846–4

Conversation No. 846-4

Date: February 1, 1973
Time: 10:35 am - 12:35 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Edward R. G. Heath.

Great Britain-Ireland relations
-President’s conversation with John M. (“Jack”) Lynch
-John F. Kennedy

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 10:35 am.

Schedule
-Photograph sessions

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

Great Britain-Ireland relations
-Lynch

Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 10:35 am.

Reporters
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Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



Reports entered at an unknown time after 10:35 am.

[Photograph session]
-[General discussion]
Heath’s schedule
-New York

Reporters and Ziegler left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

Henry A. Kissinger and Sir Burke Trend entered at 10:40 am.

Heath’s schedule
-Senate Foreign Relations Committee
-Executive Committee of Republican Governors
-Meeting with Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Northern Ireland
-Duration
-Publicity
-Great Britain-Ireland relations
-US position
-Good will
-Press Club
-Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Vietnam settlement
-Bombing
-Politics
-Allies
-Eisaku Sato
-Meeting with President
-Kakuei Tanaka
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-John Kennedy
-Peace
-Public opinion
-Great Britain
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Canada
-Australia
-US as ally
-Vietnam
-Japan
-Europe
-Vietnam as ally
-President’s trips to the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and Soviet Union
-Moscow summit
-May 8, 1972 decision
-Mining
-Bombing
-Hue
-Possible Soviet involvement in Vietnam
-Hue
-Saigon
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Criticism of Heath
-President’s appreciation
-US reputation
-Le Duc Tho

Agenda
-Vietnam
-Commonwealth

Vietnam Settlement
-Peace agreement
-Protocols
-Kissinger’s press briefing
-Issues
-Demarcation line
-Demilitarized zone [DMZ]
-Sovereignty
-South Vietnam
-Nguyen Van Thieu
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-North Vietnam
-Cease-fire agreements
-Laos
-Cambodia
-Timing
-North Vietnam’s preferences
-South Vietnam
-DMZ
-Laos
-Ho Chi Minh trail
-Cambodia
-Sanctuaries
-Laos
-Timing
-Negotiations
-Souvanna Phouma
-Troop withdrawals from Cambodia, Laos
-DMZ
-Supervisory teams
-Enforcement
-North Vietnam
-Kissinger’s trip to Hanoi
-US Congress
-President’s recollections of Congress
-Harry S. Truman
-Marshall Plan
-Japan
-Congressional support
-Economic aid for North Vietnam
-Difficulty
-Scope
-Liberals
-Joint Economic Commission
-THO
-US forces
-Bombing
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-“Mad man” theory
-Liberal critics
-Economic aid
-Role of the Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-December 1972 bombings
-Reactions
-Compared to Australia’s & Canada’s leaders
-Support for North Vietnam
-Restraint
-Utility of PRC role
-Paris negotiations
-North Vietnamese intransigence
-Chou Erilai
-US Senate “doves”
-Withdrawal resolution
-Soviet Union’s role
-POWs
-Arms supply talks
-US public opinion
-Sino-Soviet split
-Utility for US interests


US-PRC relations
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Kissinger’s trip to Hanoi & PRC
-Cambodia
-Key Briscayne
-Effect on Soviet Union


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 12s]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



PRC, LAOS

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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-Cambodia
-Hanoi
-Norodom Sihanouk
-1954 Geneva Accords
-Lon Nol
-Press conference


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[National Security]
[Duration: 5s]

PRC, CAMBODIA

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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-PRC’s perceptions of Indochina
-Balkanization
-Respect
-South Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Sinanouk
-Negotiations
-Withdrawal of forces from Laos


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(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National Security]
[Duration: 7s]

MILITARY FORCES

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
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-Road construction
-Thailand
-Dien Bien Phu
-Compared to Soviet Union’s perceptions
-Unification
-Japan’s relations with Indochina
-President’s meeting with Sato
-Japan-Vietnam relations
-Hostility
-Asian Development Bank
-Economic and political influence
-PRC

Vietnam settlement
-International Conference
-Expectations
-International Commission of Control and Supervisors [ICCS]
-United Nations [UN] Secretary General
-Introduction of Armaments
-Cambodia, Laos settlements
-Economic reconstruction
-Acceptance
-UN Secretariat
-Soviet Union
-PRC
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Compared to 1962 agreement
-Co-Chair
-Compared to UN
-Possible North Vietnamese action
-Survival of South Vietnam
-Infiltration
-Double track approach
-Negotiations
-North Vietnam’s military and political objectives
-National Council of Concord & Reconciliation [NCCR]
-Laos, Cambodia, DMZ
-Economic aid to North Vietnam
-Weakness of North Vietnam
-Past negotiations
-Bombing
-Quang Tri
-Kissinger’s offer
-Cease-fire
-Resignation of Nguyen Van Thieu
-Tho
-Mining of Haiphong
-Political settlement
-October 1972 offer
-NCCR
-December 1972 bombing
-US demands
-North Vietnam’s response
-Congress
-Cessation of bombing
-Difficulty
-Vietnam compared to Japan
-Thieu
-Letters from the President
-Confidence
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.’s trip to South Vietnam
-December 1972 negotiations
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Melvin R. Laird
-Haig’s trips to South Vietnam
-Bombing
-Final military operations
-Thieu
-Commanders
-Romans
-Saigon
-Political disintegration
-President’s offer of meeting with Thieu


