865–22

Conversation No. 865-22

Date: February 28, 1973
Time: 11:07 am-11:52 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

Kissinger meeting with Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir
-Stonewalling, leaks
-Shootdown of Libyan passenger airline
-Negotiations for interim agreement
-Agreement on general principles
-Commitments
-US military aid
-Plans
-Leverage
-Congress
-Richard M. Helms
-Israel’s Air Force
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


-Jordan, Egypt
-President’s viewpoint

International Conference on Vietnam
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-North Vietnam
-Joint Military Commission
-Viet Cong representation

Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 11:07 am.

President’s schedule
-Press conference
-Timing
-Golda Meir visit

International Conference on Vietnam
-Economic Commission
-North Vietnam’s position on Prisoners of War [POWs]
-William H. Sullivan
-Unofficial US position
-Commission, mines, US withdrawal
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Escalation
-Press coverage
-News summary
-William P. Rogers
-Silvan Fox
-North Vietnam
-South Vietnam
-US aid
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Ellsworth F. Bunker
-POWs
-North Vietnam
-Demonstrations
-Military operations
 -18-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


Cease-fire violations
-North and South Vietnam
-Number and magnitude
-Press coverage
-South Vietnam’s Air Force
-Training flights

President’s press conference

Kennedy’s 13 Mistakes by Malcolm Smith
-Suppression of Kennedy family
-Library of Congress
-Bay of Pigs
-Leaks by Chester Bowles
-State Department

President’s press conference
-Press relations
-Ziegler
-Headlines and stories
-Rogers, troop withdrawal, mining
-President’s press conference
-Delay
-Questions
-US aid
-POW impasse
-Richardson’s statement
-Jerry W. Friedheim’s statement
-Questions
-Withdrawal countdown
-POWs
-Mine removal
-Delay
-Rogers
-Proposed answers and statements
-Ziegler
-North Vietnam
-Compliance
 -19-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


-POWs
-POWs
-North Vietnam’s list
-Release
-US retaliation
-American public opinion
-Bombing
-Mining
-Bombing
-Dikes
-International Conference on Vietnam
- -Agreement deadline
-USSR and People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Thieu
-North Vietnam
-Security
-US commitment

Press relations
-Ziegler’s statement
-POWs
-North Vietnam’s compliance
-Civilian prisoners
-Cease-fire
-Mining
-Rogers

Ziegler left at 11:29 am.

Press relations
-Cease-fire
-Critics
-President’s orders to Rogers
-Withdrawal stoppage
-Ziegler’s statements
-Congress

Cease-fire negotiations
 -20-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


-North and South Vietnam
-Thieu
-Intransigence
-US response
-Toughness

John F. Kennedy
-Mistake
-Rhetoric
-Berlin
-Meeting with Nikita S. Khrushchev in Vienna
-Preparation
-Compared to President
-Llewellyn E. (“Tommy”) Thompson, Jr.
-Letter delivery
-Indonesia
-Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy
-Achmed Sukarno
-Communist victory
-Lt. Gen. T. N. J. Suharto
-Brazil
-Joao Goulart
-Cuban Missile Crisis
-USSR
-Turkey, Italy, Cuba
-Robert Kennedy, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Nerves
-Bay of Pigs
-Richard M. Bissell
-Air cover
-Landing site
-Joint Chief of Staff [JCS]
-Press reaction
-Popularity
-Henry Fairlie’s book
-Space program
-Moon landing
 -21-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


President’s popularity
-Letters
-War critics
-Crisis
-Thomas W. Braden [?]
-McGeorge Bundy
-Opportunism
-Secretary of State
-Edward M (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy
-Vice Presidency
-Lawrence F. O’Brien, Jr.
-New York Times
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston
-Value of criticism
-Free society

John F. Kennedy
-Press coverage
-Bay of Pigs
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-President’s advice
-Advisors
-Public relations
-Polls
-Johnson
-Indecisiveness
-Cuban Missile Crisis
-Settlement
-US bases
-Political effects
-Barry M. Goldwater
-1964 election
-Congressional elections
-Berlin crisis
-Compared with President’s May 8, 1972 Vietnam action
-Handling
 -22-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


-US bases in Greece, Turkey, and Italy
-Compared with President’s Cambodia speech
-Rhetoric compared with President
-Fairlie’s book
-Popularity
-Press coverage
-Hugh S. Sidey, Rowland Evans, Joseph W. Alsop, Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.

Press relations
-Pandering
-Objectivity
-Vietnam
-Mistakes
-Critics
-Siding with the enemy
-Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
-Kissinger’s attendance at Rabin’s dinner for Gold Meir
-Rogers
-Liberals
-Congress
-Democrats
-Aid to Vietnam
-Draft issue
-Aid to Vietnam

Congress
-Hugh Scott
-Richard B. Russell

Youth attitudes toward President
-Students compared with faculty


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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

Possible Presidential candidates
-Ted Kennedy
 -23-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)
Conversation No. 865-22 (cont’d)


-Poll
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Kissinger’s view
-Trip to Vietnam
-Selfishness
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-John B. Connally
-Age
-Gen. Charles A. J. M. de Gaulle
-Golda Meir
-Qualifications
-Connally
-Business deals
-Armand Hammer
-Saudi Arabia
-President’s letter of introduction

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Ziegler entered at 11:50 am.

International Conference on Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Official statement on POWs
-Rogers

Kissinger and Ziegler left at 11:52 am.
 -24-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Mar.-09)