817–4

Conversation No. 817-4

Date: November 30, 1972
Time: 9:17 am - 10:13 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

The President’s schedule

Second term reorganization
-James D. Hogson
-Possible foreign assignment
-Paris
-Recent meeting with Ziegler
-Hodgson’s recent meeting with the President
-Marcia (Denend) Hodgson
-Announcement
-Press relations
-Press relations

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 9:25 a.m.

-Plans
-Private life
-Leak
-Labor Department
-Geneva [European Economic Community]
[EEC]
-Washington Post story
-New York Times story
-Lack of interest

Tax reform
Press story leak
-Source
-John D. Ehrlichman
-George P. Shultz
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Possible conversation with Charles E. Walker
-Authorization
-Congressional relations
-Wilbur D. Mills
-Source
-Ziegler’s forthcoming conversations with Ehrlichman and Shultz
-Veracity
-Congressional relations
-Mills
-Source
-Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-Washington, DC

Second term reorganization
-State Department
-William P. Rogers
-John N. (“Jack”) Irwin, II
-Ambassadorship
-Rogers
-Possible retirement
-U. Alexis Johnson
-Retention
-Retirement
-Timing
-Retention
-Reassignment
-Ziegler's forthcoming announcement
-Johnson’s background
-Foreign Service Officer [FSO]
-The President’s view
-Retirement
-Shake-up
-Ziegler's forthcoming announcement
-Ziegler’s forthcoming announcement
-William J. Casey appointment [Under Secretary for Economic
Affairs]
-Review of positions
-Ambassadorships, senior positions
-Retentions
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Reassignments
-Bureaucracy
-FSOs
-Roger’s suggestion
-The President's reorganization policies
-Senior positions
-New personnel
-Young personnel
-Promotions
-Reassignment
-Young personnel
-Promotions
-The President’s policy
-Compared to the Secretary’s
-FSOs
-Opportunities
-Departures
-Need to attract able people
-Rogers
-Routine work
-Stenographers, file clerks,
escort officers for very
important person’s [VIPs]
-Senior positions
-Reassignments
-Rogers
-Other Departments
-Senior positions
-Reassignments
-FSOs
-Reassignments
-Reason
-Spokespeople for
foreign countries
-The President’s view
-The President’s travel as a
Congressman
-Appropriations
-Need for shake-up
-Compared to other agencies
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Justice Department
-Paperwork
-Ziegler’s quoting the President
-Rogers
-Retention
-Continuity in foreign policy
-The President’s Camp David statement
-Personal praise
-Continuity in foreign policy
-Negotiations
-Middle East, Far East
-European Security Conference
-Rogers’ abilities
-Far East, European Security
Conference
-Vietnam
-Far East
-Middle East, European Security
Conference
-Personal praise
-Personal praise
-Departures
-[David] Kenneth Rush, Casey
-Retentions compared to departures
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-George W. Romney
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Casey
-State Department
-State Department
-Casey
-State Department
-Importance of appointment
-State Department
-Foreign policy
-Economic affairs
-Common Market (EEC)
-Japan
-Soviet Union
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-State Department

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 9:36 am.

Second term reorganization
-Casey
-Meeting with Kissinger
-Role in State Department
-Economic affairs

Budget meeting
-Announcement
-The President’s schedule
-Meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]

Second term reorganization
Peter J. Brennan
-Public appearance
-Response
-Jacob K. Javits
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
-Statement
-Hard hats
-Hard hats
-The President’s quote
-Statement about the President at American Federation of Labor-Congress
of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO] meeting
-Defense of the President

Public relations [PR]
-Defense of the President
-Democrats
-Brennan
-John B. Connally
-Daniel (“Pat”) Moynihan
-Emotion
-Democratic Presidents compared to Republican Presidents
-Republicans
-Press relations
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Brennan
-Public appearance
-Hard hats

Second term reorganization
-John A. Volpe
-Ambassadorship to Italy
-Announcement
-Timing
-Importance of position
-Ehrlichman’s forthcoming conversation
with Volpe
-Graham A. Martin
-Director General of Foreign Service
-William B. Macomber, Jr.
-Ambassadorship
-Macomber
-Present job
-Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management

The President’s schedule
-Meeting with JCs
-Announcement

Ziegler left at 9:41 am.

Second term reorganization
-Martin
-Loyalty
-View of young personnel
-Conflicts with FSO
-Possible work with Casey
-Macomber
-Haldeman’s conversation with Casey
-Replacement
-Casey

The President’s schedule
-Meeting with Nguyen Phu Duc
 -21-
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

Vietnam negotiations
-Recent talks with North Vietnamese
-State Department leak
-Effect
-Source
-Unknown person
-Recent North Vietnamese leak
-Kissinger’s reaction
-William Beecher’s article [in New York Times]
-Defense Department
-The President’s instruction to Haldeman
-State and Defense Departments
-The President’s request for a report
-Timing
-Meeting with JCS
-Beecher
-Contact with White House
-William H. Sullivan
-National Security [NSC]
-The President’s meeting with Duc
-Changes in settlement agreement
-Kissinger’s meetings with Duc
-Paris
-The President’s meeting with Duc
-Tone
-Kissinger’s meetings with North Vietnamese
-Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
-Neutrality of Laos and Cambodia
-Timing
-Meeting with JCS
-Duration
-The President’s trip to Florida

The President's schedule
-Meeting with JCS
-Kissinger’s paper
-Meetings with JCS chairman, service secretaries
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Timing
-Melvin R. Laird’s departure
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-The President’s conversations with Elliot L. Richardson and William P.
Clements, Jr
-Laird
-Meeting with JCS
-Laird’s presence
-Clements
-Vietnam

