Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This file contains:
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE: "Democrat Convention - First Night." 4pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/11/1972
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin RE: "Democratic Convention Coverage." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/10/1972
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE: "Democratic Convention Second Night." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/12/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin RE: "Democratic Convention - Third Session." 2pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/13/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
26146220
label
WHSF: Contested, 45-23
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
26146220
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
WHSF: Contested, 45-23
description
This file contains:
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE: "Democrat Convention - First Night." 4pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/11/1972
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin RE: "Democratic Convention Coverage." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/10/1972
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE: "Democratic Convention Second Night." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/12/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin RE: "Democratic Convention - Third Session." 2pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/13/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S. Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE: "Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)." 3pgs [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 7/14/1972
citationUrl
collections
Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection
Contested Materials Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
26146220
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
15ac603b2283db7c
ocrText
Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Contested Materials Collection
Folder List
Box Number
Folder Number
Document Date
No Date
Subject
Document Type
Document Description
45
23
7/11/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE:
"Democrat Convention - First Night." 4pgs
45
23
7/10/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin
RE: "Democratic Convention Coverage."
3pgs
45
23
7/12/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: Dwight Chapin From: Dick Moore RE:
"Democratic Convention Second Night."
3pgs
45
23
7/14/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S.
Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE:
"Democratic National Convention (Thursday
Session)." 3pgs
45
23
7/13/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: H.R. Haldeman From: Dwight L. Chapin
RE: "Democratic Convention - Third
Session." 2pgs
45
23
7/14/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S.
Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE:
"Democratic National Convention (Thursday
Session)." 3pgs
45
23
7/14/1972
Campaign
Memo
To: Clark MacGregor Through: Jeb S.
Magruder From: E.D. Failor RE:
"Democratic National Convention (Thursday
Session)." 3pgs
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Page 1 of 1
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 11, 1972
FOR:
DWIGHT CHAPIN
FROM:
DICK MOORE
SUBJECT: Democrat Convention - First Night
1. The pre-gavel warm up period is extremely important. Last
night the networks were on the air for an hour of interviews inside
the hall before the gavel fell. Even if we start on time, they will
undoubtedly be there a half hour before. We should not let these
interviews happen purely by chance, but should be certain that
our first team of hand picked people we would like to have inter-
viewed are there early and well versed in the evening's line. In
addition to delegates and political persons we should have celebrities
and any attractive spouses who are available.
2. The network showed relatively few shots of non-political
celebrities, such as Lorne Green. We should provide them with
a list and seat locations of our celebrities including famous people
other than entertainers.
3. Control of the house lights is absolutely essential. The O'Smen
speech was carried in full, including films, without cutting away
once to spectators or delegates. The speech was dull and they
would have cut away except that the house lights were out for the
full half hour. When we have a speech we want on TV, we should
always be in a position to turn the lights down.
4. The speeches from the party were totally devoid of humor,
and O'Brien is something of a undertaker to begin with. We must
plan some good cracks and laughs at the expense of the Democrats
right from the beginning.
5. The gavel has a tinney sound. We should have a solid sound of
wood on wood.
- 2 -
6. Last night a couple of delegates were interviewed sitting
down. Our people should be told to stand when they are talking
to a TV interviewer, so they can be seen.
7. We should note the songs which are carried on TV and not
repeat them ourselves. For example, "This Is My Country"
sung by the New Dimension Group.
8. The invocation was too long and the Archbishop got too
political. We should be tough on both counts.
9. The invocation and the pledge are important because they are
among the few things we are assured the camera will cover and the
nets will carry.
10. The floor microphones for delegates often didn't work or
delegates did not know how to use them. We should check out each
microphone just before the session and we should be sure that those
who will speak for a delegation know how to talk into this particular
mike.
11. Obviously delegates still don't realize that if they read a
newspaper or fall asleep they are likely to be put on camera. We
should make a renewed effort through the delegate caucuses before
the convention to educate them on this point.
