251–17

Conversation No. 251-17

Date: April 27, 1971
Time: 2:25 pm - 4:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

President’s schedule

President’s conversation with John B. Connally
-John A. Volpe
-Requiring seat belts
-Cost
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)



Seat belts
-Safety of life
-Popular reaction
-Accidents
-Safety council
-Labor costs
-Poor people
Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
Environment
-Pressure from Congress
-Enforcement
-Auto emissions
-Cost
-Possible effect of legislation
-American Motors Corporation, Chrysler Corporation

Volpe
-President’s conversation with Connally
-Competence

Clifford M. Hardin
-Maurice H. Stans
-Volpe
-Bryce N. Harlow
-White House
-Department of Agriculture
-John C. Whitaker
-Farm Bureau

Economic policy
-Need for one spokesman
-Council of Economic Advisers [CEA]
-Disagreement with Connally
-Paul W. McCracken
-Staff
-Connally
-McCracken and George P. Shultz
-Marina von N. Whitman
-Connally and McCracken
-Interest rates
-Haldeman’s conversation with Connally
-Washington Post interview
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Tape Subject Log
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-McCracken
-Whitman’s conversation with Ronald L. Ziegler
-Economy

President’s schedule
-School financing meeting
-Travel
-California and Florida Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Timing

[Forename unknown] Martin

John J. Sparkman

Everett M. Dirksen
-Age

Demonstrations
-Strategy
-Need for firmness
-District of Columbia police
-Unknown man

Polls
-Timing
-George C. Wallace
-California

Unemployment
-Briefing
-California
-Midwest, South, Northeast
-California
-Airplanes and defense
-Haldeman and Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Edwin Reinecke
-Task force on aerospace
-Space shuttle
-Weinberger
-Available talent
-James G. Fulton
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-Space program
-Fulton

Viet Cong flag burning
-Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut
-Instructions for Charles W. Colson
-Hardhats
-Possible strategy Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Instigating fights
-Washington, DC
-Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]
-Police
-Instructions for Colson

Tricia Nixon
-Ziegler
-Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon
-Possible tour of White House
-Television networks
-White House weddings
-Possibilities
-White House weddings
-Alice Roosevelt Longworth
-Gown
-Frances (Folsom) Cleveland
-Blue Room
-Ziegler
-Possible assignment
-Television networks
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] or National Broadcasting Company
[NBC]

Mock elections
-Timing
-Party nominating conventions
-John D. Ehrlichman
-John N. Mitchell
-Youth conference
-White House press conferences

Presidential commissions
-United Nations [UN]
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-Henry A. Kissinger
-Public opinion
-Location

Youth conference
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Advisors and youth
-Views on resolutions Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)

Polls
-Louis Harris
-Faculty
-Radicalism
-1960 elections
-Schools
-John F. Kennedy
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Elections
-Faculty
-Harris
-George H. Gallup
-Opinion Research Corporation [ORC]

Demonstrators
-Russell B. Long
-Reaction
-Protection for cabinet
-Secret Service
-State Department
-[Forename unknown] Young

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Agency Policy]
[Duration: 43s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)




Press
-Support for President

Networks
-CBS presentation of Ohio glee club
-Motivation Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Youth
-Mrs. Nixon
-Rio Grande City high school
-Chamber of Commerce
-NBC
-President’s welfare statements at governors’ meeting

Welfare reform
-Popular reaction
-Editorials
-Unemployment
-President’s statements
-Wilbur D. Mills
-Votes
-Liberals
-Conservatives
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Leonard Garment
-Liberals
-President’s conversations with senators
-Votes
-Liberals and conservatives
-Republicans
-Conservative Democrats

Demonstrators
-Youth

Ehrlichman, Edward L. Morgan, and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., entered at 3:05 pm

Automobile safety
-Procedures
-Seat belts
-Air bags
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-Department of Transportation
-Volpe
-President’s meeting with Henry E. Ford, II
-Ehrlichman’s conversation with Charles D. Baker
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Suspension of order by Department of Transportation
-President’s schedule
-Timing Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Volpe’s schedule
-Department of Transportation
-Authority
-Safety regulations
-Automobile Safety Act of 1966
-Decision-making power
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]

Automobile Safety Act
-President’s options
-Volpe
-Procedures
-Ralph Nader
-Possible reaction
-Volpe’s possible role
-Air bags
-Nader
-Wall Street Journal article
-Volpe
-Seat belts
-Regulations

Regulations
-Farmers’ union
-Votes
-Environment
-Muskie
-Air bags
-Nader
-Volpe

School desegregation cases
-Meetings with departments
-HEW and Justice Departments
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-Procedures
-Memos for Richardson and Mitchell
-Numbers
-Swann case
-Racial balance
-Departments
-Administration’s response
-Motions Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)

