagan's position on welfare reform
-Recent meeting with Richardson
-Requested meeting with the President
-August 1971

The Department of Justice
-Number of staff members with Ivy League background
-The President's comment to Robert C. Mardian
-Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Penn
-Statistics
-Appointees

The Pentagon Papers
-Richard H. Ichord
-Disinclination to pursue matter in his House Internal Security Committee
-Possible forthcoming bid for gubernatorial job
-Need to appeal to liberal voters
-F. Edward Herbert, Leslie C. Arends
-Interest in investigation
-Selection of junior member of Congress to handle case
-Chance for a special Congressional counsel to make a name for himself
-White House staff efforts
-Egil G. (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
-Charles M. Cooke, Jr.'s meetings with Daniel Ellsberg

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:09 am.

Unknown Senator
-Possible meeting with the President

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:46 am.
16

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




The Pentagon Papers case
-Cooke-Ellsberg contacts
-Planned polygraph test
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Preparations
-Kleindienst
-Richardson Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Questions
-Rogers
-National Security Council [NSC] documents in possession of Sen. Charles Mc.
Mathias
-Request for return
-Rogers
-Ehrlichman
-Kleindienst to request return

F. Donald Nixon
-F. Donald Nixon, Jr.
-Conversation with John D. Ehrlichman
-European trip


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 32s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Privacy]
[Duration: 15s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
17

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 27s ] Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

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-Robert Vesco, Bernard Cornfeld
-Investigation
-Edward C. Nixon's conversation with John D. Ehrlichman about presidential
library
-F. Donald Nixon
-Business dealings with Gilbert R. J. Straub, Vesco


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Privacy]
[Duration: 1m 8s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 45s ]
18

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Privacy] Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
[Duration: 8s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 54s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8

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Consumer sentiment
-Edwin L. Harper's memorandum
-Shultz

Republican leaders meeting, July 20, 1971
-Congressmen's reaction to People’s Republic of China [PRC] briefing
-Lack of reaction
-Kissinger's discussion of developments
-Norris Cotton's reaction
-Contrast to Democratic President and leaders scenario
-Dangers of speculation
-Vietnam War
-Settlement
-Lack of reaction by leaders
19

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Presidential leadership
-Robert J. Dole
-Peter H. Dominick
-Robert P. Griffin
-John B. Anderson
-President’s role
-Richard H. Poff
-Ehrlichman, Shultz Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)

The Bohemian Grove
-Invitation for Ehrlichman to speak
-PRC talking points
-Kissinger

The PRC initiative
-Public reaction
-Contrast to Congressional leaders meeting

Congressional liaison
-Clark MacGregor
-Congressional support for the President
-Democrats
-Margaret Chase Smith
-Poff

Shultz entered at 11:46 am.

July 20, 1971 Congressional leaders meeting
-Lack of reaction by leaders to the President's PRC initiative
-Kissinger
-Cotton
-Complaints about the economy
-Anderson


Economic briefing by Shultz
-Nineteen Republicans up for Congressional re-election
-Dole
-Dominick
-The Vietnam war
-Impact of war on economy
-Peace issue
20

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Current economic conditions
-Congressmen
-Briefings by Shultz, John B. Connally
-Peace issue
-Griffin
-Knowledge of economic matters
-Circulation of columns
-Gerald R. Ford, Hugh Scott Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)

The economy
-Public perceptions
-Polls
-Consumer sentiment
-Influences
-Action taken on the economy
-Eliot Janeway
-Predictions
-Predictions for autumn 1971
-Comparison with the Kennedy administration
-Griffin
-Reporting and forecasting
-Republicans
-Racists
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Assignment
-Retailers
-Retail sales situation
-Anderson
-Inventories
-Steel
-Foreign imports

Public service jobs
-Funding situation
-Appropriation
-Bill signing
-Time needed for passage
-Post-Labor Day prediction
-Reasons for delay
-MacGregor
-Distribution of funds
-San Clemente meeting
21

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Shultz
-Appointment of disbursement agent
-States, locales
-California
-Report by [unintelligible name] [Foy?]
-Reagan's perceptions
Perception of administration
-Economy Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-PRC initiative

Tax reform
-Connally
-Wilbur D. Mills bill
-Proposals
-Value added tax
-Mills
-Tactics
-Revenue sharing
-Tax credit, tax relief
-Proposals for tax relief
-Lack of comment from Connally
-Effects of tax relief and revenue sharing on the taxpayer
-Mills

Federal Reserve Board [FRB]
-Connally’s conversation with the President
-Arthur F. Burns
-Burns
-Request for a meeting with the President
-Dwight L. Chapin
-Quadriad
-Forthcoming meeting with Shultz
-Economic prediction
-Inflation, recovery
-Statistics released
-Burns
-Connally
-Milton Friedman
-Future meetings
-Money supply
-Possible vacancy
-Possible intent of Burns's meeting
22

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Candidate for appointment
-Connally's search
-Populist

President of the Steelworkers Union I[lworth] W. Abel
-Telephone
-Forthcoming letter to the President
-Support for possible steel merger Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Reasons for delay
-Investigation
-Anti-trust laws
-Richard W. McLaren
-Administration’s position
-Abel's views

American Telephone and Telegraph [AT&T]
-H. I. Romnes
-Telephone call to the President
-Labor settlement
-Possible call from the President
-Stance on regional wage differentials

Postal settlement
-Willie J. Usery, Jr.
-Winton M. (“Red”) Blount
-Efforts

Wage settlements
-1972 projections
-Shultz's forthcoming briefing
-Railroads

Steel industry
-Possibility of strike
-The President’s view
-James D. Hodgson
-Businesses view