12. Lest there be any doubt about it, last night proved again that
what we program for the arena audience has nothing to do with what
the millions actually see. For about an hour from 8:30 to 9:28 the nets
not only did not
(more)
carry the podium proceedings at all, but never even told us what
was going on in the hall. This full hour of prime time was
entirely improvised and subject to the whim of the networks as
to what the national audience saw. Thus it becomes increasingly
clear that we must anticipate the dull spots where networks w1ll
cut away, and try to have something favorable to us which they
can cut to. This should include interview possibilities or
other happenings outside the gall as well as in. We can also note
that in several cases the networks cut to a taped interview which
had taken place earlier, and we should provide plenty of such
opportunities during the day.
13. We should be sure to get a few minority accents among the
delegates who may have an occasion to speak from the floor. We
certainly should have at least one foreign accent doing the pledge
of allegiance, which can't be cut.
14. I trust that our podium microphones will be less visible and
obtrusive.
15. We should note that last night had a strong element of
suspense which must have kept people tuned in waiting for the roll
calls. We can expect the media to keep the suspense alive through
Wednesday even though McGovern undoubtedly has everything in full
control. In our case opening session will have no suspense, which
is all the more reason for us to keep concentration on pace and
variety so that at least we may be entertaining.
16. In closing I would emphasize again that speeches are an
archaic form of communication. Almost everything last night was
too long, and therefore, dull. We plan short speeches and
short everything, but it is plain that human nature will get
in the way unless we monitor this item constantly and ruthlessly.
= MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 10, 1972
10:00 p. m.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
H. R. HALDEMAN
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Democratic Convention Coverage
Several of us from the White House staff and the 1701 group
are monitoring the Democratic Convention here at the White House.
Our purpose is to examine as closely as we can the Democratic
Convention and to try to reach some conclusions as to how we
can better produce the Republican Convention for August.
One point which we are emphasizing is to examine in detail the
patterns of the networks in terms of how they handle their coverage.
For example, the Democrats are programming the Convention from
the podium while the networks are programming the Convention from
the points they feel should be covered. We are logging in the
coverage patterns for all three networks and comparing that against
what takes place from the podium. From this we hope to be able
to better judge what activities that we will present that the networks,
assuming they follow their pattern from this convention, put on the
air. We can, therefore, plan when we want to have people on the
floor available for interviews, when we want planes to land, etc.
The full report on the network coverage and the suggestions that we
will make regarding our convention will be to you on Tuesday, the 18th.
You may want to be aware that Timmons has called a convention review
meeting for Monday, the 17th where we will work up our final
recommendations to be passed on to you and Clark MacGregor.
Random Points:
1.
ABC programmed the Olympics against the opening of the
Democratic convention. We will try to insure tha ABC covers
the first evening activities of the Republican convention live.
This probably can be handled since our program that night will be
2
very short in length as compa to the long session
which the Democrats are facing on their opening night.
Tomorrow morning (Tuesday) we'll have the overnight
rating figures and we expect to see ABC with a very
high share of audience.
2.
We need to figure out a pattern for our key surrogates
that we want to have interviewed on television for each
convention session. We should also work up the lines
which these people are to use. We know that the networks
are going to be wanting floor interviews, as well as interviews
at hotels and it's up to us if we use our heads to determine
who goes on at what particular time.
3.
We noticed that McGovern tonight had a new hairstyle. He
looked much cleaner cut and elicked down and he looked much
better than any of us had ever noticed before. Maybe we can
slap this as a slicker TV image?
4.
We need to do a thorough analysis of the Republican convention
delegates in terms of their annual salaries, what walks of
life they come from, etc. to see what we will have in terms
of propaganda to put out. The Democrats have been very
effective in proving that they are a party of the people. We
should not give up fighting back on this some until we
examine exactly who all our delegates are and what
propaganda possibilities we might have.
5.
