374–3

Conversation No. 374-3

Date: October 25, 1972
Time: 4:40 pm - 5:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Charles W. Colson.


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 4m 53s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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Watergate
-George S. McGovern
-Television [TV] appearance, October 25, 1972
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Effect on 1972 election
-Polls
-Albert E. Sindlinger’ s view
-Possible voting margins
-Press release
-Undecided
-Reaction to news stories
-Washington Post
-White House response
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Haldeman-Dwight L. Chapin memorandum
-Haldeman’s view
-George E. Christian rumor
-John A. Scali
-San Francisco
-Vietnam
 3

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

-The President’s view
-Kenneth W. Clawson’s view

Press relations
-Nature of relationship
-Katherine L. Graham
-Henry A. Kissinger, White House staff
-The President’s threat
-William P. Rogers
-Dedication of Washington Post building
-The New York Times and Washington Post
-White House strategy
-Richard Scaife, W. Clement Stone, John A. Mulcahy
-Influence
-Charles Percy, John Sherman Cooper, Marlow W. Cook, Robert T.
Stafford
-Graham
-Georgetown
-Influence of Washington Post
-Daniel L. Schorr, Carl Stern
-American Broadcasting Corporation [ABC]
-Chapin story news coverage
-The President's appearance before prisoners of war [POWs]
families group
-Administration strategy
-John B. Connally's advice
-Public opinion
-Watergate
-Ziegler's response
-Robert J. Dole, Clark MacGregor
-Possible libel suit
-Haldeman, Chapin
-Colson
-Possible testimony
-Neal B. Freeman
-Benjamin C. Bradlee
Policy toward the Press
-The President’s view
-Compared to the President’s handling of North Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos
-May 8, 1972 decision
 4

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

-Kissinger
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Washington Post
-Clawson’s conversation with Kissinger
-Bradlee
-Philip L. Geyelin
-Influence
-Television stations owned by Washington Post
-WTOP
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Miami
-Federal Communications Commission [FCC] action on license renewal
-The President’s view
Watergate
-Polls
-Albert E. Sindlinger

Use of radio and TV
-Administration strategy
-Haldeman
-1968 campaign
-Comparison

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:40 pm.

Colson talked with the White House operator at an unknown time after 4:40 pm.

[Conversation No. 374-3B]

[See Conversation No. 32-43A]

[End of conversation]

Washington Post, New York Times

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 5:16 pm.

Colson talked with an unknown woman at an unknown time before 5:16 pm.

[Conversation No. 374-3C]
 5

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

[See conversation No. 32-43B]

[End of conversation]

Administration strategy and the press
-Clawson
-Scali's future plans in broadcast journalism
-The President’s view
-Scali’s previous work in journalism
-State Department
-Possible effect on network news
-Dan Rather
-Possible return to California

McGovern's forthcoming speech
-Views of Haldeman, Connally
-Possible response

Vietnam
-Colson's conversation with Jay Lovestone
-Connally’s TV appearance, October 20, 1972
-War as issue
-Importance of attacking McGovern’s stance

An unknown person entered and left at an unknown time before 5:16 pm.

-Lovestone’s and George Meany's forthcoming briefing by Haig
-Coalition government issue
-Prisoners of war [POWs]

Watergate and campaign practices
-Polls
-Sindlinger’s view
-Effect on projected voting numbers
-The President's position
-Ziegler and MacGregor’s response on Watergate
-Washington Post


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 6

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

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


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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


1972 campaign
-McGovern’s vacillation on issues
-Corruption charges
-Washington Post
-McGovern's description of the President's administration
-Compared with other campaign issues
-1952 comparison
-The Louis P. Harris poll
-The economy, relations with the People's
Republic of China [PRC], Soviet Union
-Vietnam War
-Current status of negotiations
-Harris poll numbers
-“Hawks”
-Uncertainty
-Settlement
-Timing
-1972 election
-Public perceptions
-Progress
-Thieu
-McGovern’s stance
-Response by the President’s surrogates
-Amnesty, POWs, surrender
-Harris
-Kissinger briefing
-Rogers

The President talked with Kissinger at an unknown time between 4:40 and 5:16
pm.
 7

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

[Conversation No. 374-3A]

The President’s request for attendance

[End of telephone conversation]

1972 campaign
-Vietnam War and possible peace settlement
-Harris’s analysis
-Kissinger
-McGovern’s stance
-Possible attack by Rogers
-Haig’s previous conversation with Colson
-Possible attack by Melvin R. Laird
-Laird’s schedule
-Europe
-Sindlinger’s view

Kissinger entered at 5:16 pm.

-Public perception of issue according to Harris, Sindlinger
-Timing of peace settlement compared with 1972 election
-Appearance of progress
-Haig’s briefing of Meany
-Meany’s attacks on McGovern
-Kissinger’s conversation with Howard K. Smith
-McGovern
-May 8, 1972, bombing and mining of Haiphong Harbor
-Nature of cease-fire agreement
-Coalition government
-Ziegler
-Achievement of goals
-Settlement
-Timing
-1972 election
-Perception of agreement
-Kissinger’s conversation with Max Frankel
-McGovern
-Kissinger’s briefing
-Administration strategy
-Political considerations
 8

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

-Timing of briefing
-Television network coverage
-Newspaper coverage

Colson left at 5:23 pm.

Vietnam peace settlement negotiations
-Cease-fire efforts
-Possible response from North Vietnamese
-North Vietnamese statements
-Nguyen Van Thieu

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[National security]
[Duration: _____51s_____]

INTELLIGENCE

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

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-Thieu’s actions
-Timing of US response
-Compared to 1972 election

An unknown person entered and left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.

-Thieu’s future as US ally
-Dan Rather’s recent conversation with Kissinger
-Timing compared to 1972 election
-McGovern
-Administration strategy
-Kissinger’s meeting with Sir James Plimsoll
-Briefing for William McMahon
-Incentives
-Halt to US bombing
-Public perception of cease-fire agreement
-Conservatives
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
 9

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Oct-06)

-Thieu
-Frequency of meetings with Ellsworth F. Bunker
-Political skills compared with military skills
-US political implication
-Smith’s view
-Kissinger’s view
-Coalition government
-Time article
-South Vietnamese actions
-Dispatches to Britain, Australia
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-George R.S. Baring (The Earl of Cromer)
-Haig
-Negotiations
-1968
-Compared to 1972
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Administration strategy
-Timing
-January 1, 1973, November 20, 1972
-Le Duc Tho possible meeting with Kissinger in Paris
-Settlement text
-Ellsworth F. Bunker

An unknown person entered and left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.

-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Gen. William C. Westmoreland
-Haig
-North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
-Economic assistance

Kissinger left at 5:40 pm.