Conversation No. 715-1

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  11:41 am - 12:01 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield, Kim Yong-sik, Dong Jo Kim and Alexander M. Haig, Jr.; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

Greetings and introductions

Seating

Butterfield left at 11:42 am.

US-Republic of Korea [ROK] relations
-ROK concerns
-Park Chung Hee
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Communique
-Private talks
-Park Chung Hee
-The President's Moscow trip
-Subjects of discussion
-ROK
-US commitments
-Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea]
-Current attitudes
-US support for Park
-Soviet support

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[National Security]
[Duration:  24s  ]

	KOREA

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-Soviet Union
-Modernization of ROK forces
-US commitments
-Congress
-Supporters of ROK
-Opposition to US support for ROK
-William P. Rogers's conversation with Kim
Vietnam
	-ROK troops
		-Number
			-Areas of concern
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Duration
-ROK forces
-US air strikes
-Paris peace talks
-Ground action
-Allied actions
-ROK actions
-Defeat of North Vietnam
-Impact on ROK
-Soviet support
	-North Vietnam
-Stakes in war
-ROK forces

An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 11:42 am.

	Refreshments

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 12:01 pm.

					-Withdrawal of troops
						-Timing
							-The President’s trip to the Soviet Union
-US support
-Withdrawal of troops
-US consultations with ROK
-Troop withdrawal
-US retaliation
-Effectiveness
	-B-52s
-US air support
	-Helicopters
-US policy
-Kim's conversation with Rogers

United Nations [UN]
-George H. W. Bush
-Abilities
-Voting
-US position
	-PRC, Soviet Union
-Biases
-Humanitarian problems
-Talks with North Korea
	-Red Cross
	-Berlin talks
	-Status

Korea
-Modernization of ROK forces
-Standard of living
-US policies
-Support in Congress
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Demilitarized zone [DMZ]
-Impact on US attitudes
-Parallels with Korea
-The President’s message for Park
-The President's Soviet trip
-Consultations
-Compared with PRC trip
-Park’s wishes
-Koreans in US

Reception for Kim and Dong
	-Unknown people

Golf game
-Burning Tree Country Club
-Park

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:42 am.

Presidential gifts
-Golf balls

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:01 pm.

Golf game

Presidential gifts
-Golf balls
-Presentation
-Park

The President's schedule
-Foreign travel
-US election
-Trip to ROK
-1953
-View of ROK

Photographs
-Copies

President and Mrs. Park
-President and Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

US election

Car

Kim et al., left at 12:01 pm.

	Conversation No. 715-2

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  12:03 pm - 12:19 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

Vietnam
-The President's speech
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Clark MacGregor
-Advance copies
-Circulation
-John R. (“Tex”) McCrary
-Purpose
-Problems

Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 12:03 and 12:18 pm.

[Conversation no. 715-2A]

McCrary's note
-Retrieval

[End of telephone conversation]

-The President's perusal
-Content

Vietnam
-The President's speech
-Television
-Bombing halt
-W[illiam] Averell Harriman document
-Henry A. Kissinger's views
	-Public record
	-Declassification of records

An unknown person entered and left at an unknown time between 12:03pm and 12:18 pm.

-Declassification of records
-The President's speech
-Comments by McCrary
-Advance copies
-Value
-Advance copies
-Television networks
-McCrary
-Newspapers
-Kissinger briefing of writing press
-Time
-Headlines
-Withdrawal of troops
-Ziegler
-MacGregor
-Congressmen
-Distribution
-J. William Fulbright
-Value
-Phone calls
-Announcement
-Bombing
-Content
-Rhetoric
-Press release
-Summary
-Text of speech
-MacGregor and Ziegler
-Conversation with Haldeman
-Text of speech
-Release
-Rhetoric
-Congressional criticism
		-Decisions
		-History of US involvement in Vietnam
-Television coverage
-Newspaper coverage
-Highlights
-Press coverage
-Hostility
-McCrary
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston column
					-Former column on President's trip to People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Winston S. Churchill
-Reston column on Kissinger's trip
-Comments on Kissinger's role
-Chou En-lai and PRC
-Relation with the President
-Kissinger’s morale
-The President's speech
-Highlights
-Preparation
-Release to press

Stock market
-Recent changes
-Prices

The President's schedule
-Trip to Florida
-Weather
-Washington, DC
-Florida

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 18s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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White House staff
-Demonstrators
-Focus of attention
	-John K. Andrews, Jr.
	-Patrick J. Buchanan
	-Dealings
	-Meetings with the President
	-Church
	-A specific example
	-Kissinger
	-Outcome

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 12:18 pm.

