Secret White House Tapes

552–3

About this recording

552–3
  • President Richard M. Nixon
  • H. R. Haldeman
  • Henry A. Kissinger
  • UNKNOWN
  • Louis Harris
  • Ronald L. Ziegler
  • White House operator
  • Thelma C. Ryan "Pat" Nixon
July 30, 1971
Conversation No. 552-3

Date: July 30, 1971
Time: 10:23 am - 12:30 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

The President's schedule
-John N. Mitchell
-Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
-California trip
-Ronald W. Reagan's planned speech
-Cancellation
-The President's proposed trip to the Bohemian Grove
-Encampments
-Mitchell, John B. Connally

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 10:25 am.

The US-People’s Republic of China [PRC] initiative
-Message from Harvard University
-East Asian Center

Haldeman talked to an unknown person at an unknown time after 10:25 am.

Request

[End of conversation]

-Kissinger
-Texas A&M

Presidential letter to Soviet Union Cosmonaut's daughter
-Public release
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Haig
-Handling
3

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



US-Soviet Union relations
-Andrei A. Gromyko
-Leonid I. Brezhnev contact with the President
-Channel
-Action
-Leaks
-Anti-ballistic missiles [ABM]
Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
[The President talked with Louis Harris between 10:27 am and 10:34 am]

[Conversation No. 552-3A]

[See Conversation No. 7-38]

Presidential letter to Soviet Union Cosmonaut’s daughter
-Dobrynin
-Public release
-Source

[The above portion of the office conversation between Kissinger and Haldeman took place
simultaneously with telephone Conversation No. 552-3A]

[End of telephone conversation]

Poll
-Re-issue
-Frank Leonard
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Management of staff

Foreign policy
-Photograph
-The President
-Role
-Kissinger
-Hugh S. Sidey

Vietnam War
-Le Duc Tho
-Conversation with French foreign minister
-Maurice Schumann
-North Vietnamese
4

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Dobrynin
-Chances of settlement
-Kissinger’s conversation with Dobrynin
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Proposals
-Situation

The PRC initiative Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Letter from Harvard University student
-Francois De Ticornot De Rose

Letter
-Release
-Source
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Form

Spiro T. Agnew
-John D. Ehrlichman's attitude
-Staff relations
-John A. Scali
-Ehrlichman

US foreign aid
-The President’s conversation with Otto E. Passman
-Post-World War II period
-Amount
-Military aid
-Economic assistance

US foreign policy
-Kissinger's conversation with James L. Buckley
-Conservatives
-Shift in support for the President
-Effect
-1972
-Buckley's possible meeting with the President
-Kissinger’s conversation with William F. Buckley, Jr.
-The President
-New York Conservative Party
-Presidential endorsement
-Administration relations with Conservatives
5

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Kissinger, Mitchell
-New York
-J. Daniel Mahoney
-Issues
-The PRC
-National defense
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-William Buckley Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with James Burnham
-Meeting
-National Review
-[Frank S.?] Meyer
-North Vietnam’s reaction to the PRC initiative
-Soviet Union’s reaction to the PRC imitative
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Summit
-Schedule
-William P. Rogers
-Emperor Hirohito
-Meeting with the President
-Anchorage, Alaska
-Arrangements
-Effect
-Coordination with Rogers
-Agnew
-State Department

Conservatives
-Relations with the President
-James Buckley
-1960, 1968, 1962
-John Birch Society
-1962 California activities
-The President's record
-Cambodia, Laos
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-National Review
-Activities
-Young Americans for Freedom [YAFs]
6

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



The President's schedule
-The President’s proposed September 27, 1971 meeting with Hirohito in Alaska
-Emilio Garrastazu Medici’s visit
-Scheduling
-Logistics
-Arrangements for foreign visits

Mitchell Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Handling
-News summary

The PRC initiative
-Reaction
-Liberals
-Clayton Fritchey
-W. Averell Harriman
-Executive privilege
-Previous Laotian negotiations
-The President
-Chou En-lai
-Memorandum on Le Duc Tho
-Reaction to secret negotiations
-Fritchey
-Philadelphia Bulletin item
-Responsibility for the PRC initiative
-State Department
-Marshall Green
-Handling of the President's foreign trip
-Briefing books


