Ask the Scholar

On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Manolo Sanchez, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:48 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 331-010 of the White House Tapes. Topics include: The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler and Manolo Sanchez. Refreshment Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:00 pm. Vietnam - Ziegler's recent press conference - William P. Rogers - Talks with the President - Melvin R. Laird - Meeting with the President - An announcement - Testimony - Rogers's testimony - Press reaction to Ziegler's statements - Negotiations with North Vietnam - January 25, 1972 proposal - Xuan Thuy - Negotiations - Ziegler's statements H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman entered at 4:00 pm. - A resolution - Condemnation of North Vietnam - Message to Soviet Union - Release of US and Soviet texts - Henry A. Kissinger's and Rogers's advice - The President's approval - Timing - Rogers's television appearance - Newspapers - Contents - US air attacks on North Vietnam - Anti- Aircraft fire - Hanoi and Haiphong - Ziegler's talk with Robert J. McCloskey - Release of texts - Timing - Richard G. Kleindienst - Confirmation hearings - Congress - A resolution - Democrats - Press conference - Ziegler's handling of questions about the President's policies - North Vietnam - Nature of US air attacks - Targeting - Hanoi, Haiphong - Antiwar Democrats - Patriotism - Charges of supporting North Vietnam - Rogers's comments - Press conference - Invasion - Responsibility - Vietcong [VC] - Enemy troop build- Up Rogers's statements - Television coverage Ziegler left at 4:10 pm. Vietnam - Congress - Republicans - Resolution to condemn North Vietnam - The President's conversation with Kissinger - Charles W. Colson and Clark Macgregor - News story - Edmund S. Muskie - Democratic support - House of Representatives - F. Edward Hebert - Democratic support for the President - Resolution against North Vietnam - MacGregor - William E. Timmons - Gerald R. Ford - Muskie resolution - Location in congress - Foreign Relations Committee - Congressional resolution - Colson - Hebert - The President - Nelson A. Rockefeller - Ronald W. Reagan - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew - Democratic resolution - Partisanship - Congressional resolution - John B. Connally - American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE], April 22, 1972 meeting - Wording - Agnew - Patrick J. Buchanan - Rogers - North Vietnamese invasion - Soviet Union - South Vietnam - Soviets - North Vietnamese invasion - Communists - Senators - South Vietnam - George P. Shultz - Statements Ziegler - State Department Kissinger - Work with Administration - Anatoliy F. Dobrynin Vietnam - Soviet summit - Congress - Senate Connally - Testimony - Possible resignation - Timing - Soviet summit - Vietnam Secretary of the Treasury - Confirmation - Acting Secretary - World economy - Confidence - Possible nominations - Connally's staff -[William P. Pannill?] - Wallace H. Johnson - The President's schedule - Trip - Texas - A dinner Connally - Possible resignation - Timing - Soviet summit - Timing - Democratic National Convention - Delays - Shultz - Summit - Tour - Democratic Nomination Vietnam - Summit The President's schedule - Trip to Florida - Dinner for retiring congressmen - Time International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] hearings - Conclusion - Schedule - Vietnam War issue - Written interrogatories - House of Representatives - Busing - Jay Lovestone - Texas ***************************************************************** [Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/15/2019. Segment cleared for release.] [Personal Returnable] [331-010- W005] [Duration: 1m 14s] 1972 election - Democratic candidates - Internal conflicts - April 16, 1972 newspaper coverage - Hubert H. Humphrey - Prospects in Pennsylvania - Massachusetts - Party problems - Vietnam War - Public sentiment - Polls ***************************************************************** Rogers's schedule - Television The President and Haldeman left at 4:48 pm. Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Sanchez, Manolo; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob").