713–1

Conversation No. 713-1

Date: April 19, 1972
Time: 3:27 pm - 5:01 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger; the recording began at an unknown time while the
meeting was in progress.

Vietnam
-Support for bombing
-Mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana [C. Edward Karst]
-Change of political parties
-Significance
-Encouragement of hawkish sentiment
-Bombing
-Negotiations
-Conditions for cessation of bombing
-Kissinger’s position
-The President’s press conference
-Announcement
-Timing with Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Meeting with Andrei A. Gromyko

US-Soviet Union relations
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Meeting with Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Gromyko
-Soviet summit
-Possible cancellation
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Continuation of US bombing in Vietnam
-Conversation with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Escalation of attacks
-Kissinger’s promise
-Hanoi and Haiphong

Vietnam
-US bombing
-Limits
-Targets
-Unknown port
 2

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Purpose
-Timing of attacks
-Signals to Soviet Union and North Vietnam
-Recommendations
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Melvin R. Laird
-[David] Kenneth Rush
-Increase
-Targets
-Petroleum, oil, and lubricants [POL] dumps
-Negotiations
-North Vietnamese military position
-Blockade
-Laird and Moorer
-US strategy
-Elements of success
-The President’s previous success playing poker
-North Vietnamese message
-US response
-The President’s forthcoming announcement
-Timing
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Possible cable
-Communications with White House
-Jacob D. Beam
-The President’s announcement
-Plenary session
-Timing
-Troop levels
-Timing
-Troop level
-The President’s announcement
-Numbers
-Reduction of ceiling
-The President’s announcement
-Timing
-Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
-Explanation for public
-Soviet summit
-Vietnam
-Possible misinterpretation
 3

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Bombing
-Meeting with Le Duc Tho
-Vietnam as topic
-Timing with Le Duc Tho visit
-Negotiations
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters
-Participation
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] position
-Participation
-Meetings with North Vietnam
-Bombing
-Protests
-Ivy League presidents
-Kissinger's acquaintance
-Derek C. Bok of Harvard
-Wife [Sissela (Myrdal) Bok]
-Political leanings
-Father [Gunnar K. Myrdal]
-Brother [Jan Myrdal]
-William J. McGill
-Kissinger’s view
-Kingman Brewster
-Bok
-Gerald L. Warren
-Visit to Columbia University
-Possible condemnation of North Vietnam’s invasion
-Criticism
-Opposition to the President
-Intransigence
-Kissinger’s view
-The President’s view
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Influence from students
-Forthcoming counterattack
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Kissinger’s meeting with Soviets
-Bombign of Hanoi and Haiphong
-Explanation to public
-Responsibility for calling the meeting
-Significance
-Compared with scenario involving Iran
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
 4

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Negotiations
-North Vietnamese concessions
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Release
-US proposals
-Humanitarian gestures
-Possible failure
-Bombing
-Impact on North Vietnam
-The President’s view
-Necessity
-Other possible Presidents
-John B. Connally
-Ronald W. Reagan
-Agnew
-Compared with Lyndon B. Johnson
-US policy
-Impact on North Vietnam
-The President’s determination


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National security]
[Duration: 21s ]


VIETNAM


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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


-Protests
-Ivy League presidents
-Agnew’s forthcoming statement concerning North Vietnamese
invasion

Kissinger's call to Patrick J. Buchanan
 5

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)




The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 3:27 and 4:41
pm.

[Conversation No. 713-1A]

[See Conversation No. 23-38]

[End of telephone conversation]

Vietnam
-Kissinger’s trip to Moscow


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 49s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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


Kissinger talked with Buchanan at an unknown time between 3:27 and 4:41 pm.

[Conversation No. 713-1B]

[See Conversation No. 23-39]

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm and conferred with Kissinger.

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.

[End of telephone conversation]

Vietnam
-US policy
-Conservatives
-1972 election
 6

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Timing
-Goals before election
-Soviet summit
-Political risks
-Goals
-Avoidance of defeat
-North Vietnamese invastion
-Pre-March 29, 1972
-Negotiations
-Soviets
-Terms
-Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
-Relationship to bombing
-Johnson
-North Vietnam
-Negotiations
-PRC
-Pressure from Soviet Union
-Invasion
-American public opinion
-The President’s announcement of Kissinger’s trip
-US bombing
-Effectiveness
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Forthcoming meeting with the President
-Sequoia
-Public opinion
-Press
-Hanoi and Haiphong

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

The President's schedule
-Meeting with W. Kenneth Riland
-Meeting with Haig
-Time
-Sequoia
-Record of meeting
-Arrangements
-Rush
-Moorer
-Laird
 7

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Rush
-Moorer
-William P. Rogers
-Press coverage
-Arrangements
-Moorer
-Departure of Sequoia

Bull left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.

