Ask the Scholar
Page 12 of 33
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
Mr. Kissinger/Senator Mathias
5:35 p.m., May 19, 1971
- 3 -
K:
(cont'd) I see this as a man who has worked on NATO problems
before I was in government and will continue to work on it after. I
have never spoken this strongly to you on anything. Everyone who
called me said you were determined.
M:
I offered to you to withdraw.
K:
If you offered it, it certainly never penetrated in a way I
understood.
M:
When you didn't take it up, I assumed it was all right to use
my own discretion and do the best I could with it.
K:
That never crossed my mind.
M:
I said to Clark that I couldn't operate in an echo chamber. If
you don't tell us what you want and we are talking to ourselves, we
might as well quit talking.
K:
I thought we had somebody there reachable at all times.
M:
I got the word that the White House was nervous they didn't
know what the final vote on Mansfield was and wanted to have a vehicle
to go to at the last minute; that it would be useful for the President to
have a fallback position which would be something that would be better
than Mansfield.
K:
I don't know who authorized that.
M:
It's very widespread and widely understood here. And until
the last couple of days, the theory was the White House might at any
moment embrace the Mathias Amendment.
K:
One of us has been had.
M:
That is the impression I have been led to believe. I have been
doing the best I could for the national interest under that assumption.
I have done all I aan to get things in order. But that is spilt milk. Don't
worry about it.
K:
It's a tragedy. I have met with the President daily and I never
heard him say anything to that effect. I am not the Congressional liaison
man, but I feel passionately that this is very, very bad.
Page data
- Page
- 12
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- f3ecdfb6ce8776c6
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 498693854
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "498693854",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "May 19-21, 1971 [1 of 2]",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854",
"collections": [
"National Security Files (Nixon Administration)",
"Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts (Telcons)"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"imageCount": 33,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "498693854",
"label": "May 19-21, 1971 [1 of 2]",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "498693854",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "May 19-21, 1971 [1 of 2]",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854",
"collections": [
"National Security Files (Nixon Administration)",
"Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts (Telcons)"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-001.jpg",
"imageCount": 33,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/498693854",
"naId": 498693854,
"levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 12,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/nixon/rn-nsf/579113/Batch0002/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05/37-natsec-kissinger_telcons-579113-10-05-012.jpg",
"mediaId": "f3ecdfb6ce8776c6",
"ocrText": "Mr. Kissinger/Senator Mathias\n5:35 p.m., May 19, 1971\n- 3 -\nK:\n(cont'd) I see this as a man who has worked on NATO problems\nbefore I was in government and will continue to work on it after. I\nhave never spoken this strongly to you on anything. Everyone who\ncalled me said you were determined.\nM:\nI offered to you to withdraw.\nK:\nIf you offered it, it certainly never penetrated in a way I\nunderstood.\nM:\nWhen you didn't take it up, I assumed it was all right to use\nmy own discretion and do the best I could with it.\nK:\nThat never crossed my mind.\nM:\nI said to Clark that I couldn't operate in an echo chamber. If\nyou don't tell us what you want and we are talking to ourselves, we\nmight as well quit talking.\nK:\nI thought we had somebody there reachable at all times.\nM:\nI got the word that the White House was nervous they didn't\nknow what the final vote on Mansfield was and wanted to have a vehicle\nto go to at the last minute; that it would be useful for the President to\nhave a fallback position which would be something that would be better\nthan Mansfield.\nK:\nI don't know who authorized that.\nM:\nIt's very widespread and widely understood here. And until\nthe last couple of days, the theory was the White House might at any\nmoment embrace the Mathias Amendment.\nK:\nOne of us has been had.\nM:\nThat is the impression I have been led to believe. I have been\ndoing the best I could for the national interest under that assumption.\nI have done all I aan to get things in order. But that is spilt milk. Don't\nworry about it.\nK:\nIt's a tragedy. I have met with the President daily and I never\nheard him say anything to that effect. I am not the Congressional liaison\nman, but I feel passionately that this is very, very bad."
}