Ask the Scholar

On March 15, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:04 pm to 4:24 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 410-020 of the White House Tapes. Topics include: The President met with H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman. Amnesty - William P. Rogers - Statement - Emotional tone - Abraham Lincoln - Reasons for opposition - Conscientious objectors - Draft - Casualties - Prisoners of war [POWs] return - National pride Reconstruction of Vietnam President's visit to Pentagon - Press - Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft, Ronald L. Ziegler - Morale of Defense Department personnel - Reaction to POW return POWs - Emotional impact on country - White House cynicism - Reaction of nation - State Department - Credit for the President - Television [TV] coverage of return President's schedule - Trip to Florida - Weather - Temperature - Telephone call President's visit to the Pentagon - Morale boosting - Adm. Thomas H. Moorer - Assistant secretaries - Reflection on Cabinet officer Press relations - Rogers - Announcement of Cuba hijacking agreement - Haldeman's telephone call - Call to Rogers "Doves" - Next moves - Aid to North Vietnam - Amnesty - Connection - Abraham Lincoln's policies - Leniency for the South - Northern deserters and draft dodgers - Denial of amnesty - Aid to Vietnam - Link to amnesty - Non sequitur John B. Connally - Haldeman's telephone call - Devaluation - George P. Shultz - Trade - Interviews - Energy - John D. Ehrlichman - Saudi Arabia - Kissinger - Negotiations with Arabs - Prince Fahd - Reasonableness - Arab leaders - Status quo - Inability to negotiate with Israel - Arab options - Communist influence - Unification - Philippines - Micronesia - United Nations [UN] - Political plans United States Secret Service [USSS] - Rose Mary Woods - Meeting with Haldeman - Letter to Frederic C. Malek - William L. Duncan's service - Edward L. Morgan - Offer of position - Telephone call with Haldeman - Misunderstanding - Changes in service - Promotion chances - Conversation with Morgan - Conversation with Woods - Morgan - Resolution of problem - Photograph with President - Robert H. ("Bob") Taylor - Haldeman's attempted telephone call - Rumors - Perpetrators - Woods - Motives White House staffing - Woods - Negativity - Dwight L. Chapin - Leaks - Helen P. Thomas's newspaper story - Woods - Party - Cliques - Ehrlichman - Woods - Complaints - Reasons White House social affairs - William E. Timmons - Haldeman's attendance at event - Events for contributors - Maurice H. Stans - Dates - Guest list - Dinners - Stag dinners - Evenings at the White House - Size - Invitees - Jewish supporters - Stag dinners - Invitees - Arrangements by Haldeman - Invitations Press relations - Briefing - Kissinger - Scheduling - President's schedule - Prince Fahd - Congressional reception - Television [TV] broadcast - POWs - Impact on President's activities - Press conference - Kissinger's background briefing - Barbara Walters - TV interview - Kissinger's answer preparation - Kissinger - Return to the US White House social affairs - Evenings at the White House - Entertainment - Repetition [Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during chronological review 2007-2013] George H. W. Bush - Handling of Republican National Committee [RNC] chairmanship - Discouragement - Encouragement from President - Qualities - Fairness - Congress members - Luncheons - Candidate development - Kenneth S. Rietz - Follow up by President - Dinner invitations White House social affairs - Dinner for Leonid I. Brezhnev - Invitees - W. Clement Stone - John Mulcahy Official visits - Kissinger and Rogers - Invitation to Lee Kuan Yew - Singapore - Conversation with President - Communication satellite - Morocco [?] - Office call during US, Great Britain visit - Stag dinners - William R. Tolbert - Liberia - Thelma C. ("Pat") Nixon - Request for visit - Talk with the president - Ivory Coast - Communications satellite - Visits from African leaders - Tolbert - Invitation - President's preferences - Ivory Coast - Nigeria - Yakubu Gowon - Alexander M. Haig, Jr. Lebanon - Suleiman Franjieh - Soviet Union visit - Jordan -[Shah of Iran] Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - Invitation - State visit to US - Syria - Hafez al- Assad - Japan -[Emperor of Japan] Hirohito - Kakuei Tanaka - Timing - Thailand - King Phumiphol Adulet - Invitation - Australia - Edward Gough Whitlam - Lee Kuan Yew - Office call - Austria - Bruno Kreisky - Invitation - Hospitality - Yugoslavia - President or premier - Josip Broz Tito - Previous visits - Kreisky - Italy - Giulio Andreotti - Sinatra's appearance - Uruguay - Juan M. Bordaberry - Bolivia - Hugo Banzer Suarez - Visits from Latin America leaders - President's preferences - Uruguay, Bolivia - Paraguay - Alfredo Stroessner - Reelection - Inauguration - Attendance by US representative - Edward Giereck - Type of visit - Blair House - Peru - Juan Velazco Alvarado - Number in 1973 - Distribution - Scheduling - Golda Meir - Lee Kuan Yew - Possible dinner - Scheduling - Press conference - Scheduling - Foreign Policy Advisory Study Committee - Composition - Executive branch representatives - Kenneth E. BeLieu - Curtis W. Tarr - Helen D. Bentley - Woman representative - Public members - Robert ("Bob") Murphy - Chairman - Other members - William J. Casey - Tarr - Bentley - Background - Maritime Commission - Qualifications - Anne L. Armstrong - Law Enforcement Assistance Administration [LEAA] - Russell W. Peterson - Edwin Meese, III - Richard G. Kleindienst, Ehrlichman - Jerris Leonard - Charles W. Colson - Donald E. Santarelli - Qualifications - Problems - Candidates - Polish- American - Colson, Ehrlichman - Kleindienst - New York trial lawyer - Meese - Background - Ronald W. Reagan - District Attorney - Alameda County - Unknown Polish- American candidate - Qualifications - Background - Assistant US Attorney - Erie County -[Unintelligible name] - Background - Commission executive director - Age - Unknown Polish- American candidate - Other possible positions - Santarelli - Compared to Meese - Colson's choice - Political leaning President's schedule - South Carolina state legislature - Florida - President's statement to AFL- CIO - Visit to South Carolina state legislature - President's appreciation for support - President's statement - Harry S. Dent - Kissinger's return from People's Republic of China [PRC] and North Vietnam - Dent - South Carolina visit - Columbia Press conference - Timing - TV coverage - California - Thieu's visit Nobel Peace Prize - Draft of letter - Richard A. Moore - Rogers - President's reaction - Answer at press conference - Rogers, Moore - William L. Safire - Raymond K. Price President's schedule - Gridiron dinner - President's attendance - Advisability Awards for citizens - John Ford [?] - Location - President's appearance - Cabinet officer - East Room - Anne L. Armstrong - POWs [?] - Citation reading - Reception President's schedule - Frank E. Fitzsimmons - Ehrlichman - Invitation to dinner - Bonds for Israel - Marine Corps Band - Spiro T. Agnew - Visit to South Carolina state legislature - President's appreciation for support on Vietnam - Resolution - President's statement - Length Congress Rodgers [?] - Improving skills POWs - Impact - Wives - Support for President - Signs - Impact - Arrival at Clark Air Force Base - Plans - Public relations [PR] - President's press conference - POW leader - Church service - Impact on women President's schedule - Statement preparation - Trip to Florida - Weather - Compared with California trips - Walker Key Press relations - President's isolation - Nicholas P. Thimmesch - Vietnam settlement - President's position - December 1972 bombing - Strain of December - Meetings - Second- Term reorganization - Reports from Paris - Kissinger's negotiations - December 1972 bombing - Difficult decision Haldeman left at 4:24 pm. Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob").