Conversation No. 51-1

Date:  March 23, 1971
Time:  10:35 am - 11:25 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with Clifford M. Hardin, J. Philip Campbell, Paul Affeldt, Paul Alagia, Melvin Besemer, John E. Butterbrodt, Bill Eckles, Don Gregg, W. R. Griffith, Carlyle Hansen, Marion Edwyn Harrison, Patrick J. Hillings, Wesley Johnson, John A. Moser, Harold S. Nelson, David L. Parr, Bill Powell, P. L. Robinson, Avery Vose, Frank White, Clarence D. Palmby, Richard E. Lyng, William E. Galbraith, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Donald B. Rice, Henry C. Cashen, II, and John C. Whitaker

[Transcripts of the following conversation may be found in Record Group [RG] 460, pp. 1-51; Statement of Information [SI], Book VI, Part 2, pp. 566-616 (1-51); Final Report of the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, US Senate, pp. 830-842]

[The conversation continues (for 24 seconds) after the end of the transcript]

[End of transcript]

The President, Hardin, et al. left at 11:25 am

Conversation No. 51-2

Date:  March 23, 1971
Time:  3:00 pm - 4:45 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Caspar W. (ACap@) Weinberger, George W. Romney, Carl B. Stokes, James H. J. Tate, Roman S. Gribbs, Henry W. Maier, Louie Welch, Jack D. Maltester, Sam Massell, Alfonso J. Cervantes, Lee Alexander, Moon Landrieu, John V. Lindsay, Lawrence F. Kramer, Harry G. Haskell, John W. Driggs, Richard G. Lugar, William D. Dyke, Robert J. Blackwell, Thomas J. D=Alesandro, Will H. Hays, Jr., Kevin D. White, Kenneth A. Gibson, Frank Curran, George C. Siebels, Jr., George M. Sullivan, Antonina P. Uccello, Ann H. Kilgore, Robert W. Knecht, Joseph Alioto, Peter F. Flaherty, Pat Healy, and John J. Gunther

	[General conversation/Unintelligible]

	Hays= chair
		-Father, Will Hays
			-Postmaster General (1920s)

	Revenue sharing
		-Effects of special programs on cities
		-Mayors= feedback
		-Agnew
			-Travels
		-Current meeting
			-Tate, Lugar
		-Agnew=s background
			-Charles L. Shultze
		-Weinberger
			-Budgetary considerations
		-Remarks by Tate
		-Mayors= position
			-Congress
		-Funding
		-Remarks by Stokes
		-Congress
			-Republicans
			-General program
			-John W. Byrnes and Wilbur D. Mills
				-Position
		-General versus special
			-Confusion over terms
			-Walter W. Heller
			-Definition of terms
			-Control of programs
		-Administration efforts
			-Agnew=s travels
			-Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, mayors= and governors= conferences
		-Weinberger
			-Budgetary considerations
			-California background
			-Position
		-Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
			-Jurisdiction
				-Congress
		-Federal budget
			-Congress
				-House Appropriations Committee
				-Outlay ceiling for Fiscal Year [FY] 1970
				-Debt ceiling
					-US Treasury
			-Inflation
			-Control
				-President
				-Construction
				-Dwight D. Eisenhower administration
				-Lyndon B. Johnson administration
				-Current administration
		-Urban mass transit funds
			-Congressional authorization
				-Department of Transportation budget
				-Continuing resolution
				-Amount
			-Administration position
			-Congress

	Urban renewal
		-Remarks by Alioto
		-1970 presentation by mayors to Congress
		-Finances
			-Congress
			-Department of Housing and Urban Development
			-Congress
		-1970 presentation by mayors to Congress
		-Political considerations
		-Finances
		-Needs
		-Finances
			-Staffing
				-Oakland - San Francisco

	Revenue sharing
		-Mayors= position
		-Weinberger=s previous statements
		-Uses
			-Public housing, Office of Economic Opportunity, urban renewal, water and sewer programs

	Urban renewal
		-Remarks by Weinberger
		-Finances
			-Amounts
			-Effects of revenue sharing
			-San Francisco
				-Joseph Hamilton [?]
					-Talk with Weinberger
			-Release of funds
			-Increase in outlays
				-California
			-FY 1971
				-Availability
			-Revenue sharing
				-Model Cities program
				-Public housing construction
			-Availability of funds
				-Effects
					-On mayors
					-On support for revenue sharing
					-On Alioto, D=Alesandro
				-Congressional restraints
					-Effect on federal budget
					-Romney=s appearance before Congress
						-William Proxmire
					-Dwight D. Eisenhower administration
					-Outlay ceiling
						-Executive branch
					-Proxmire=s position
					-Effects
				-FY 1972
				-Pre-FY 1972
				-Amounts

	Revenue sharing
		-Remarks by Haskell
		-Transition to special programs from categorical grants
		-Mayors= position
		-Needs
		-Congress
		-Needs
		-Management by mayors
		-John [Surname unknown]
		-Political considerations
			-President=s position
			-Democrats
			-Executive branch versus Congress
				-Mills, Byrnes
				-President=s position
		-Transition from categorical grants to special revenue sharing
			-Previous meeting between mayors and Romney
			-Funding
			-Effect on Alioto=s problems
		-Time lag in receiving funds
		-Formulas
			-Urban Community Development Program
		-Priorities vs. resources
			-Highways, Model Cities, urban renewal funds
		-Provisions of program
		-Urban redevelopment program
		-Special programs
			-Education programs
		-Congressional alternatives

	Unemployment
		-Remarks by Gribbs
		-Detroit
		-Inner city
		-Youth
		-Emergency Employment Bill
		-Manpower revenue sharing
		-Youth
			-Summer Jobs
			-Department of Labor youth training program
				-Jacob K. Javits, Edward W. Brooke, Philip A. Hart, and Clifford P. Case
		-Funds in previous year
			-Meeting with Agnew, November 1970
		-Emergency funding
		-Youth
			-Summer jobs
			-Recreation
			-Summer jobs
			-Trends
			-Programs
			-Priority
			-Private sector and local involvement

	Transportation
		-Relation to unemployment
		-Summer programs
		-Remarks by D=Alesandro
			-Work with Agnew
		-President=s program
			-Urban Mass Transit Act of 1970
		-Finances
			-Congressional authorization
				-OMB actions
				-Restraints
					-House Ways and Means Committee
		-Urban Mass Transit Act of 1970
			-Localities= requests for funds
		-Availability of funds
			-Supersonic Transport [SST] funding
			-FY 1972
			-Congressional restraints
		-1972 budgetary requests
		-Availability of funds
			-FY 1971-FY 1972

	Mayors
		-Remarks by Lindsay
		-Meeting with Russell B. Long and Carl B. Albert
		-US Conference of Mayors
			-Tate=s appointment of legislative action committee, December 1970, in Atlanta
				-Purpose
				-Meeting with Congressmen
				-Travel
					-Washington
					-New Jersey
				-Purpose
					-Compared with Kerner Commission
		-Revenue sharing
			-Need
				-City employee cuts
				-Legislative action committee
				-Property taxes
				-New York City
		-Legislative action committee
			-Congress
			-Summer programs
			-Matching grants
			-Unemployment and underemployment
			-Direct funding
			-Public service employment
				-Need
			-Meetings with Congressmen
				-Results
				-Byrnes, Mills
					-Results
			-Support for President=s programs
		-Congress= responsibility
		-Prospects
		-Need

	Administration=s position on issues
		-Weinberger
		-Romney
		-President=s knowledge of budgetary matters
		-Lindsay=s presentation
		-Federal versus local
		-Overall policy
			-Vietnam War
			-Economy
				-FY 1972 budget
					-Deficit spending
					-Congressmen=s view
					-President=s view
					-Full employment
				-Monetary policy
				-Urban employment
				-Prospects for future
				-Stock market
					-American Stock Exchange
				-Employment prospects
			-Political considerations
				-Heller
		-General versus special revenue sharing
			-Tate, Lugar
			-Effects
		-Importance of cities
		-Needs for cities
		-Importance of local control