Haldeman left at 3:11 pm

Supreme Court
-Ruling on housing cases
-Garment and Price’s memorandum
-Neighborhood schools
-Warren E. Burger
-March 24, 1971 statement
-California statute
-Provisions
-Public housing
-Justices
-William O. Douglas
-Burger
-Harry A. Blackmun
-Hugo L. Black
-Thurgood Marshall
-Low-income housing
-Lackawanna case
-People’s elected representatives
-Cities
-Racial considerations
-State councils
-Blackjack case
-Missouri
-Quasi-public housing corporation
-Low-income housing
-Zoning
-Federal question involved
-Grants
-Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] and Justice
Department
-Lackawanna case
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-District court level
-Racial discrimination
-Possible federal involvement
-HEW and Justice Department
-Need for court finding
-Litigation
-Theory of case
-Possible federal involvement Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Civil rights

Ehrlichman’s draft housing statement
-George W. Romney and Mitchell
-Meeting
-Lackawanna and California cases
-Recent Supreme Court cases
-Guidelines for administration’s policies
-Possible HUD and Justice Department joint statement
-President’s possible statement

School desegregation cases
-Administration’s response
-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] action
-Rulings
-Reaction
-Case

Cancer
-Elmer H. Bobst
-President’s possible conversation with Bobst
-Government organization
-Possible new federal agency
-E. M. Kennedy
-Research
-National Institute of Health [NIH]
-Bureaucracy
-E. M. Kennedy
-Administration’s policy
-Search for “Los Alamos” cure for cancer, heart disease
-Undramatic solutions
-Cosmetics
-Efficiency
-Government organization
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-Director for institute
-Richardson’s conversation with Dr. Henry S. Kaplan
-Direct access to President

William L. Scott
-Ehrlichman’s memorandum to Rogers C. B. Morton
-Salem Church Dam
-Environmentalists Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Interstate highway


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 18s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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School desegregation
-President’s conversation with Richardson
-Court directives
-Administration’s policy
-Cooperation with local officials
-Richardson and Mitchell

Interest rates
-Statement by McCracken
-Connally and McCracken
-Shultz
-Ehrlichman’s meeting with Connally
-Mitchell
-Anti-trust

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 3:25 pm

President’s schedule
-General Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
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-[Forename unknown] McCord [sp?]
Butterfield left at 3:26 pm

Bobst
-Concern
-President’s possible appointment
-Candidates
-Concern Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Kaplan
-Need for communication
-Cancer panels
-Ralph Yarborough
-Appointments

Cole and Morgan left at 3:35 pm

Interest rates
-Connally’s idea
-Need for single voice
-Arthur F. Burns
-Vietnam
-William P. Rogers and Kissinger
-McCracken’s statement

School aid bill
-John C. Stennis amendment
-Prospects

Morton, William T. Pecora, and Whitaker entered at 3:36 pm

Greetings

Micronesia
-Peace Corps
-Congress
-High Commissioner
-[Unintelligible name] [William J. Randall?]
-Peace Corps
-Teachers
-Language problems
-Native teachers
-Schools
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Peace Corps
-Teacher corps
-Composition
-Value
-Possible abolition
-Director
-Joseph H. Blatchford Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Demonstrations
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Rogers
-Composition
-Micronesia

Micronesia
-Ambassador
-Edward E. Johnston
-High Commissioner of the Peace Corps
-Qualifications
-Status
-Administration
-Appropriations
-Status
-District administrators
-Districts
-”Mariana group”
-Population
-Franklin Haydn Williams
-Need to work with Interior Department
-Importance

Alaska pipeline
-Permit
-Timing
-Pecora
-Need for energy
-Government consolidation
-Politics
-Need for Alaskan oil
-Need to sell program to youth, general public
-Morton’s initiatives
-University of Southern California
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-Oil white paper
-General public
-Pecora
-Circulation
-Case for pipeline
-Timing
-Pecora
-Ashland Oil Co. Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Application
-Case for pipeline

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National Security]
[Duration: 8s ]


FOREIGN AFFAIRS


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

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-Courts
-Administration’s white paper
-Supply side
-Energy statement
-Public relations
-Consistency with energy statement
-Energy statement
-Atomic energy
-”Generation of oil”
-Breeder reactor
-Alaska
-Domestic oil
-Environmentalists
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)



Santa Barbara leases
-Number
-Funding
-Elk Hills naval reserve
-Funds
-Exploration of Alaskan oil
-Legislative prospects
-Senate Armed Services Committee Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Melvin R. Laird
-Need for action
-Consequences of inaction
-Southern California
-Los Angeles Times
-White House support
-Armed Services
-Laird
-Congress
-Interior committees
-Armed Services committees
-F. Edward Hébert
-Federal-State cooperation
-Oil production
-Environmental protection of islands