Kissinger's trip to Soviet Union
-Rogers
-Handling
-Purpose of trip
-Rogers's reaction
-Announcement
-Possible leaks
-Dobrynin
-Timing
-Discussions with Soviets
-Possible leaks
-Publicity
-The President’s view
-Timing
-Arrangements
-Trip to and from Camp David
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Return to US

Vietnam
-Settlement
-Possible time
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Benefits
-Announcement
-Timing
-Plenary session on Vietnam
-Secret talks
-Xuan Thuy
-Le Duc Tho
-US bombing
 8

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Impact
-Settlement
-Likelihood
-Impact of bombing
-US bombing
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Significance
-Appearance of US determination
-Soviet ships to Haiphong
-Halt
-Vladivostock
-Mining
-Kissinger’s Moscow trip
-Risks
-Thanh Hua
-Possible result
-Kissinger’s message to Dobrynin
-Targets
-Avoidance of Hanoi and Haiphong
-Thanh Hua

US-Soviet Union relations
-Individual roles
-Importance of superpowers
-PRC and Japan
-Summit
-Timing
-US and Soviet Union compared
-US policies
-Past relations
-The President’s trip to the Soviet Union
-Meeting place
-Possible results
-Kissinger’s message to Soviet leaders
-Past relations
-Meetings at Camp David, Vienna and Glassboro, New Jersey
-The President’s view
-Brezhnev’s view
-Yalta
-Importance of meeting
-The President’s view
-The President’s trip to the PRC
 9

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Future importance
-Soviet power
-Soviet foreign policy
-Brezhnev Doctrine
-The President’s last visit in 1959
-Problems
-Nikita S. Khruschev
-Captive Nations Resolution
-US policy on Eastern Europe
-Soviet reciprocity
-Non-Communist world
-The President’s visit to the Soviet Union
-Importance
-Kissinger’s view
-Impact of agreements
-The President’s PRC visit
-Contrast with Glassboro meeting between Johnson and Aleksei N. Kosygin in
1967
-Importance
-Message for Brezhnev
-Mutual respect
-Chou En-lai and Mao Tse-tung
-Security of US and Soviet Union
-Agreements
-Mutual benefits
-Importance
-Effectiveness
-The President compared with Brezhnev
-Kissinger’s dealings with Soviets
-The President
-Contrast with John F. Kennedy and Johnson
-Political risks
-Vietnam
-Advisors’ views
-1972 election
-Public opinion
-PRC
-Agreements
-The President’s role
-Liberals
-Right-wing strength
-Vietnam
 10

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Soviets
-Arms control
-Joseph McCarthy
-George C. Wallace
-Need for Vietnam agreements
-Trade
-Most Favored Nation [MFN] status
-Likelihood of passage by Congress
-Soviet relations with North Vietnam
-Other agreements
-Credits
-The President’s talk with Andrei A. Gromyko
-Likelihood of Congressional passage
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-Options
-Submarines
-Moorer
-Concessions
-Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles [SLBMs]
-Negotiations
-Conditions
-Vietnam
-Interceptors
-SLBM
-US defense budget
-George P. Shultz

An unknown woman entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

The President's schedule
-Meeting with unknown person

The unknown woman left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

Kissinger’s schedule
-Meeting with Riland
-Arrangements
-Forthcoming speech

Bull left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.
 11

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)




US-Soviet Union relations
-SALT
-Gerard C. Smith
-Negotiating stance
-SLBM
-Concessions
-Anti-Ballistic Missiles[ABMs]
-US proposals
-Malmstrom Air Force Base
-Defense system around Washington, DC
-The President’s view
-SLBM
-Laird and Smith’s recommendation
-Agreements
-Formula of agreement
-Problems
-Laird
-Missile sites
-Washington and Grand Forks
-Construction
-Malmstrom
-ABM
-Domestic advantages
-Domestic
-Submarines
-European security
-Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction [MBFR]
-Linkage
-Desires of US allies
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
-Future
-The President’s view
-MBFR
-Conference
-Possible announcement at the Soviet summit
-Vietnam
-Importance
-Soviet understanding
-US bombing
-Continuation
-Understandings of 1968
 12

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Implementation
-US casualties
-Bombing
-Negotiations
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Soviet pressure to cease
-Possible settlement
-Impact of summit
-1972 election
-North Vietnamese perceptions of outcome
-Polls
-Negotiations
-North Vietnamese willingness
-Relation to 1972 election
-Polls
-Present period
-Importance
-US domestic politics
-North Vietnamese perceptions
-1968 election
-Johnson
-W[illiam] Averell Harriman
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-The President’s possible position in polls


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 35s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10

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


Vietnam
-The President’s handling
-Kissinger’s view
-South Vietnam
 13

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Survival
-US support
-Thieu
-Laird
-Haig’s report
-Military Region Three
-North Vietnam

US-Soviet Union relations
-Kissinger’s meeting with Soviet leaders
-Brezhnev
-Thrust of talks

Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

The President's schedule
-Meeting with Riland
-Kissinger
-Place
-Executive Office Building [EOB]
-Time
-Riland's meeting with Kissinger
-Barber
-Meeting at Camp David
-Barber
-Timing
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox
-Arrangements

Bull left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.