	Mayors
		-President=s previous meeting
		-Turnover
			-Reason
		-Problems of localities
			-Compared with President=s problems
			-Financial
			-Administration concern

	Presidential gifts
		-Cufflinks
		-Bows
		-Bureau of the Budget

	[General conversation/Unintelligible]

The President, et al. left at 4:45 pm

Conversation No. 51-3

Date:  Unknown between March 23 and March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 4:45 pm, March 23, and 10:12 am, March 25, 1971
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown people met

	Preparation for an upcoming meeting
		-Placement of a chair
		-Movement of an unknown object

The unknown people left at an unknown time before 10:12 am, March 25, 1971

Conversation No. 51-4

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  10:12 am - 11:15 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, John B. Connally, General George A. Lincoln, John N. Mitchell, George H. W. Bush, Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, Lieutenant General Robert E. Cushman, Philip J. Farley, U. Alexis Johnson, Samuel DePalma, Marshall Green, Henry A. Kissinger, John H. Holdridge, W. Marshall Wright, and Colonel Richard T. Kennedy

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration:  31m 9s  ]

	TAIWAN

	PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA [PRC]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

[To listen to the segment (34m59s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-512.]

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

The President, et al. left at 11:15 am

Conversation No. 51-5

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:15 am and 11:25 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

John B. Connally [?] met with an unknown man

	[Unintelligible]

Connally [?] and the unknown man left at an unknown time before 11:25 am

Conversation No. 51-6

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:15 am and 11:25 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown men met

	[Unintelligible]

The unknown men left at an unknown time before 11:25 am

Conversation No. 51-7

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  11:25 am - 11:30 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with John B. Connally

	Forthcoming press briefing
		-Connally=s role
		-President=s role
			-Costs, effectiveness [of reorganization plan?]

	Farm prices
		-Possible solutions
		-Importance
		-John D. Ehrlichman
		-Wilbur D. Mills
		-Connally=s forthcoming comments
			-Food stamps, welfare
				-New York City

	Forthcoming press briefing

	Supersonic Transport [SST]
		-Clinton P. Anderson
		-Margaret Chase Smith
		-Importance

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

		Europe

[To listen to the segment (46s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-512.]

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

	US public opinion
		-Military
		-Space program
		-Military research and development
		-SST
		-President=s strategy

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

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 11:25 am

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 11:30 am

		Vietnam

[To listen to the segment (15s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-512.]

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

	President=s schedule
		-Forthcoming meeting with Connally

The President and Connally left at 11:30 am

Conversation No. 51-8

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown men entered

	[Unintelligible]

The unknown men left at an unknown time before 5:00 pm

Conversation No. 51-9

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown men met

	[Unintelligible]

The unknown men left at an unknown time before 5:00 pm

Conversation No. 51-10
	
Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown people [a tour group] met

	Roosevelt Room [?]

	Cabinet Room
		-A picture
		-President=s chair

The unknown people [tour group] left at an unknown time before 5:00 pm

Conversation No. 51-11

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  Unknown between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

Unknown people [a tour group] met

	Cabinet Room
		-President=s chair
		-A button
		-Roosevelt Room
		-Cabinet Room
		-Chairs
			-Cost

The unknown people [tour group] left at an unknown time before 5:00 pm

Conversation No. 51-12

Date:  March 25, 1971
Time:  5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with Clark MacGregor, Robert H. Finch, George P. Shultz, George W. Romney, Robert J. Brown, Leonard Garment, Charles C. Diggs, Jr., Augustus F. Hawkins, William L. Clay, George W. Collins, John Conyers, Jr., Ronald V. Dellums, Walter E. Fauntroy, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren J. Mitchell, Robert N. C. Nix, Charles B. Rangel, Louis Stokes, and Shirley Chisholm; photographers were present at the beginning of the meeting
[Discontinuities appear in the original recording]