The Democrats have really blown it on their podium. It looks
like a corrugated steel set-up. The microphones are placed
poorly. People are walking behind the podium, etc. Our
whole podium plan should work much better. It will give us
a clean look.
6.
The Democrats have obviously picked up on our idea of dimming
the house lights in order to direct the attention to the podium.
It was done for Larry O'Brien's opening address and worked
very effectively for them. It quiets the audience and directs will the
attention where it belongs which is on the podium. We/undoubtedly
try this more than the Democrats.
7.
When the Democratic convention opened with O'Brien wheeling
the gavel, no one in the hall really knew it. We're going to open
3
it with some fanfare and enthusiasn.
8.
You may have noticed, if you watched, the young people bring
in the flags at the start of the Democratic convention. We
have a very similar thing worked out with the young aides
from each of the delegations who will bring the flags in and
we should have just as good a youth look as did the Democrats.
9.
We have the question of what we put on the front of our podium.
We think we're going to go with the United States seal rather
than with the mod-looking Republican elephant.
10.
In Senator Lawton Chiles' opening remarks he made reference
to the fact that there was no prepared script for this convention,
nor were there any rigged demonstrations, no yes men, no
friends of politicians, etc. We must be careful not to overstage
our convention. What we do is going to look slicker and
more railroaded than the Democrats, just because of the kind
of convention we're going to lave. Our extra touches should be
applied carefully, not to exemplify our convention being only
a party, a multi-million dollar fiesta.
11.
If we're lucky they'll keep letting Jerry Reuben and Hoffman
on the floor. Hoffman's calling the President a Nazi and that
we have to get out of the White House does nothing but help us.
They undoubtedly will want to get on the floor of the Republican
convention and maybe we ought to let them on the floor, then the
delegates could boo them out and we could have them removed.
12.
The Democrats had about a 15-minute musical number after
Lawton Chiles spoke. The networks went completely off the
convention, did floor interviews and never really came back
until Larry O'Brien appeared which was thirty minutes to
forty-five minutes after Chiles' speech. We've got to keep
ours much tighter. However, 'we've got to program the time
for the commercial breaks and some floor time. When we go
to long delays, that's when we've got to arrange for something
to be happening either at a hotel, at an airport or somewhere.
13.
The look of their convention is standard very much like one
of the '68 conventions. The emphasis is on the party of the people.
The delegates for the most part look very neat, attractive, are
articulate and obviously intelligent. They are not necessarily the
bums that we thought would be there.
DETERMINED TO BE AN
ADMINISTRATIVE MARKING
MEMORANDUM
By 6-4-80
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 12, 1972
MEMORANDUM FOR DWIGHT CHAPIN
FROM:
DICK MOORE
SUBJECT:
Democratic Convention Second Night
1. The second night re-emphasizes the importance of
promptness. We must do everything we can to get dele-
gatos to the hall on time, also gallery spectators. The
half empty hall gives a miserable effect, and gets the
session off to a very unimpressive start.
2. Whatever it takes to prevent people from standing and
walking behind the speaker on the podium should be done.
3. I have no firm opinion yet, but we should be giving
now thought to the look and tone of our convention. so
far the Democrats, with their 808 new delegates, have
come across as sincere people who are taking the con-
vention seriously. Despite the far out clothes and hair
styles of many of them, some of the new types are emerging
as very effective people, e.g. Yvonne Brathwaite. In
contrast, the old type conventioneer with funny hats, most
of whom wore Wallace buttons, looked kind of silly and
(pardon the expression) looked old hat. In watching the
next two sessions, let's keep in mind whether it makes
sense for us to have balloons, noise makers, hats and
the other props associated with past conventions; or do
we want to take on a more deliberative look. I am not
against an appearance of liveliness and fun, but I do
think we should be thinking about what our crowd will
look like in contrast to the new coalition.
4. The word doalition has a negative flavor, mostly
derived from the Communist "coalition" governments. The
term is getting a good deal of use in describing McGovern
supporters. Isn't this a word which we can turn against
them?