The President's meeting with Herbert F. DeSimone
-Reminder

Delivery of unknown article to Executive Office Building [EOB]

Haldeman left at 12:18 pm.

The President's meeting with DeSimone
-Pictures
-Navy photographers

Butterfield left at 12:19 pm.

	Conversation No. 715-3

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  12:19 pm - 12:27 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President met with Herbert F. DeSimone and Charles W. Colson; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 10s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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DeSimone's tenure as Assistant Secretary of Transportation
-Appreciation

[Photograph session]
-Seating

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 49s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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Presidential gifts
-Cuff links

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 22s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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DeSimone and Colson left at 12:27 pm.

	Conversation No. 715-4

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  12:28 pm - 12:32 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

The President's schedule
-Signature on documents

The President talked with an unknown person [Henry A. Kissinger?] at an unknown time between 12:28 and 12:32 pm.

[Conversation no. 715-4A]

Speech draft

Meeting with the President
-Time
-The President's schedule
-The President's location
-Time

[End of telephone conversation]

	[Signing documents]

The President's schedule
-Call to Apollo XVI astronauts
	-Florida
-Meeting with George P. Shultz and Herbert Stein
-Call to astronauts
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Photograph
-Florida
-Call to National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
-Invitation to Camp David
-Invitation to White House dinner
-John W. Young
-Previous trips into space
-Rank
-Meeting with Kissinger

Butterfield left at 12:32 pm.

	Conversation No. 715-5

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  12:33 pm - 1:10 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

Soviet Union
-News reports
-Invitation from Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Source
-US release
-Andrei A. Gromyko
-Official statement
-The President's trip
-Publicity by Soviets

Vietnam
-The President's speech
-Conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Advance copies
-Clark MacGregor and Ronald L. Ziegler
-Kissinger briefing
-Publicity
-Television
-Ellsworth F. Bunker
-Message
-Report on South Vietnamese performance
-South Vietnamese government agencies
-South Vietnamese Air Force
-South Vietnamese Navy
-South Vietnamese Militia
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Current status
-South Vietnamese government
-Strength
-Popular support
-Possible Bunker briefing in Saigon
-Release of message to John A. Scali
-Publicity from Saigon
-Public Information Officer [PIO]

Haldeman entered at an unknown time after 12:33 pm.

-Press coverage
-Bunker
-Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
-Press conference
-Quotation by the President in speech
-US policies
-Public support
-Press response
-Abrams
-Press conference
-Bunker
-Press conference
-Release of message
-Diplomatic angle
-Ziegler and Scali
-The President's speech
-Advance copies
-Release
-Ziegler and MacGregor
-Ziegler's office
-Refusal
-Deletions
-Abrams
-Format
-Distribution
-Time
-Format
-Kissinger's briefing
-Contents
-Press reactions
-Advance copies
-Television vs. print media
-John R. (“Tex”) McCrary
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston
-Column on Kissinger
-Meetings with Kissinger
-Frequency
-Credibility
-Compared with Melvin R. Laird

Press
-McCrary's analysis
-Television compared to print media
-Control by Administration
-Stories
-Biases
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Ways to write stories
	-Troop withdrawals
		-Vietnamization
	-Prisoners of war [POWs]
-Kissinger’s private meetings
-Television networks
-Briefings
-Kissinger's briefing
-Length of the President's speech
-Television
-American Broadcasting Corporation [ABC]
-Basketball game
-Starting time
				-National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC], Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS

Vietnam
-The President's speech
-Briefing of congressmen
-MacGregor
-Kissinger briefing
-Kissinger briefing
-Troop withdrawals
-Attendance
-Letters to congressmen
-Text
-Advance copies
-MacGregor and Scali
-Excerpts
-Kissinger's briefing
-Press
-Television networks
-Contents
-Vietnamization
-William J. Porter
-Bombing
-Soviets
-Invitation to Kissinger
-Work on talks
-Public statement
-Gromyko
-Comments to Kissinger
	-Trip

Zosimo Monzon entered at an unknown time after 12:33 pm.