Longshoremen
-West Coast strike

Productivity Commission
23

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Forthcoming conference in September
-George Meany
-Possible forthcoming telephone call from Shultz
-Stance
-Tactics towards labor
-Meany
-Partisan action
-Coordination with Carl B. Albert Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Democratic attacks
-Effect of the President's PRC announcement

Timing of the PRC announcement
-Focus of news media
-Same day announcement of presidential candidacy by Senator Fred Harris


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 49s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10

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Forthcoming meeting
-The President, Ehrlichman, Shultz, Connally, Charles W. Colson
-Productivity Commission
-Meany's recent actions
-Possible reaction
-Polls
-Public opinion of labor unions
-Labor support for the President
-Teamsters, construction trades, New York groups
-Meany
-Schedule
-Usery
-Colson
-Connally
24

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Preparation for meeting
-Hodgson, Maurice H. Stans
-Political considerations
-J. Curtis Counts

Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
-Personnel
-Arnold R. Weber Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Return to University of Chicago
-Replacement
-Frank C. Carlucci
-Ehrlichman, Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO]
-Abolition
-Downgrading agency
-Carlucci's replacement as OEO head
-[John O.?] Wilson
-Wesley Hjornevik
-Carlucci
-Announcement
-California Rural Legal Assistance [CRLA] settlement
-Alan Cranston

Economic statistics
-Major statistical agencies
-Agriculture, Labor, Commerce
-Consolidation
-Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]
-Goldstein [Leon Greenberg (sic)]
-Hodgson
-Julius Shiskin
-Margaret Martin

Executive pay schedule
-Memorandum to the President from Shultz
-OMB Deputy director job
-Ash Council recommendations
-Pay scale
-Weinberger
-Public perception salary increases
-Contrast to industry wages
-Level IV, Level II
25

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Burns, Weinberger
-Problem of attracting potential job applicants
-William M. Magruder of the Department of Transportation
-Conflict with fight against inflation
-Congressional review
-Carlucci
-Level II job
-Quadrennial executive pay review Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-New commission
-Timing
-Ash Council
-Burns’ conversation with Weinberger

Department of the Treasury
-Connally's authority
-Raise in under secretary level
-The Bureau of Customs
-Increase in number of slots
-Krogh
-Recommendation on request
-Connally, John N. Mitchell
-Connally's inquiries
-Impetus from Eugene T. Rossides

Office of Science and Technology [OST]
-Deputy for Dr. Edward E. David, Jr.
-Level IV job
-Role of office
-Research and development field
-Peter G. Peterson, Productivity Commission
-Research and development efforts
-Increase in slots
-Possible restructuring effort

National Urban League
-Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
-Shultz's appearance
-Whitney M. Young, Jr.
-Possible speech on civil rights topic
-Spiro T. Agnew
-The President's comments to Robert J. Brown
-African heritage issue
26

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Agnew’s remarks
-African leaders
-Sese Seko Mobutu
-Slavery, cannibalism

Blacks
-Roy Wilkins' comments
-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Conv.No.
[NAACP]
540-9 (cont.)
-The President's incumbency
-Agnew's remarks
-Reaction
-Black caucus
-The press
-Appeal to voters

Africa
-Mobutu, Jomo Kenyatta
-African Countries
-Nature of governments
-William V.S. Tubman, Kenyatta, Mobutu
-Compared to Latin America
-Mobutu
-Reception of Visitors
-Agnew

Agnew
-Press relations
-Effect of relaxation
-Recollection of \"fat Jap\" comment

National Urban League
-Administration relationship
-Young
-President’s eulogy
-[Unintelligible name]
-Letter after meeting

Revenue sharing
-Proposals
-Mills' efforts
-John W. Byrnes
-Nelson A. Rockefeller's plan
27

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Mills
-General revenue sharing, special revenue sharing

National Urban League
-Shultz’s forthcoming address
-Agnew’s comments about blacks
-The President's eulogy of Young
-National Urban League leadership Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
-Letter from the President
-Raymond K. Price, Jr., Leonard Garment

Agnew
-Efforts to restrain Agnew's comments
-Ehrlichman’s conversation with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Meeting with Mobutu
-The PRC Initiative
-Cable
-Kissinger
-Release
-As representative of the President
-Solidarity with the President's views by the Vice President and Cabinet
-Walter J. Hickel
-Nixon as Vice President
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-1956 Suez crisis
-1956 Hungarian revolution
-1959 economic action
-Burns, John N. Mitchell, the President
-Robert O. Anderson
-[Unintelligible name]
-Stans
-Credibility
-Need for restraint
-Bryce N. Harlow's experiences during Agnew's trip to Korea
-Staff
-The President’s view
-Agnew's relations with his staff and Secret Service
-Comparison with the President

Staff relations
-The President
-The Vice President
28

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Dignity of office

Connally
-Willingness to speak out
-Mills
-July 15, 1971 press conference
-Misleading press report of statement on unemployment
-Mills Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 17s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 14

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Paul W. McCracken
-Requested meeting with the President
-Plans to return to teaching
-Timing
-Current state of the economy and possible future action

The economy
-Actions of congressmen, senators
-Connally’s theory
-Burns
-Influence
-Forthcoming briefings of Administration’s position
-Shultz, Connally
-William E. Timmons
-Timing
-Fact sheet
-Senators
-Joint presentation
-Location
-Kissinger's meetings with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
29

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




Campaign spending reform
-Status of legislation
Scheduling
-Connally meeting
-Response to Meany

Ehrlichman and Shultz left at 1:21 pm. Conv.No. 540-9 (cont.)
Secret White House Tapes |

540–9

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