San Clemente
-President’s statement
-Land for public sale [near Camp Pendleton]
-Ehrlichman’s press conference
-Consequences
-State intentions
-Administrations intent
-Recreation
-Bill Mott
-Administration’s intent
-Public statement
-Mott
-Value of land
-National recreational area
-Laird

Gateway east and gateway west
-[Parks]
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)



-Development plans
-Budget
-Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
-Budget
-Land acquisition
-Figures
-Ferry
-Subway Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Development
-State control
-New York and New Jersey
-Florida [Everglades]
-Corps of Engineers
-Mitchell
-James L. Buckley
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Ronald W. Reagan
-California
-Unemployment
-Morton’s possible conversation with Ehrlichman
-OMB
-Administration statements
-Fort Hancock
-Floyd Bennett field
-Jamaica Bay
-Fish and wildlife
-New York Port Authority
-Subway and ferry
-[Forename unknown] Mason
-Advantages for President
-OMB
-Area near Presidio
-Nature conservationists
-[Walter J. Hickel]
-Unknown Florida developer
-[Edward Baker?]
-Controversy
-Parks
-San Clemente
-Parks
-Money problems
-Costs
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Tape Subject Log
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-Development plans
-Land
-West coast and East coast development
-Federal role
-Land acquisition
-Fort Hancock
-Development costs
-Figures Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Benefits
-Funds
-OMB
-Weinberger
-Whitaker
-Defense
-New York
-Federal park
-Land use
-San Francisco
-Benefits of plan
-J. F. Kennedy International Airport
-New York Parks Department
-Federal role
-Great Falls
-National seashores
-User fees
-Weinberger

Desalinization plant
-Contract
-California
-Orange County
-Budget
-Figures

Oil shale
-Denver, Colorado
-Program

Breeder reactor
-Location
-Southern California
-Study
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
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Oil shale
-Unknown client of President
-Debts
-Location
-Colorado, Wyoming, Utah
-Petroleum industry
-Long-term program
-Composition Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Sodium bicarbonate
-Macolite [sp?]
-Sulphur
-Geologists
-By-products
-Macolite
-Sodium minerals
-Uses
-Development
-Leasing program
-Morton
-Energy needs
-Energy policy statements
-Agreement on program
-Environmental effects
-Sulphur
-Macolite
-Coal
-Oil shale
-Aluminum oxide
-Oil
-Delay
-Huntington Hartford
-Difficulty of access to reserves
-Investment protection
-Leasing plan
-Morton’s plan
-Environmental problems
-Coyotes

Morton’s schedule
-Nashua, New Hampshire, Chamber of Commerce
-Timing
-Administration’s record
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)



-Greg Landry
-Howard Johnson motel
-President’s speech writers
-Patrick J. Buchanan and Price
-Primaries
-Florida
-William Loeb
-Possible speech in Nashua Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Foreign policy
-Vietnam
-President’s 1968 campaign
-Themes
-Conservative state
-Welfare
-Inflation
-Gateway east and gateway west
-Town forum
-Non partisan terms
-Positive tone
-Portsmouth Navy Yard
-Importance of New England
-New Hampshire
-Maine
-Vermont
-Emphasis on unity
-Racial, religious, geographic minorities
-Representation
-Massachusetts

Government reorganization
-Congress
-Department of Natural Resources
-Agriculture
-Department of Natural Resources
-Chet Holifield
-Breeder reactor

Withholding funds
-President’s meeting with Long and Wallace F. Bennett
-Budget problems
-Debt limits
-Weinberger
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-Effect on Congress
-Ambassadorships for friends
-Supersonic Transport [SST]
-Republican leadership
-Environment
-OMB
-Federal budgetary deficit
-Debt ceiling Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Spending limitations
-Weinberger
-Fiscal restraint
-Departments
-Timing
-Budget
-California
-Housing
-Romney
-Spending limitations
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Unknown man’s public relations
-Activities
-Congress
-J. William Fulbright
-Long
-Romney
-Housing
-Elford A. Cederberg
-Left-wing Democrats
-Necessity to talk to Cederberg
-Cederberg
-Possible role

Withholding funds
-Johnson
-Long
-Johnson
-OMB
-Administration’s input
-William L. Gifford
-Shultz and Weinberger
-Weinberger
-President’s possible conversation with Weinberger
 26

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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)



-Budget
-Social Security
-OMB and the CEA
-President’s instructions to Ehrlichman

Hugh Scott
-Dam
-Claim of promise to him Conv. No. 251-17 (cont.)
-Political future
-Dam
-Environment
-Whitaker, Bill Shirley, Harlow, and William E. Timmons
-President’s prior instructions
-Bureau of Reclamation report
-Whitaker’s conversation with Scott
-Consequences
-Morton

[General conversation]

The President, Ehrlichman, Morton, Pecora, and Whitaker left at 4:40 pm