CONI
5. Shouldn't we allow more than one floor camera?
The floor interviews have been less effective because
the platform cameras make the interviewees appear to be
looking at the floor instead of into the camera.
6. The lighting and camera work on the keynote speech
was the most effective yet. Moreover, there was no
cutaway from the speaker or film. This emphasizes
again the importance of controlling the house lights.
7. I think all of us should be giving some creative
thought to the matter of floor interviews. If the
choice of a vice president is made known before opening
day, and if we have no serious platform fight brewing,
what in the heck are the network interviewers going to
ask about? So far, each network has spent more time covering
the floor than the podium, and we can assume, for instance,
that CBS will insist that a team like Mudd, Rather, Wallace and
Schorr not go to waste. We should also note that they
are attracted to celebrities, such as Marlo Thomas and
Gloria Steinem last night. I can't cover the subject in
full at the moment, but clearly we should develop some
topics on which we can encourage questions. For example,
by August 21, there may be some McGovern campaign tactics
or statements which have become controversial, and perhaps
we can get questions directed more toward the campaign
than toward the convention itself. In any event, I think
this whole subject requires special attention.
8. Will someone pursue the problem of reinforcing the
collapsible fence? Apparently a dozen demonstrators were
able to push the fence down easily and walk right through.
9. On the matter of promptness, I take it the biggest
problem was the buses. I don't know what the nature of
the problem was, but certainly this is something we should
look into. I assume there are delegation buses which leave
a hotel at a scheduled time. This means that people cannot
Icave carlier and those who miss it are in trouble. Could
we not also have a continuous shuttle service on Collins
Avenue which could be hailed by people who want to get there
earlier and could also pick up people who missed their own
scheduled bus.
1
CONFIDENTIAL
- 3 -
10. The Democrats were wise in limiting the official
podium appearance of their homosexuals to between 4 and
5 in the morning. Someone should be in charge of seeing
to it that we do the same with ours. Do you have a
candidate for this fulltime assignment?
COM MANTIAL EYES ONLY
Committee for the Re-olection of the President
DETERMINED TO BE AN
ADMINISTRATIVE MARKING
July 14, 1972
E.O. 12065, Section 6-102
ORANDUM
By
4:00 A.M.
Imprise
NARE,
Dat
6-4-80
CONFEDENTIAL /EXES ONLY
MENORANDUM FOR THE HONORIELE CLARK MacGREGOR
THROUGH
JEB S. MAGRUDER
FROM:
E. D. FAILOR
SUBJECT:
Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)
Wills for President
Thursday evening I talked at length with Patrick T.
McGahn, Jr., National Campaign Director for Mills for Presi-
done. He 10 a lawyer from Atlentic City, New Jersey. As a
Democrat, he cannot support McGovern in '72. I have approach-
ed him on setting involved publicly in Democrate for Nixon.
It's too soon for him today. He must be contacted next week
by a rather high level person.
Gary Shenfeld, Mills Chief of Communications, was,
also, involved in these discussions. He, too, is prepared to
support the President. We should follow up on him next week.
Serious consideration should be given to the appointment
of Democrats and union members to Administration posts between
now and the election. These appointments should be made keep-
ing key states in mind and with appropriate publicity.
Eagleton
While Eagleton is not well known in either the country
or the Democratic Party he is not a bad choice. His strength
10 his appeal to the urban, Roman Catholic and youth voters.
Labor has no problem with him. However, he has little appeal
to the South and he does not give geographic balance to the
ticket.
CONFIDENTIAL/EVES ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL
EYES ONLY
ONLY
-2-
McGovern's selection of Eagleton make it apparent that
this appeal will be to the young in his campaign. He will
rely strongly on young people for votes and work.
It 18 recommended that a complete research job be done
on Eagleton immediately.
Generally, delegates had little enthusiasm for this
choice. Many had strong objections for various reasons.