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[National Security]
[Duration: 5s]

SOUTH VIETNAM

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
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-Political opponents
-Tran Van Do
1:33:10 -France’s economic interests in Indochina



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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National Security]
[Duration: 23s]

LEE KUAN YEW
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
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-Great Britain
-Economic aid
-Commitments in Bangladesh
-Military situation
-Cease-fire
-Need for peace
-Mine field clearance
-Resupply
-Future offenses
-Economic aid
-US-Australia & US-New Zealand relations
-“Five Power Force”
-Peter Carrington
-New Zealand
-Edward Whitlam
-Australia
-Australian forces
-“Fortress Australia”
-Spread of Communism
-Indonesia
-Southeast Asia
-US presence
-Whitlam’s foreign policy
-Isolationism
-Pacifism
-Australia’s position in the Commonwealth

Indian subcontinent
-US-India relations
-Pakistan
-US role
-Bangladesh
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Economy
-India
-Bermuda Conference
-President’s conversation with Sir Alexander F. (“Alec”) Douglas-
Home
-Importance of US leadership
-PRC
-State Department
-India’s prominence
-US neutrality
-PRC
-Military equipment
-1969 contract
-Embargo
-Indira Gandhi
-Correspondence with President
-PRC-India relations
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan’s appointment
-Ambassador to India
-India
-Zulfikar Ali Butto
-Bangladesh
-Recognition of state
-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Sheik Mujibur Rahman
-Meeting with Butto
-Bangladesh
-Current situation
-Civil administration
-Future
-Disintegration
-Radicals
-West Bengal
-Compared to Vietnamese
-History
-Partitioning
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-End of colonialism
-Great Britain’s legacy
-Common law
-Common language
-Civil service
-Self-government

Post-colonial relationships
-Commonwealth
-France
-UN
-Independence of colonies
-Capabilities
-Africa
-Kenya
-Uganda
-Economic strife
-Expulsions
-Indira Gandhi
-Pierre E. Trudeau
-Holders of British passports
-Idi Amin Dada Oumec
-Jomo Kenyatta
-Julius K. Nyerere
-25,000 expellees
-Relocation to Great Britain
-Public opinion
-Magnitude
-East Africa
-Kenyatta
-Nyerere
-Indira Gandhi
-Future expellees to India
-Immigration to Great Britain and Commonwealth
-British citizenship and passport holders
-Hong Kong
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Malaysia
-Singapore
-Australia
-Canada


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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[National Security]
[Duration: 4m 8s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
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-Uganda
-Amin
-Education
-Intelligence
-Corporal
-Fulgericio Batista y Zaldivar
-Adolph Hitler
-Boxer
-Bombing of North Vietnam
-Commonwealth Conference
-Trudeau
-Election
-Conservative Party
-Amin’s published message

US-Soviet Union relations
-Optimism
-Fragility
-Mutability
-Soviet Union-PRC relations
-Economic needs
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Europe
-European Security Conference
-US skepticism
-US leadership
-Great Britain
-Brezhnev
-Kissinger’s meetings with Dobrynin

Bull left at an unknown time after 10:40 am.

President’s schedule
-Press club
-Heath

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:15 pm.

Europe
-Press conference
-Year of Europe
-Soviet Union
-Meeting with Heath
-Importance
-SALT
-European security conference

US-Soviet Union relations
-Europe
-Edward Kennedy
-Press relations
-1972 election
-Soviet Union’s & PRC’s motives
-President’s skepticism
-Liberal intellectuals
-Self-interest
-Dobrynih
-Capability
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



-Subordination
-Brezhnev
-Leadership position
-Ambitions
-World peace
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Josef V. Stalin, Winston S. Churchill
-“Spirit of Yalta”
-Soviet Union-PRC relations
-Administration’s handling of Soviet Union
-Cuba
-Jordan
-Middle East
-Vietnam settlement
-Brezhnev
-Personality
-Politburo
-Concessions
-Berlin
-PRC
-Translations
-Compared to Soviet Union
-Dolorynon
-Brezhnev
-Missiles
-Drawings
-Possible meeting
-Timing
-Europe
-PRC
-Military support from US
-Japan
-Possible nuclear treaty
-PRC

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:40 am.
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-09)
Conversation No. 846-4 (cont’d)



Heath’s schedule
-Press club

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 12:15 pm.
Sir Burke Trend
-Departure from position
-Oxford University graduate
-Background
-Unknown man

Schedule [?]

The President, Heath, Trend, and Kissinger left at 12:15 pm.