Meeting with JCS
-Vietnam negotiations
-Debriefing of staffs
-Possible leaks
-Settlement agreement
-Kissinger’s summary
-Advocacy
-Gen. William C. Westermorland

Vietnam negotiations
-National League of Families of American Prisoners letters
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Rose Mary Woods
-Prisoners of War [POW] Wives
-Removal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Removal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Kissinger’s conversation with Agnew
-Settlement agreement
-US bombing
-Duration
-PRC
-Settlement agreement
-Resumption of US bombing
-Congressional approval
-Necessity
-The President’s meeting with Duc
-Treaty violations
-Possible public statement
-Appropriations
-Likelihood
-The President’s commitment
-North Vietnamese invasion
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Bluff
-North Vietnamese response
-Public approval
-Congressional approval
-First North Vietnamese violations
-US response
-Bombing
-Scale
-PR
-JCS meeting
-Plans for post-agreement North Vietnamese violations
-Plans for agreement collapse
-Resumption of US bombing
-Kissinger’s meeting with Duc
-South Vietnamese cables
-[Nguyen Van Thieu’s] letter to the President
-Kissinger’s meeting in Paris
-The President’s possible meeting with Thieu
-The President’s meeting with Duc
-Kissinger’s exploration
-Delay by South Vietnamese
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Saigon, Hanoi
-Timing
-Signing
-Kissinger’s trip to Hanoi
-Reasons
-Thieu
-Post-war situation
-Kissinger’s conversation with Duc
-Condition
-Changes
-Location
-Guam
-Saigon
-Guam
-Midway
-Timing
-Christmas, New Year’s Day
-Location
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Midway
-Timing
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Condition
-Kissinger’s conversation with Duc
-Timing
-Understanding
-Changes
-Thieu’s meeting with other Asian leaders
-Thailand, Philippines, South Korea
-The President’s meeting with Asian leaders
-Location
-San Clemente
-Location
-Midway
-Compared to Guam
-Symbolism
-The President’s meeting with Thieu
-The President’s meeting with Asian leaders
-Park Chung Hee
-Ferdinand Marcos
-Timing
-Post-signing
-1973 Inauguration
-January 5, 1973
-Location
-US
-San Clemente
-Symbolism

Meeting with JCS
-Timing
-Alexander Haig, Jr.

Kissinger left at 9:57 am.

Tax reform
-Press story leak
-State Department leak
-Source
 -25-
25

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Camp David
-Source
-Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-Instruction for Haldeman
-Ziegler
-Ehrlichman
-Treasury Department
-Ehrlichman
-Staff
-Leaks
-Effect on negotiations

The President’s schedule
-Helene (Colesie) Drown and Jack Drown
-The President’s conversation with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Blair House reception honoring administration officials from California
-Robert H. Finch
-Possible invitation to Blue Room
-Timing
-Pre-dinner
-The President’s trip to Camp David
-Pre-dinner cocktail party
-The President’s trip to Camp David
-Attendance
-Number
-Haldeman’s conversation with Finch
-Attire
-Black tie
-Camp David
-Transportation
-Helicopter
-Attire
-The President’s November 24, 1972 letter to Finch
-Tone
-Haldeman’s effort


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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)


-Jack Drown
-Camp David
-Meetings
-Mrs. Nixon
-Helene Drown

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Second term reorganization
-Herbert G. Klein
-Departure
-Woods
-Mrs. Nixon
-Staff
-Klein
-Departure
-Announcement
-Compared to Charles W. Colson
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Statement
-Statement
-Reassignment
-Private life
-Retention
-1973 Inauguration
-Future plans
-Announcement
-Colson

Watergate
-Gabriel Hauge’s letter to the President
-Reply
-The President’s recent conversation with Woods
-Others letters to Woods
-Tone
-Replies
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

The President's schedule
-Cocktail party
-Blue Room
-The President's attendance
-Duration

Finch
-Campaign
-Finances

Second term reorganization
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Geneva [EEC]
-[North Atlantic Treaty Organization ambassadorship]
-Timing
-International Labor Organizations [ILO]
-World Health Organization [WHO]
-Advantages of job
-Transfer
-Prestige
-Alternative
-Problem
-Changes
-Peter G. Peterson
-Job offer [The President’s Special Representative]
-Acceptance
-Deadline
-Shultz
-Kissinger
-Rumsfeld

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:57 am.

The President's schedule
-Meeting with JCS
-Location
-Cabinet Room
-Number
-Location
-Oval Office
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Timing
-The President’s telephone call

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:13 am.


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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

Republican National Committee [RNC] Chairman
-Robert J. Dole
-Washington Post story
-Source
-Photograph
-Meeting with the President
-Departure
-Meeting with Haldeman
-Replacement by George H. W. Bush
-Meeting with John Mitchell
-Meeting with Bush
-Handling
-Kansas
-Senate election
-Meeting with Bush
-United Nations [UN]
-Middle East
-John A. Scali appointment
-Panama
-Departure
-Timing
-Meeting with Mitchell
-Washington Post
Reaction to appointment
-Automobile
-Apartment
-Rent
-Dole
-Meeting with Mitchell
-Campaign financing
-European trip
 -29-
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Apr.-08)

Conversation No. 817-4 (cont’d)

-Chairmanship
-Bush
-Automobile
-Peter G. Peterson
-Bush
-Willingness
-Agreement with Dole
-Replacement
-Timing

[End withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift]
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Haldeman left at 10:13 am.