703–6

Conversation No. 703-6

Date: April 5, 1972
Time: 4:59 pm - 6:19 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

Vietnam
-Weather
-US Air Force [USAF]
-Gen. JohnW. Vogt, Jr.
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Melvin R. Laird
-Replacement
-Possible peace offer
-Air Strikes

William P. Rogers entered at 5:00 pm.

Greetings

Vietnam
-Vogt
-USAF
-Replacement of commander
-Reluctance
-Timing
-The President’s previous conversation with Moorer
-Air commander
-Research and Development [R & D]
-Replacement
-Vogt
-Candidates
-A-3
-Vogt
-Laird
-Strategic thinking
-The President, Laird and Moorer
-Rogers’s previous conversation with an unknown person
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Agency cooperation
 16

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Robert J. Mccloskey briefing
-South Vietnamese capabilities
-News summary reports
-South Vietnamese embassies
-State Department
-Washington Special Action Group [WSAG] meeting
-William H. Sullivan
-Rogers's press conference
-Laird
-Timing
-Air strikes

John K. Andrews, Jr. entered at 5:04 pm.

-Weather
-Problems

Introductions

The President's speech on Catholic education, Arpil 6, 1972
-Andrews
-Religion


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Privacy]
[Duration: 2s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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


-Wording
-Concessions
-Statement on non-partisanship
-The President's review
-Rose Mary Woods
-Religion
 17

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)




Andrews left at 5:06 pm.


Vietnam
-Press biefings
-McCoskey
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Meetings with Kissinger, John A. Scali and Daniel
Z. Henkin
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Aggression
-Responsibility
-Compared with prior situation in Cambodia and Laos
-Laird press conference
-Air strikes
-Area above Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
-Possible escalation
-Withdrawal program
-Air strikes
-Press expectations
-Unrestricted bombing
-Compared with Laos operation
-Provocations
-Plans
-Laird
-Previous conservation with the President
-Timing
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] plans
-Laos

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 5:06 pm.

Refreshments

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 5:43 pm.

Vietnam
-Air strikes
-JCS Plans
-President’s visit to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Surface to Air Missiles [SAMs]
 18

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Limitations
-Purposes
-Provocations
-Military
-Timing
-Criticism
-PRC
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-US
-Moorer
-Previous conversation with Rogers and the President
-Cambodia and Laos
-Casualty figures
-Weather
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-USAF delays
-Criticism of USAF delays
-Coordination with PRC trip
-Strikes against aircraft
-Timing
-Compared with Israeli-Egyptian conflict
-USAF delays
-Sophisticated equipment
-Viewed by the President
-Weather
-Landings
-Concerns
-Lives at risk
-Weather
-Ceiling level
-USSR
-Complexity of aircraft
-Battle of the Bulge
-Air strikes
-Weather
-Effectiveness of US air power
-Pentagon briefing attended by Rogers
-Targets
-SAM sites
-Ineffective air power
-Rogers’s previous conversation with unknown person
-Hostile environment
 19

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Hunt 130s
-B-52s
-Expectations
-Problems
-South Vietnam
-Will to fight
-Chances of success
-Possible discouragement of Vietnamization program
-Effectiveness
-Cambodia and Laos
-Mixed reports
-Success of South Vietnamese army
-Moorer
-North Vietnamese offensive
-A Bridge
-Surprise element
-Expected targets
-DMZ
-A Shau Valley
-Hue
-Naval gunfire
-Effectiveness
-Rogers’s acknowledgment
-Increase and extension
-Range
-Targets
-Planes
-Cruisers
-Number
-Location
-USS Constellation
-Vessels
-Dispersion
-Single Integrated Operating Plan [SIOP]
-Targets
-Bridge destruction
-Dong Ha
-South Vietnam
-Morale
-Third Division
-Inaccurate reporting
-North Vietnamese offensive
 20

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Tanks
-Duration
-US-South Vietnamese successes
-Chances
-Effects on Vietnamization
-South Vietnam
-Resistance
-Success of Vietnamization
-Expectation of attacks
-Laird's statements
-Administration’s stance
-Possible questions
-Overstatement
-Possible administration explanation
-Ziegler's statements
-Public relations efforts
-Rogers’s view
-Vietnamization
-Conditions of success
-Equipment
-Air power
-North Vietnam compared to South Vietnam
-Deployment of tanks and artillery
-Previous National Security Council [NSC] meeting
-Effectiveness of North Vietnam’s artillery
-Army
-Use of artillery
-Unknown person
-US artillery compared to USSR artillery
-Anti-aircraft capacity
-SAMs
-Compared to US
-B-52s and Phantom jets
-Tanks
-Weight
-Comparisons
-Unknown person
-US-South Vietnamese power
-US air superiority
-Possible discouragement
-Problems
-Weather
 21