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[National Security]
[Duration: 1m 23s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

**********************************************************************
7

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




-Kissinger's staff
-Contact with the press
-Philadelphia Bulletin
-Pentagon Papers
-Max Lerner
-Conservatives
-Handling Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)

Vietnam War
-Le Duc Tho
-Settlement

The PRC initiative
-George Meany's reaction
-Hardhats
-Attitude towards the President
-Charles W. Colson
-Conservatives
-News coverage
-Kissinger's trip to Pakistan
-Kissinger's secret trip to Peking
-Paris Talks
-Dobrynin
-Le Duc Tho

Agnew
-Foreign trip
-Press coverage
-Agenda
-Greece
-Request for future trip
-Arrangements
-Korea, Europe, Arab countries, Greece
-Theme
-Golf
-Portugal, Spain
-Duration
-Press perception
-Agnew’s role
-Morocco, Spain, Portugal
-Congo, Kenya
8

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Iran
-Handling
-American communities
-Kissinger’s staff
-Press conferences
-Events
-Compared to Kissinger, William P. Rogers
-Press coverage Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Future trips
-Iran
-Greece
-Iran
-Forthcoming celebration
-Iranian’s reaction
-Greece
-Agnew’s ethnicity

Iran
-Forthcoming celebration
-US attendance
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Agnew
-Compared to Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt
-Kissinger’s opinion
-Health
-Logistics
-Agnew
-Johnson

Agnew
-Compared to President’s handling of foreign trips while Vice President
-Attitude
-Comment about Africans
-Reaction
-Forthcoming conversation with Ehrlichman
-Conversation with Kissinger
-Murray M. Chotiner meeting with the President
-PRC initiative
-Source of story
-Scali
-Preparation of memorandum
-Agnew’s request to visit PRC, Taiwan
9

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Staff
-Public relations
-Public image
-Relations with the President's staff

White House staff
-Restrictions on comment
-Agnew Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Affect

Agnew
-Memorandum on the PRC story
-Scali
-Relationship with the President
-Kissinger's comment to Agnew
-Kissinger’s opinion

PRC-Soviet Union relations
-Agnew’s opinion
-Conservatives
-Actions
-Human Events
-Intelligence reports
-Buchanan’s view
-Conservative view of Communists
-The President
-James Buckley

The President's 1967 speech
-Bohemian Grove
-ABM

Kissinger left at 11:20 pm.

Agnew
-Handling
-Scali
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman

The Bohemian Grove
-Presidential visit
-Walter Baird
10

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Ronald L. Ziegler's conversation with Walter Trohan
-Wire services
-United Press International [UPI]
-Grove members
-Reaction
-Effect of press attention
-Members activities
-Effect of cancellation Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Ziegler, Richard Moore
-Members reaction
-Baird
-Transportation
-Arrangements
-Trohan
-Cancellation of trip
-Effect
-Compared to the Gridiron

The President's schedule
-Gridiron
-White House Correspondent's dinner

The President left at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

[Haldeman talked with an unknown person [Ziegler?] at an unknown time between 11:20 am and
12:20 pm]

[Conversation No. 552-3B]

Moore
-Proposed Presidential visit to the Bohemian Grove
-Reaction

[End of telephone conversation]

The President entered at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

The Bohemian Grove
-Presidential visit
-Background to arrangements
-Baird
-Ziegler
11

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Press coverage
-Wire services
The President's schedule
-Advance press notice
-Ziegler
-Visit to baseball game
-Perrino's Restaurant
-The President's visit after the PRC announcement Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-News report on wine

Handling of response to issues
-Buchanan
-Attitude
-John G. Tower, Peter H. Dominick
-Haldeman, Colson, Ehrlichman
-Reaction comparison
-Clark MacGregor
-Attitude
-William E. Timmons

The Bohemian Grove
-Attendance
-The President's 1967 speech


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 4m 5s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 15

