541–8

Conversation No. 541-8

Date: July 21, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:15 pm and 6:19 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and Alexander P. Butterfield.

Items for the President's signature

Schedule


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[Agency Policy
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-July 22, 1971
-The President's meetings

Butterfield left at 5:28 pm.

John B. Connally
-Reaction to Vice Presidency possibility
-Comparison to Treasury Department situation
-White House staff structure
-National Security Council [NSC], Secret Service, Domestic Council
-Haldeman’s view
-Donald W. Riegle, Jr.’s comments
-Harper's magazine article by Richard Whelan
-Connally's handling of job
-Vice Presidency
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



Vice Presidency
-Speculation in the press
-Cabinet members
-Melvin R. Laird, William P. Rogers
-Spiro T. Agnew's possible resignation
-Perceptions
-Connally’s view
-Newsweek article Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)

[An unknown person talked with the President at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 6:19
pm]

[Conversation No. 451-8A]

[End of telephone conversation]

The President's schedule
-November 9, 1971 dinner
-Agnew
-Birthday

Agnew
-Possible resignation
-Haldeman’s view
-Bryce N. Harlow’s view
-Possible job
-Level of income
-General Motors
-Public relations
-Real estate
-Leslie Townes (“Bob”) Hope, Art Linkletter

Foreign relations
-The People Republic of China [PRC] initiative
-Hamilton Fish, Sr.
-Conservatives
-Broad support for the President
-John Birch Society
-William F. Knowland
-Taiwan
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Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



The President's schedule
-Robert H. Finch
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Paul W. McCracken


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Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)
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[Duration: 1m 22s ]


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-Element of surprise in scheduling
-Baseball game
-Escort, transportation
-Press
-Trips to Florida
-Compared to Lyndon B. Johnson
-Preparations, arrangements
-Amount of prior notice
-Timing
-Compared to Camp David
-The President's trip to California
-News summary
-Perusal
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Haldeman's responsibility
-Types of news events
-John V. Lindsay's possible switch of party affiliation
-Possible press conference
-Briefing books
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Kissinger
-Possible questions on Vietnam, PRC
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Tape Subject Log
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-California trip
-Staff traveling with the President
-Kissinger
-Rose Mary Woods


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Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)
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[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 27s ]


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-Press release of meeting with Connally July 21, 1971
-Topics of conversation

The PRC initiative
-Reaction
-John Kenneth Galbraith
-John W. Gardner (?)
-Cyrus R. Vance
-Kissinger
-The President's role
-Perceptions
-Leadership
-Compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower

Schedule
-Trip to California
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 17s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3 Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)

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-Staff
-Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull
-Baseball game
-The President's signing of autographs for children
-Young boy's comment
-The President's forthcoming trip to the PRC

PRC initiative
-Public knowledge of the PRC initiative
-News coverage
-Compared to Pentagon Papers
-Compared to trout fishing

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 5:22 pm.

Charles W. Colson to join meting

Bull left at an unknown time before 5:50 pm.

White House office space

The PRC initiative
-Impact on the public
-Comparison to Pentagon Papers as topic
-PRC isolation
-Public fascination
-Revolution
-Appeal to youth
-Handling
-Colson
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)




Personnel
-William P. Rogers' conversation with Haldeman
-Frank Collins
-Robert White
-Herald-Tribune
-Work
-State Department Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)

Kissinger and Colson entered at 5:50 pm.

Kissinger's meeting with Connally
-The PRC Initiative
-Vietnam war
-Memoranda
-Senior Review Group
-Staff member's attendance
-Charles E. Walker
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Minutes of meeting

PRC initiative
-Appeal to youth
-Colson and Finch's work
-Melville Stephens
-Previous meeting with the President and John M. O'Neill
-Assignment to deal with youth
-Youth reaction to the PRC initiative
-Probable settlement of the Vietnam war
-Appeal of innovation in foreign policy
-Responsibility for coordination of effort
-Finch
-Focus on other responsibilities
-Stephens
-Appeal to students
-High school, college levels
-Youths who are not in college
-Regions
-Appeal of issue
-Haldeman's daughter (Susan Haldeman)
-Stanford University
-London
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
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-Professor Gordon Craig
-Student reaction
-Craig’s reaction
-Importance of the re-election of the President
-Henry Brandon's column in the Sunday Times of London
-Reaction
-Boldness of move, secrecy
-Leadership Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)
-John F. Kennedy
-Dean G. Acheson's view
-Cuban missile crisis
-Compared to the President's handling of Cienfuegos
-Settlement
-Robert F. Kennedy, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin's
-Italy, Turkey
-Cuba
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Delay in issuing statement in support of initiative
-Acheson’s letter to John F. Kennedy
-Effect of youth reaction
-Republicans
-Lack of reaction
-The President's meetings with Congressional leaders
-Focus on complaints about the economy
-Youth reaction
-Forthcoming election, 1972
-PRC initiative compared to the Glassboro Summit
-Aleksei N. Kosygin's visit to the the United Nations [UN]
-Nikita Khrushchev's previous visit
-The President's leadership
-Reaction
-Louis Harris
-Presidential leadership
-The President's image as the man of peace
-Strength of image
-Galbraith
-Democrats
-Focus on domestic issues
-Galbraith
-Cambodia, Laos
-Focus on Agnew
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



Youth
-Focus of effort
-The President's leadership
-The PRC initiative
-Press reaction
-PRC
-Forthcoming meetings
-Kissinger Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)
-Chou En-lai

Haldeman and Colson left at 6:13 pm.

PRC initiative
-Connally
-Reaction

The Vietnam war
-Connally's comments
-The North Vietnamese
-The PRC initiative
-Reaction
-The President's image
-Cambodia, Laos
-July 26, 1971 meeting in Paris
-Prospects
-Timing
-The President's schedule
-California
-Timing of possible announcement
-Settlement
-Alternatives
-Paris Peace talks
-Forthcoming PRC trip by Kissinger
-October 1971 action
-The PRC
-Pham Van Dong
-Transcript of previous meeting
-Trend
-The PRC initiative
-US-Soviet Union [USSR] Summit
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



Kissinger's Conversation with Dobrynin
-Visits by Cabinet members to USSR
-Maurice H. Stans
-[Forename unknown] Peterson

The President's action on the PRC

The President and Kissinger left at 6:19 pm. Conv. No. 541-8 (cont.)