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Effectiveness of SAMs
-Inadequacies of conventional air power
-Mach II
-Roger’s view
-B-52s
-Inaccuracies
-SAMs
-Effectiveness
-Weather
-Attacks on SAMs
-Possible losses
-Planes and Phantom jets
-Air strikes
-Areas of effectiveness
-Roads
-Tanks
-SAMs
-Possible difficulties
-130 guns
-Public opinion
-Support for bombing
-Support for the President
-Highland areas
-Targets
-B-3 Area
-SAMs
-Intensity of attacks
-Air strips
-Location
-Possible problems
-South Vietnam
-II Corps
-Ellsworth F. Bunker's reports
-Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu
-Possible timing of attacks

USSR
-The President's trip
-Stop In Poland
-The President’s previous dinner conversation with an unknown person
-Soviets
-Possible objections
 22

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Arrangements
-State Department
-Problems

Rogers's Trip
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
-Time
-Coordination with USSR trip
-Possibility of Rogers travelling to Poland
-Iran and Baku
-Possible time of Rogers’s departure
-The President's notes to heads of governments
-Purposes of trip
-USSR trip discussions
-European suggestions
-Edward R. G. Heath
-Georges J. R. Pompidou
-Willy Brandt
-Rogers's Role
-Announcement of Rogers’s trip
-Preparation
-Timing
-Vietnam
-Copies to Rogers
-Stopovers
-Duration
-Iceland
-Stockholm conference and world conference on the human environment
-Conversation With H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Value
-Duration
-Democratic National Convention
-Public perception of foreign policy
-Compared to domestic policy
-Tone
-Rogers’s talk with an unknown person
-Speech by Rogers
-Date of conference
-NATO meeting
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-Public support on environment
-Russell E. Train
 23

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)




Haldeman entered at 5:43 pm.

-Rogers's meeting with Business Advisory Committee
-John E. Swearingen
-John D. Harper
-Charles C. Tillinghast, Jr.
-Human longevity

Environment
-Human longevity
-Cleanliness of environment and cities
-Thomas R. Shepard, Jr.
-Unknown book
-New York City in 1880s and 1890sw
-Population
-Foreign population
-Number
-Unable to speak English
-Gangs
-Crime rates
-Law and order
-Environmental conference in Sweden
-Rogers's visit
-Value
-High-level interest
-Speech
-Train
-Howard H. Baker, Jr.
-Visit with delegation
-High-level committee
-Rogers's visit
-Length
-Speech
-NATO meeting
-The President’s instructions to Rogers
-Train
-US delegation
-Size
-Responsibilities
-Division
-Length of conference
 24

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Rogers’s view
-Rogers’s speech
-US committee
-Importance
-Laurance S. Rockefeller
-Train
-Recruitment of experts
-Administration's record
-Train’s council to check with Rockefeller
-Rogers's visit
-Discussion of world pollution problems
-Possible effect
-Europe
-Tokyo
-Air
-Water
-Smog
-Compared to the US

Rogers's Trip
-Departure and return
-Coordination with USSR trip
-Departure date
-Leak to Washington Star
-Irish government
-British interest
-Possible protests
-Letter from William Whitelaw
-Timing
-John A. (“Jack”) Mulcahy
-Proposed plan

USSR trip
-Stopover in Poland
-Upcoming announcement
-State Department
-Stopover in Iran
-[Shah of Iran] Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
-Duration
-A luncheon
-Sponsorship
-Administration’s relationship with the Shah of Iran
 25

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)




The President's trip to Canada
-State events
-Number
-Compared to the PRC trip

Iran
-Ambassadorial recommendation
-Joseph S. Farland
-Confirmation

Arthur K. Watson
-Schedule
-Senate Foreign Relations Committee
-The President’s press conference of March 24, 1972
-Comment

The President's speech on Catholic education, April 6, 1972

Vietnam
-Air strikes
-Weather reports
-The President’s instructions to Kissinger
-Timing
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Logistics problems
-Thieu
-Possible withdrawal
-Weather changes

Gridiron Dinner attendance
-Rogers’s talk with [Warren E. Burger]
-The President
-Kissinger
-Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew
-Rogers
-Haldeman
-Charles G. (\"Bebe\") Rebozo
-Burger

Rogers's meeting with the President
-Ziegler's announcement
 26

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-The President’s instructions to Kissinger

Rogers left at 5:51 pm.