	[General conversation/Unintelligible]

	Meeting agenda

	Diggs
		-Chairmanship of Congressional Black Caucus

	Blacks= concerns
		-A position paper by the Black Caucus
		-Black Caucus
			-Approach
			-Representation, scope
			-Goals
				-Employment
				-Housing
				-Civil rights guarantees
				-Affirmative Action
				-Business and community development funds
				-Participation in decisionmaking
				-Health care
		-US involvement in Indochina
		-Purpose of meeting
		-Recommendations of the Black Caucus
			-Employment
				-Federal job programs
					-Youth unemployment
					-Types of jobs
			-Poverty
				-Office of Economic Opportunity programs
					-Organization, history
					-Need
			-Military
				-Remarks by Chisholm
				-Treatment of black soldiers
					-Defense Department organization
					-Justice, State, and Defense Department coordination
					-Frank Mendary
					-John [Surname unknown]
					-State and Defense Department representation
					-Melvin R. Laird
			-Civil rights
				-A previous meeting with Laird
					-Assistant Secretary Roger T. Kelley
				-Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
				-Black judicial appointments
				-Crime Control Bill
				-No-knock policy
				-Mississippi

	Meeting with President
		-Expectations
		-Purpose

	Blacks= concerns
		-Foreign policy
			-South Africa, Mozambique, Africa
			-Portugal, France

	Meeting with President
		-Views of black community

	Blacks= concerns
		-Criminal justice system
			-Jesse L. Jackson
		-Voter registration
			-Richard Hatcher
			-Justice Department
		-Richard Henry
			-Republic of New Africa in Mississippi
				-Police harassment charges
		-Frustrations
			-Integration versus segregation
		-Drugs
			-Remarks by Rangel
			-Relation to other social problems
			-Sources of supply
				-Possible US measures
			-Methadone program
				-Results in Harlem
			-Scope of problem
			-Sources of supply
			-Impact on blacks and Puerto Ricans
			-Administration policy
				-Possible US measures
		-Housing
			-ABlack tax@
			-Recommendations
				-Release of funds for public housing
				-Implementation of relocation legislation
			-Local jurisdiction over low and moderate income housing
					-Baltimore County, Maryland, legal opinion
		-Revenue sharing
			-Remarks by Stokes
			-Black Caucus= voting record
			-Needs in black community
			-Release of appropriated funds
				-Urban renewal, water and sewer, mass transit
		-Employment
			-Emergency Public Services Employment Bill
			-Detroit and Cleveland experiences
			-Bureau of Labor Statistics figures
				-National average
				-Youth unemployment
		-Welfare nationalization and reform
			-Need
			-Possible change in administration legislation
				-Distribution formula
					-Grosse Point Woods, Michigan
					-Palm Beach, Florida
					-Wellesley, Massachusetts
					-Beverly Hills, California
					-Baltimore
					-Chicago
					-Los Angeles
					-St. Louis
		-Application of Titles VI and VII of Civil Rights Act
		-Welfare reform
			-Caucus= position paper
		-US involvement in Indochina
			-Remarks by Dellums
			-Use of funds
			-Caucus= position
			-Use of funds

	Vietnam
		-US involvement in 1961
		-US involvement in 1969
			-Clark M. Clifford=s statement
		-President=s record
			-Funds
			-Troop levels
			-Casualty level
		-An April 1971 announcement
		-President=s record
			-Vietnamization
			-Cambodian operation
		-President=s goals
			-Troop withdrawal
			-Use of funds domestically
		-President=s record

	US foreign policy
		-Africa
			-Compared with US policy in Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East
			-Importance to blacks
			-French, British, and Portuguese policies in Africa

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

[To listen to the segment (12s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-512.]

