On October 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Fritz G. A. Kraemer, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:15 am to 11:45 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 806-009 of the White House Tapes. Topics include: The President met with Henry A. Kissinger and Fritz G.A. Kraemer; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting. Introduction [Photograph session] Intellectual interpretation of world events - Doves - Totalitarianism - Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China [PRC] Sacrifice Kraemer - Analysis of administration activities - Kissinger's effort bringing to President's attention - Background - Nicholas P. Thimmesch's article - Thimmesch's conversation with Kraemer - Baltimore Sun - Tone - Farm work in Maine - Commission in infantry - Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] - Power World affairs - Change - Intentions of Communists - Soviet Union, PRC - Nikolai A. Podgorny, Leonid I. Brezhnev, Aleksei N. Kosygin - Bureaucracy - Compared to Nikita S. Khrushchev, Josef V. Stalin - Risk - Egypt - Confrontation - PRC - Mao Tse- Tung - Kraemer's efforts in 1965 - Perception Vietnam - Technical cables - Central Office of South Vietnam [COSVN] instruction - Cease- Fire - National Liberation Front [NLF] flag display in Government of South Vietnam [GVN] areas - Viet Cong [VC] view - North Vietnam intentions - Cease- Fire - Timing of announcement and implementation - North Vietnamese actions - Twelve hours - First two days - International supervision - Timing of arrival -1972 election - Settlement - Timing - Deadline - Concessions - North Vietnamese reaction - View of the President - US strategy - US demands - North Vietnamese prisoners in South Vietnamese jails issue - Cease- Fire - North Vietnamese stance - Military situation - Bombing - Mining - Attrition - B-52s, carriers - Results - Mao's writings on retreat - November 7, 1972 deadline - US negotiating position - Prior to October 8, 1972 - Post - October 8, 1972 - US demands - Cambodia - North Vietnamese position - PRC - Laos - Commission - Souvanna Phouma - Quoted in French - US position - Critics - Demonstrators - Establishment - Journalists - Professors - Ministers - Businessmen - Supporters - Intellectual backgrounds similar to Kraemer and Kissinger - Workers - Ethnics, Farmers, Southerners - Washington, DC - Quality of settlement - War dead - Effect on US foreign policy - Thieu - Effect on US stance - Success of settlement - Time frame - Effect of failure of settlement on US foreign relations - US- North Vietnam relations - Questions of other nations - Soviet Union, PRC - Conclusions - Rio de Janeiro to Copenhagen, Hanoi to Moscow - Political compared to diplomatic options - Reasons for Vietnam War - Berlin - South Vietnam - Cuba - Psychological factors - French Foreign Legion - Discipline - Prince [Aage] of Denmark - Discipline of North Vietnamese forces - Thieu - South Vietnam's military - Kissinger's meetings with regional intelligence officers - Directives compared to execution - Example - Unknown place - Cease- Fire - Gen. Duong Van Minh - Sapper squads Kissinger's analysis - Kissinger - The President's outlook Kissinger and Kraemer - Intellectual background - Intelligence Quotient [IQ] - Character quotient - Harvard University, Yale University - Alexander M. Haig, Jr. - Promotions - Army - Support from field grade officers - David Landau quote of Kraemer on brilliance [for Kissinger: The Uses of Power] - Landau - Harvard Presentation of gifts - Cuff links - Presidential seal - Kraemer's son [Sven] Kissinger and Kraemer left at 11:45 am. Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Kraemer, Fritz G. A.; White House photographer.
- Part of White House Tapes: Sound Recordings of Meetings and Telephone Conversations of the Nixon Administration, Oval Office Sound Recordings