On April 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Rose Mary Woods, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:18 am to 10:07 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 475-016 of the White House Tapes. Topics include: The President met with Henry A. Kissinger President's speech on Southeast Asia, April 7, 1971 - Reaction to staff - Donald H. Rumsfeld [Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 07/24/2019. Segment cleared for release.] [Personal Returnable] [475-016- W001] [Duration: 32s] The President talked with Rose Mary Woods at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:37 am [Conversation No. 475-016A] Charlotte Mary Butterfield - Child - Accident - Alexander P. Butterfield - Puerto Rico - Ramey Air Force Base - Flowers - James D. ("Don") Hughes [End of telephone conversation] Staff meeting Kissinger's schedule - Briefing of columnists Kissinger's possible call to Shirley Taylor - Public comments [Admiral [Thomas H. Moorer] talked with the President at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:37 am] [Conversation No. 475-16B] President's speech on Southeast Asia, April 7, 1971 - Reaction - Senate and House "doves" - Military - Marvin L. Kalb - Left wingers - Atrocity stories [End of telephone conversation] - Moorer's call to Kissinger, April 7, 1971 - Woods - Praise for the President - Kissinger's New York friends - Nelson A. Rockefeller - Comments - Rockefeller family - Kissinger's meeting with David Rockefeller - Kissinger's conversation with John D. Rockefeller, III - Wealth - N. A. Rockefeller's support for President Congress - Support for President in House and Senate - Gerald R. Ford - Carl B. Albert - Robert C. Byrd - Prisoners of War [POW] issue - Democratic Caucus report - Troop levels - POW "trade" People's Republic of China [PRC] invitation to US Ping- Pong team - Significance H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman - Location - Schedule Staff and Cabinet - Kissinger and Haldeman - John D. Ehrlichman - Pressures - Family - Ehrlichman and Haldeman - Robert H. Finch - Kissinger's conversation with Taft Schreiber - Finch - Finch - Response to speech President's speech on Southeast Asia, April 7, 1971 - Length - Conclusion - Reaction - General Alexander M. Haig, Jr. and Kissinger - President's bearing - Unknown woman friend of Kissinger - Reaction - President's bearing - Foreign policy researcher for N. A. Rockefeller - Creative aspects of speech - President's own idiom - Kissinger's evaluation - Kissinger's conversation with unknown Harvard University professor - Reaction - Kissinger at Harvard University - Cabinet and staff - Unknown Harvard University professor - Reaction - Responsibility - President as commander- In- Chief - Congress - Withdrawal from Vietnam - Consequence of early departure - Doves - Residual force in South Vietnam - Figures - US policy - Draftees in Vietnam - James L. Buckley - US Army Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr. - Birch E. Bayh, Jr.'s criticism of President - Doves reaction - Country's reaction - President's role in case - Review President's speech on Southeast Asia - Unknown Georgia Republican's call to Kissinger - Calley - Response to President's speech Vietnam - American people's desire for victory -"Right wing" point of view - Definition of a US victory - Save South Vietnam - President's speech on Southeast Asia - Impact on negotiations Press questions to Kissinger - Television commentators and commentary - Laos - Cabinet statements on combat in Vietnam - Melvin R. Laird and William P. Rogers - Inconsistency with White House statements - Number of combat troops - Reduction - Combat mission changing - Defensive - Withdrawal date - Air sortie figures - Press reaction - Reporting - Washington Post - Instructions to Kissinger - Kissinger's comments to Albert -[Distribution to members of Congress] - Questions - Air sorties - Killing of civilians - Substitution of Asians for Americans - Reporters -[Forename unknown] MacGavern [sp?] of Chicago Sun- Times - Criticism of speech - Ronald L. Ziegler - Press bias - MacGavern [sp?] - Kissinger's reply to press - Accomplishments by President in withdrawal program and in military situation in Vietnam since July 1, 1969 [The President talked with Stephen B. Bull at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:37 am] [Conversation No. 475-16C] President's call to Haldeman [End of telephone conversation] President's speech on Southeast Asia - Writing press - Commentaries - Kalb and Dan Rather - Unknown Pentagon correspondent - John W. Chancellor - Television briefing Haldeman entered at 9:37 am White House staff and Cabinet - President's frustration - Haldeman and Kissinger - Ehrlichman - John B. Connally - Support for administration's Vietnam policy - Support in future campaign - Butterfield and Bull - Opposition -[Establishment, Washington Post , news magazines, television, Congress] - Need to get tough - Charles W. Colson - President's speech on Southeast Asia - Praise for Kissinger and Haldeman's support Charts on casualties - Use in briefings - President's possible uses - Talking points Kissinger left at 9:41 am Kissinger's forthcoming memorandum - Circulation to spokesmen, Congressmen, Senators, editors President's speech on Southeast Asia - Chart used in speech - President's evaluation - Line - Lettering - Mark I. Goode - William H. Carruthers - Schedule - President's conversation with Goode - Importance of chart - Television crew - Dwight L. Chapin - Goode - Understanding problem - Connally - Evaluation - President's movements - Chart - Connally - Chart - Impact - Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] - Rather - Troop withdrawals - Timing - Figures - Use of television images - Illustration of soldier - Troop withdrawals - Chart - Picture/chart contrasted - Rogers' use - Goode, Haldeman, and Butterfield - Rogers' chart - Picture of a soldier - Camera work - Evaluation - Praise - Difficulty - White House coordination with producers - Goode - Producers' view - Haldeman's view - Goode Dinner for W. Clement Stone, April 8, 1971 - Receiving line versus mingling - Attendees - Number - Announcements - Table - President's remarks - Location - Press coverage President's speech on Southeast Asia - Poll - Telephone calls - Priority calls Meeting with Peter G. Peterson - Opening remarks for briefing Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:41 am Meeting with Peter G. Peterson - Arrangements for forthcoming briefing [domestic briefing for Administration wives, April 8, 1971] President's schedule - President's instructions to Bull - Instructions for Peterson [for forthcoming meeting of Council on International Economic Policy, April 8, 1971] Bull left at an unknown time before 10:07 am Moral support for President by staff - Reflection of country - Lack of use for weak men - Haldeman and Kissinger - Ehrlichman - White House staff - Rumsfeld - Clark MacGregor - Kissinger's attitude - Congress - Ford - Administration's spokesman - Effectiveness Haldeman's staff meeting - Kissinger - Response of staff - Evaluation - Backup - Bombing and casualty reductions - Charts - Dwight D. Eisenhower - Graphs - Use in revenue sharing speeches George P. Shultz Congress - House - Education bill - Ford Polls - President's performance - Approval rating - Figures - President's speech on Southeast Asia - Audience - Figures - Favorable/unfavorable reaction - Figures - President's Vietnam policy - Approval/disapproval ratios - Political make- Up of respondents - Gender of respondents - Approve/disapprove - Calley - Bayh - Opinion Research Corporation [ORC] poll - Calley - Instructions to Haldeman to publicize poll - George H. Gallup poll - Current standing - Figures - Calley poll - Publicity - Circulation to Congress - Ehrlichman and Robert A. Taft, Jr. Taft - MacGregor - Colson Polls - ORC poll - Figures - Gallup poll - Circulation - President's speech on Southeast Asia Haldeman's conversation with Colson Calley issue - Taft - President's conversation with Ehrlichman - Captain Aubrey M. Daniel - Possible strategy - Letter to President - Stanley R. Resor - Possible letter to Daniel - President's possible conversation with Laird - White House handling President's speech on Southeast Asia, April 7, 1971 - Connally's reaction - Press reaction - Ending - CBS analysis - American Broadcasting Company [ABC]/National Broadcasting Company [NBC] - Telephone responses - Telegrams - Compared with November 3, 1969 speech - Silent majority - Telegrams - Emotional appeal - Possible demonstrations - Peace groups - John W. Gardner - Reassurance to followers - Finch and Rumsfeld - Opponents - Delivery, presentation - Charts - Rogers' chart - Kissinger - Department of Defense - Rogers - Effects - Telephone calls - Editorial reactions -"Hawks" - President's supporters - Laos - Vietnam - Casualties - Compared with 1970 - Decline since 1969 Kissinger's conversation with Shirley Taylor Taylor family - Response to speech - Kevin Taylor - Karl ("Skipper") Taylor, Jr., and daughter - Family watching speech on television - S. Taylor's comments - Sergeant Karl Taylor - Comments about Vietnam War - Visit to White House - Kevin Taylor - Story in newspaper - Kevin Taylor - Press play - Kevin Taylor's salute - S. Taylor Haldeman left at 10:07 am. Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Woods, Rose Mary; Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.); Bull, Stephen B.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob").
- Part of White House Tapes: Sound Recordings of Meetings and Telephone Conversations of the Nixon Administration, Oval Office Sound Recordings