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

	Meeting with President
		-Length
		-Attendance

	Blacks= concerns
		-Caucus= position paper
			-Welfare
			-Administration attention

	Meeting with President
		-Attendance
			-Romney
			-State, Defense, and Justice Departments
			-Previous meeting with John G. Veneman
		-Caucus= position paper
		-Attendance
			-Justice Department
				-Veneman
					-Finch=s [?] acquaintance
			-Health, Education, and Welfare Department
			-Shultz
			-Donald H. Rumsfeld
		-Follow-up
			-MacGregor=s office
			-Finch=s office

	Blacks= concerns
		-Concerns regarding funds
			-President=s previous meeting with mayors
				-Carl B. Stokes
				-Caspar W. (ACap@) Weinberger
			-Shultz
			-Weinberger
			-Shultz, Weinberger=s responsibilities
		-Housing
			-Department of Housing and Urban Development policies
			-Urban distribution
			-Justice Department

	President=s schedule
		-President and Patricia R. (APat@) Nixon=s 6:15 reception

	Blacks= concerns
		-Administration contacts
			-Office of Management and Budget
			-Rumsfeld, Finch, Brown, Garment
			-Henry M. (AScoop@) Jackson
			-Brown, Garment, Finch, Rumsfeld
			-Shultz
			-MacGregor
		-Possible solutions
			-Legislation
		-Black Caucus= meeting with President
			-Purpose
			-Possible follow-up
				-Previous promises
		-Possible future meetings with officials
		-Political considerations

	President=s 1948 election

	Press briefing

	[General conversation/Unintelligible]

The President, et al. left at 6:30 pm

Conversation No. 51-13

Date:  March 26, 1971
Time:  10:02 am - unknown before 11:12 am
Location:  Cabinet Room

The President met with William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, James W. Hargrove, Rogers C. B. Morton, Clifford M. Hardin, Maurice H. Stans, James D. Hodgson, John G. Veneman, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, David M. Kennedy, George P. Shultz, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, Peter G. Peterson, Herbert G. Klein, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., William L. Safire, Paul W. McCracken, Herbert Stein, Robert J. Dole, and [Forename unknown] Brown
[Discontinuities appear in the original recording]

	Meeting agenda
		-State and Defense Departments
		-Construction costs
		-Ehrlichman
		-Previous meetings
			-Volpe, Romney
		-McCracken=s subcommittee report
		-Hodgson=s presentation
		-Discussion period

	Inflation
		-Remarks by McCracken
		-Consumer Price Index and Wholesale Price Index figures
		-Rate in recent years
		-Public opinion
		-Wage rates
			-Importance
			-Rates in recent years
			-Effect on prices
			-Bargaining agreements
				-Experience in recent years
		-Administration options
			-Status quo
				-Market action, fiscal and monetary policy
			-Change in pace of current measures
			-Intervention in economic process
		-Administration actions
				-Wage and price adjustments
					-President=s June 1970 speech
			-National Commission on Productivity
			-Purchasing Regulations Review Board
				-Caspar W. (ACap@) Weinberger
			-Crude oil price investigation
				-General George A. Lincoln
				-Executive Order
			-Steel prices
				-Bethlehem Steel
			-Suspension of Davis-Bacon Act
			-Benefits
			-Effects
			-Disadvantages
		-Administration options
			-Change in intensity of effort
				-Deregulation of transportation
				-Legislation affecting construction
				-Liberalization of import quotas
				-Change in Social Security
				-Effect
					-McCracken=s meeting with an unnamed business leader, March 25, 1971
				-Advantages and disadvantages
					-Davis-Bacon Act
			-Intervention
				-Wage and price controls
					-Trade board within Justice Department
					-Review board
					-Arthur F. Burns= December 1970 speech
					-Purpose
					-Powers
					-Advantages and disadvantages
					-Canadian experience
					-Problems
					-Wage/price board
					-Increases
		-Administration programs

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 11:12 am