Vietnam
-Laird's press conference
-Rogers’s view
-Laos
-Air strikes
-Haiphong
-Kissinger’s previous conversation with Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Limits
-Compared with Lyndon B. Johnson administration
-New targets
-Haiphong
-Civilian casualties
-Number
-Resumption
-Targets
-Impact
-Rogers’s view
-Intensity
-Naval gunfire
-North Vietnamese offensive
-US countermeasures
-Bombing
-Moscow trip
-Movements of planes and vessels
-Navy and USAF
-Japan
-Mines
-Preparation


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[National Security]
[Duration: 13 ]


VIETNAM
 27

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)




END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7

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-Rogers And Laird
-Trip
-Letters to heads of governments
-Contents

USSR trip
-Rogers's trip
-Heads of governments
-Letters from the President
-Wording
-Views from the heads of governments
-Possible leaks
-Agenda
-Irish
-Message to Heath
-State Department approach
-Relations with British
-[Earl of Cromer] George R. S. Baring
-Upcoming phone call from Kissinger
-Mulcahy
-Possible problems
-Arrangements and schedule
-Kissinger’s role
-Haldeman's work
-Dwight L. Chapin
-The President's possible itinerary
-State Department suggestions
-Moscow University
-Meeting with American students
-Kiev
-Possible conversations with Jews
-The President's trip to Asia in 1950's
-Arrangements
-US Consulate in Leningrad
-Rogers’s possible visit
 28

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-US consulate in San Francisco
-Warsaw stopover
-Visibility
-Rogers's presence
-NATO meeting
-Problem
-Symbolism
-NATO meeting
-Iran stopover
-The President's stay
-Palace
-Dinner
-Iranian catering
-Shah of Iran
-Types of food
-Agnew
-Haile Selassie
-PRC
-Flight to Warsaw
-Length
-Arrival in Warsaw
-Shah of Iran
-Importance
-Departure for Warsaw
-Arrival time
-Crowds
-The President’s concern
-Flying time
-Luncheon
-Timing
-Warsaw stopover
-Arrival time
-Reception by Poles
-Length of flight across the USSR
-Teheran
-Length of stay
-Poland
-Arrival
-Reception
-Importance
-Itinerary
-Baku
 29

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Teheran
-Arrival
-Meals
-Departure
-Meals
-Shah of Iran
-Number and type
-Harold H. Saunders

Foreign policy
-Rogers's work
-PRC
-Marshal green
-Support for the President's policies
-USSR
-NATO

USSR trip
-Baku
-Iran
-Meals
-Arrival Time
-Meals
-Poland
-Departure Time

The President's schedule
-Florida trip for Kissinger
-Kissinger's return to Washington, DC
-Work
-Philadelphia
-Press plane
-Departure
-Ziegler
-Trip to Florida
-Press reports
-Decision making

Vietnam
-Media coverage
-Public interest
-Current situation
 30

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Hubert H. Humphrey’s view
-Support for South Vietnam
-Edmund S. Muskie’s view
-Reaction to invasion
*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 6m 11s ]


STEPHEN B. BULL ENTERED AT AN UNKNOWN TIME AFTER 5:51 PM.

BULL LEFT AT AN UNKNOWN TIME BEFORE 6:18 PM.

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9

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The President's speeches
-References to \"Silent Majority\"
-November 3, 1969 speech
-References to \"Silent Majority\"
-Cambodia speech
-1952 speech
-Emotional content
-Intellectuals' reaction
-Cambodia
-Kent State University
-White House reaction
-Poll
-Opposition to students
-Positions
-Busing
-Administration's opposition
-Marijuana
-Positive stance
-PRC trip
-Attacks on George Meany
-Hugh S. Sidey
-Public support for the President
 31

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)



-Conversation with Kissinger
-PRC trip

USSR trip
-Rogers
-Letters to heads of governments


Kissinger and Haldeman left and Manolo Sanchez entered at 6:18 pm.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 49s ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11

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The President and Sanchez left at 6:19 pm.