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


Social activities
-Attitude
-Connally
-The President
-Individual contacts
12

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Receiving lines
-Effectiveness
-Colson
Bohemian Grove
-Presidential visit cancellation
-Baird
-Issue of press coverage
-Off-the-record tradition Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Ziegler
-Herbert C. Hoover
-Visits to Grove
-Press coverage
-Activities
-Compared to the Gridiron


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 26s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 16

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


-Members
-Effect of cancellation on the President's schedule
-California
-Reagan
-Meeting

Speech
-Work
-The President's 1967 speech
-John S. Davies
-Creation
-Model for speechwriters
-Use of transitions
-Topics
13

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Vietnam
-Spaceflight
-Use of draft speech

Bohemian Grove
-President's visit
-Cancellation
-Effect on the press Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Effect on the Grove

Connally
-Schedule
-International Monetary Fund [IMF]
-International economic situation
-Paul A. Volcker

Bohemian Grove
-Replacement speaker
-George H.W. Bush
-The President's cancellation
-Moore, Mosbacher
-Handling
-Grove members
-Baird
-California elite
-Western White House social function
-Arrangements
-Compared to Johnson
-Response to cancellation
-Handling of cancellation
-Press
-Off-the-record tradition
-Previous speeches by Rogers, Melvin R. Laird
-The Gridiron
-Off-the-record White House events
-Baird, Trohan
-Attitude
-Press coverage

The Press
-Advance notice on the President's schedule
-UPI, CBS
14

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Arrangements on Grove speech coverage
-The President's 1967 speech
-Reaction
-The President's position compared to Rogers, Laird
Bohemian Grove
-Nixon as Vice President
-Cancellation
-Handling of notification Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Haldeman, Baird
-Off-the-record tradition
-CBS, UPI
-Ziegler

Social functions
-Connally

Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time after 11:20 am.

Ziegler

[End of conversation]

-Attitude
-White House events
-Sequoia, Camp David

Schedule
-Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 11:20 am and
12:09 pm]

[Conversation No. 522-3C]

[See Conversation No. 7-39]

[End of telephone conversation]

Schedule

[The President talked with Mrs. Nixon between 12:09 pm and 12:10 pm]
15

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



[Conversation No. 522-3D]

[See Conversation No. 7-40; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

[End of telephone conversation]
Ziegler entered at 12:10 pm.

Labor disputes Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Rail industry
-Press reports
-Paul W. McCracken
-The President's July 30, 1971 meeting with union and management executives
-George P. Shultz
-White House involvement
-Presidential role
-Compared to John F. Kennedy
-John Robinson (?)
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Willie J. Usery, Charles Luna

Bohemian Grove
-President's trip
-Press attitude
-Off-the-record tradition
-UPI, CBS
-Cancellation
-Comparison to the Gridiron
-Off-the-record
-Tradition of off-the-record handling
-Attendance
-Hoover
-Nixon as Vice President
-Barry M. Goldwater
-Ziegler's conversation with aide
-Candidate position
-The President
-Grove members
-Effect of press coverage or leak

The President's schedule
-Iowa, Ohio trip
-California
16

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Timing of announcement
-Appropriations Committee event

Presidential letter to Soviet cosmonaut's daughter
-Release
-Source
-William L. Safire
-Knowledge of letter Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Rose Mary Woods, Haig
-Source
-Safire, Price
-Timing of release
-Apollo XV
-Recipient
-Soviet Ambassador
-Circumstances
-Source
-Herbert G. Klein
-Handling

Ziegler left at 12:20 pm.

The President's schedule
-California
-Timing, transportation
-Mitchell, Connally


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 11s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 19

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


-California
-Possible activities
17

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Steel strike
-IMF
-Revision of schedule
-Connally
-Mitchell
-Camp David
-Forthcoming press conference
-Buchanan's staff Conv. No. 552-3 (cont.)
-Preparation of briefing books
-Types of events
-Photo opportunities
-Transportation
-Camp David
-Mrs. Nixon
-Timing of departure
-Baird
-Connally, Mitchell
-Cancellation of Bohemian Grove visit
-Press coverage
-Off-the-record tradition
-Secret Service contingent
-Size
-Arrangements

Haldeman left at 12:30 pm.
Secret White House Tapes |

552–3

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