659–1

Conversation No. 659-1

Date: January 28, 1972
Time: 10:25 am - 11:12 am
Location: Oval Office

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

Camp David
-Weather
-Snow

The President’s schedule
-Marina von Neumann Whitman’s appointment to Council of Economic Advisors
[CEA]
-Announcement
-Timing
-Herbert Stein
-Photograph session
-News coverage
-Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission
-Drug enforcement program announcement

[Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 10:25 am and 10:47
am.]

[Conversation No. 659-1A]

-Timing
-News coverage

[End of telephone conversation]

Whitman appointment
-Public relations [PR]
-Ronald L. Ziegler’s role
-Patricia R. Hitt
-Barbara H. Franklin
-Republican National Committee
-Congresswomen
-Attendance
-Significance
 2

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-The President’s idea
-John von Neumann
-John A. Scali
-Compared to Supreme Court
-Significance
-Women in economics
-Women in administration
-Price Board position
-Stein
-Virginia H. Knauer
-Arnold R. Weber

Congressional testimony
-George H. Boldt
-Prepared answers
-William Proxmire’s questions
-Leak

The President’s schedule
-Testimonial dinner for Robert J. Brown
-Location
-Hilton Hotel
-Washington, DC
-Timing
-Sickle cell anemia
-Fund raising
-Opportunity for the President
-Attendance
-Sammy Davis, Jr. and Edward W. Brooke
-Sickle cell anemia
-Research
-Attendance by blacks
-John Roosevelt (“Jackie”) Robinson
-Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
-Roy Ennis
-Dr. Arthur A. Fletcher
-Richard Hatcher
-Jesse L. Jackson
-Charles Evers
-Berkeley G. Burrell
-Opportunity for the President
 3

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Middle class blacks
-The President’s remarks
-Sickle cell anemia
-Description
-The President’s cancer program
-Announcement of attendance
-Haldeman’s handling
-Camp David
-Length of stay

Henry A. Kissinger

Stock market
-Economic indicators
-Rise
-News coverage

Vietnam
-William P. Rogers
-News conference, January 27, 1972
-Kissinger
-News coverage
-Attendance at staff meeting
-Recent press briefing
-Mood
-Views on peace talks

Gloria Steinem
-Criticism
-Statements
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Ronald W. Reagan
-George C. Wallace
 4

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 3m 14s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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


Editorials
-Vietnam peace initiative
-Quality
-New York Post
-St. Louis Post Dispatch
-Tone
-St. Louis Globe-Democrat

Memoranda from the President
-The President’s memorandum to Arthur F. Burns
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Rose Mary Woods

Busing
-Supreme Court
-Ehrlichman
-Make-up
-Cases
-Timing
-1972 election
-Decision
-Ehrlichman
-Relations with Leonard Garment
-Washington Post
-New York Times
-Social programs
-Administration support
-Civil rights
-Food stamps
 5

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-Strategy
-Charles W. Colson

Vietnam
-Negotiations
-Administration strategy
-Memorandum
-Attack on critics
-Nature of attack
-Noel C. Koch
-Haldeman’s talk with Colson
-Nature of critics
-Aims
-Aid and comfort to enemy
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Support
-Kissinger’s draft of the President’s January 25, 1972 peace
proposal speech
-President’s draft
-Communist government in South Vietnam
-Use as an issue
-October 11, 1971 communication to North Vietnam
-Muskie
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Muskie
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew’s attack
-News coverage
-Buchanan speech
-Agnew
-Agnew
-News coverage
-Barry M. Goldwater
-[Democrats]
-Surrender
-Praise for support
-Bradford F. Morris
-Michael J. Mansfield
-John C. Stennis
-The President’s memorandum
-Preparation
-Douglas L. Hallett
 6

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-Koch
-Buchanan
-Use of material
-Franklyn C. (“Lyn”) Nofziger

Ziegler entered at 10:47 am.

Drug enforcement program announcement
-Preparation

Whitman announcement

United Press International [UPI] story
-Departure date for People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Inaccuracy
-Announcement of actual date
-Tentative plan
-Interim stops
-Hawaii
-Guam
-Final decision
-Timing
-Wording of statement
-Departure date
-Intermediate stops

Attacks on critics about Vietnam cease-fire terms
-Clark M. Clifford
-News coverage
-Details of cease-fire plan
-Ziegler’s handling
-Kissinger’s and the President’s explanations
-Negotiating points
-Muskie
-Criticism
-Articulation
-Opponents’ ambition
-US surrender
-Communist government in South Vietnam
-Source of counterattack
-White House
 7

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-New York Times
-Thieu overthrow
-Thieu overthrow
-Question asked of Kissinger
-South Vietnam
-Self-determination
-Communist government
-US surrender
-Ziegler’s schedule
-Houston editors
-American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE]
-UPI
-Ziegler’s speech
-Question and Answer [Q&A] session
-Timing
-The President’s memorandum to Colson
-Use against critics
-News coverage
-The President’s efforts
-Negotiations
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Negotiations
-Secrecy
-George Meany
-North Vietnamese strategy
-Rejection of critics
-The President’s memorandum
-US internal division
-Need for unity
-World Wars I, II
-Praise for Stennis, Mansfield
-Opponents
-Advocates of surrender
-Aid and comfort to the enemy

The President’s schedule
-Kissinger
-Rainer Barzel
-Ehrlichman meeting

Ziegler left at 10:58 am.
 8

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)



-Ehrlichman’s schedule

Stephen B. Bull entered at 10:58 am.

-Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Swearing-in [of Myles J. Ambrose]
-Signing of Executive Order
-Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Rogers

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:12 am.

Administration counterattack
-Colson
-Workload
-Richard A. Moore
-Herbert G. Klein
-Work quality
-Need for strategy
-Scali
-Clark MacGregor
-Colson
-Haldeman
-Coverage
-Colson back-up men
-Quality
-Robert J. Dole
-Frontal attack
-Partisan problem


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 58s ]
 9

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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


Administration counterattack
-Colson
-Quality of effort
-Burdens
-Forthcoming talk with Haldeman about Koch
-Goldwater
-Haldeman’s talk with an unknown person
-Cabinet
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Expertise
-Kissinger comparison
-PR

White House staff
-Scali
-Notification of the President’s Vietnam peace proposal speech, January 25,
1972
-Memorandum
-Staff meeting
-Kissinger
-Speech writing
-Secrecy
-Kissinger
-Ziegler
-Negotiations
-PRC trip
-Vietnam negotiations
-Strength of the President’s argument
-Kissinger
-Kissinger
-Contact with the President
-Press coverage
-Kissinger’s efforts
-Compared to the President’s
-Kissinger
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
 10

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 659-1 (cont.)


-Need for help
-Speech draft
-William L. Safire
-Q&A
-Briefing
-Talk with the President
-Speechwriting
-The President’s position
-The President’s efforts
-Kissinger
-North Vietnamese reaction to peace proposals
-Rejection
-Timing
-Discussion in staff meeting
-[Le Duc Tho’s] health
-Handling of press
-Use of Scali
-Reaction to questioning
-Ziegler
-Kissinger’s staff
-Need for aggressive rebuttal
-Buchanan

[Unintelligible]

Haldeman left at 11:12 am.