-Call to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Rogers

The President talked with Haldeman at an unknown time between 3:27 and 4:41 pm.

[Conversation No. 713-1C]

The President's schedule
-Meeting with Haig
-Haldeman's schedule
-Meeting with the President
 14

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Sequoia cruise
-Time

Kissinger's trip to Moscow
-Trip to Florida

[End of telephone conversation]

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

Manolo Sanchez
-Location

Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:27 pm.

Briefcase
-Lincoln Sitting Room

Refreshment

The unknown man and Bull left at an unknown time before 4:41 pm.

Kissinger's secret trip to Moscow
-Plans to maintain secrecy
-Trip to Camp David
-Disadvantages
-Haldeman's opinion
-Trip to Florida
-Press
-Itinerary
-Problems

Haldeman entered at 4:41 pm.

-The President's schedule
-Mrs. Nixon's schedule
-Camp David
-Problems
-Compared with Florida
-Press coverage
-Arrangements
-314 House
 15

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Telephone calls
-Coleman Hicks
-Secretary
-Florida
-Problems
-Telephone calls
-Haldeman and Ronald L. Ziegler
-Camp David
-Advantages
-Security
-Kissinger's presence
-Kissinger's itinerary
-Katharine L. Graham dinner
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Kissinger's staff
-Florida
-Kissinger's presence
-Press coverage
-Investigation efforts
-Camp David
-Telephone calls
-Ziegler
-Warren
-Kissinger
-Cover trip
-Florida
-Press
-Jerrold L. Schecter
-Disadvantages
-Telephone calls
-Press
-Compared to telephone calls received at
Camp David
-Shultz and Connally
-Presence
-Ziegler's opinion
-Florida
-Camp David
-Advantages
-Air strike
-Publicity
-Secrecy of trip
 16

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-The President’s view
-Ziegler's handling of questions
-Camp David
-Itinerary
-American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE]
-Explanation
-Staff meetings
-Kissinger, Ehrlichman and Haldeman
-Helmut Sonnenfeldt
-Peter W. Rodman

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 4:41 pm.

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 4:58 pm.

Kissinger's secret trip to Moscow
-Camp David trip
-Scheduling
-Kissinger's return trip
-Meetings in Moscow
-Forthcoming message
-Visit to Camp David
-Return to Washington
-Press conference
-Time
-Necessity
-The President’s view
-Possible announcement by the Soviet Union
-The President's announcement
-Timing
-Troop announcement
-Press expectations
-Announcement
-Wording
-Plenary session
-Review of international situation
-Preparations for summit
-Rogers
-Soviet announcement
-Timing with primaries
-Troop announcement
-Secrecy of trip
 17

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Credibility issue
-Ehrlichman and Ziegler
-The President’s [January] 25, 1972 speech
-The President’s view
-Motives
-Press hostility
-Motives
-The President’s view
-Announcement
-Ziegler
-Warren
-The President’s view
-Handling
-Warren and Ziegler’s knowledge of secret trip
-Press officer
-Ziegler
-Haldeman’s plan
-Camp David trip
-The President’s previous plans
-Announcement
-Possible coordination with Soviets
-Timing
-Television coverage
-Time of day
-Primaries
-Timing
-Message to allies
-Press conference
-Troop announcement
-Time
-Negotiations with Soviets
-US posturing
-Plenary session

An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 4:41 pm.

Delivery to the residence

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 4:58 pm.

Kissinger’s trip to Moscow
-Announcement
 18

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



-Time of day
-The President’s view
-Plenary session
-Postponement
-Conditions
-End of North Vietnamese offensive

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:41 and 4:58
pm.

[Conversation No. 713-1D]

[See Conversation No. 23-40]

[End of telephone conversation]

Meeting with Riland
-Scheduling

Kissinger left at 4:58 pm.

Kissinger's secret trip to Moscow
-Florida trip
-Secrecy

Bull entered at an unknown time after 4:58 pm.

The President's schedule
-Meeting with Riland
-Riland's location

Bull left at an unknown time before 5:01 pm.

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:58 an 5:01
pm.

[Conversation No. 713-1E]

[See Conversation No. 23-41]

[End of telephone conversation]
 19

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 7/07)



Kissinger's secret trip to Moscow
-Maintaining secrecy
-Itinerary
-Florida trip
-Disadvantages
-Press questions
-Kissinger's location
-314 House
-Staff
-Sonnenfeldt
-Camp David
-Advantages
-Dealings with press
-Ziegler
-The President’s view
-Explanation
-The President's meeting with Kissinger, Ehrlichman and Haldeman

Haldeman left at 5:01 pm.