The President's suits
-Colors
-Selection for speech
-William H. Carruthers
-Tie

Monzon left at an unknown time before 12:54 pm.

Vietnam
-The President's speech
-Advance copies
	-Excerpts
-Kissinger's briefing
-The President’s January 25, 1972 speech
	-Performance
	-Press questions
-Moscow trip
-Comments
-News reports from Moscow
-Talks
-Kissinger's meeting with Brezhnev
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Failure of talks
-Soviet reactions
-May 2, 1972
-Cease-fire
-Washington Special Action Group [WSAG]
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Provincial capitals
-Possible capture
-Pleiku and Kontum
-An Loc
-North Vietnamese problems
-An Loc
-Loss
-Impact
-Significance
-Kontum
-Size
-Possible loss
	-Kissinger’s comments to newsmen
-Montagnards
-Pleiku
-Loss
-North Vietnamese capture
-US air power
-Compared with Laos
-Abrams
-Air power
-Laos operation
-Reports to Kissinger
-Tactical air [TACAIR]
-Gunships
-Air operations
-Photographs
-Kissinger's retrieval
-Staff
-Kissinger briefing

Kissinger left at 12:54 pm.

-The President's speech
-Advance copies
-Problems
-Reasons for refusal
			-Duration

Kissinger entered and Haldeman left at 12:55 pm.

Vietnam
-Photographs
-Air strikes
-Pilot
-Oil storage facilities
	-Haiphong
-Targets
-Secondary explosions
-Bomb damage
-Targets
	-Railroads
-Lyndon B. Johnson's policy
-Johnson
-Strategy
-Nature of war
	-Guerilla war
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Change of nature of war
-The President's speech
-Changes
-Speechwriters
-John K. Andrews, Jr. and Winston Lord
-Work with Kissinger
-Support for the President's changes
-Personal element
-November 3, 1969 speech
-Andrews
-Work with Kissinger
-Changes in text
-Conclusion
-Criticism
-Kissinger's briefing
-North Vietnamese offensive
-North Vietnamese offensive
-Naval attack
-North Vietnam
-Thanh Hoa
-Blockade
	-Hanoi and Haiphong
-Attack on shipping
	-Compared to attacks on Israel
	-Torpedo boats
-Naval gunfire
-Effectiveness
-Impact on North Vietnam
-Peace talks
-Soviet role
-Brezhnev
-Soviets
-Statement on contacts with US

Strategic Arms
-Submarine offer
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer's response
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]
-Hawks
-Anti-ballistic missiles [ABMs] and Sub-launched marine ballistic missiles [SLBMs]
-Gerard C. Smith
-William P. Rogers
-Treaty
-Duration
-Soviet position
-Signing ceremony
-Value
-Location

Soviet Union
-The President's trip
-State dinner
-Location
-The President's previous trip
-Nikita S. Khruschev
-Plenary sessions
-Hall of Catherine the Great
-Soviet arrangements

Vietnam
-Doves
-Bombing
-Success
-Washington Post editorial
-Responsibility
-1972 election
-South Vietnam
-Survival
-Pleiku
-Bombing
-Abrams
-Use of fire power
-Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Air base
	-Thailand
		-Kissinger’s talk with Moorer
-Cambodian and Laotian operations
-Problems
-North Vietnamese invasion
-Change of situation
-US response
-Justification
-Demilitarized zone [DMZ] violation
-The President’s speech on Laos
-Linkage

Kissinger left at 1:10 pm.

	Conversation No. 715-6

Date:  April 26, 1972
Time:  Unknown between 10:00 pm and 11:59 pm
Location:  Oval Office

The President delivered his "Address to the Nation on Vietnam."  Members of the press, Ronald L. Ziegler, the White House photographer, and television crew were present during the speech.  The recording began at an unknown time while the address was in progress.

[A transcript of the speech appears in Public Papers of the Presidents of the US, Richard M. Nixon, 1972, pp. 550-554.]

[End of speech]

Basketball
	-Wilt Chamberlain
	-Scores in a game
-Milwaukee Bucks
-Players
-Height
-Grace

	Presidential seal

Presidential gifts to television crew
-Cuff links
-Non-political nature
-Pen
-Golf balls
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew

The President left at 10:22 pm.

[General conversation]

The press and television crew left at an unknown time before 11:59 pm.