The Last Night
The fourth long night of the Convention found the dele-
gates tired, bored and in a unity mood. Alabama and Washing-
ton cast all their votes for McGovern's choice for Vice Pre-
sident. Ted Kennedy spoke in the cause of unity. In short,
it was a predictable night in terms of the Convention's
public face of unity.
Those in charge of the Convention grossly mismanaged the
timing. The Acceptance Speech started at 2:50 A.M./E.D.T. --
well after prime time. McGovern's introduction by Senator
Ted Kennedy was outstanding, but was seen by few television
watchers. McGovern's speech, in my opinion, was not well
delivered.
Conclusions
The most important things we should learn from this
Convention are:
1. McGovern's forces have had iron will, outstanding
discipline and a superb organization -- and they will have it
during the campaign;
2. McGovern's candidacy will be supported by millions
of dedicated volunteers;
3. McGovern will do everything to achieve unity with-
in his party;
4. McGovern will endeavor to maintain a self-righteous-
ness attitude;
5. We must immediately exploit the existing divisions
within the Democratic party;
CONFIDENTIAL
EYES ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
-3-
6. The GOP must have a colorful convention and not a
staid and unexciting one;
7. We must paint McGovern into his leftist corner and
keep him from moving to the center; and
8. We must maximize the use of free prime time at our
convention.
CONFIDENT IAL/EYES ONLY
EYES ONLY
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 13, 1972
10:00 a.m.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
H. R. HALDEMAN
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Democratic Convention
Third Session
This morning's Washington Post has a story on page 14
which says, "To TV viewer, it's been a dull show."
I think this is very true of last night in particular. The
only real highlights were McGovern going into the lobby
of the hotel and confronting the SDS types (a move that
I feel was staged and worked to McGovern's favor in order
to separate him from the radicals), the interview with
Mrs. McGovern in the box when McGovern went over the
top and the demonstration for McGovern after O'Brien
announced the numbers.
Walker and Timmons have made the point that it's a very
dull convention there on the scene. Evidently, there is very
little hooplah and spirit. If we can find the magic combination
of having our delegates radiate enthusiasm and dedication
to the President without looking staged our convention might
seem much more lively than the Democrats.
What we need are one or two lively or very controversial
things which cannot damage the President but yet can create
enough public suspense and interest to help us generate and
maintain some interest on the part of the public in our convention.
How we use the First Family during the prime time hours is
extremely important. We have watched how they cover
Mrs. McGovern, Mrs. Humphrey, Wallace and other VIPs who
have appeared at the hall and we know that we have a golden
opportunity to score a lot of points by using the girls and
Mrs. Nixon during the prime time hours. All of this is obvious.
2
I was amazed that McGovern would go on the air to be interviewed
immediately after the nomination by Ribicoff and thereby
eliminate for awhile coverage of the POW wife seconding him
on two of the major networks. It was a stupid mistake.
McGovern obviously feels that any exposure that he can get
at this point is good since he is still such an unknown quantity
and, therefore, overexposure is not a problem. They also
are struggling desperately to pull him more toward the center
through the free time vehicle they have in the convention.
Whelihan makes a constructive point that we should give
one-liners to the people who will announce the votes for
President Nixon from the various delegations. For example,
when Michigan comes up, the head of their delegation may say,
"Michigan, the State which represents where America stands
on busing, casts its 100 votes for President Richard Nixon".
We can play off of positive points which we want to emphasize
by feeding these one-liners to the various heads of the delegations.
I was intrigued with the fact that they did not have a large
demonstration at the conclusion of Ribicoff's speech and prior
to the seconding speeches. If we go with Rockefeller doing the
nomination and then have a very small demonstration, gavel
the convention back to order quickly, move on with the seconding
speeches which will probably be done from the floor if it can be
staged properly, then on to the vote, and end with the massive
demonstration at the end of the evening, it may work more in
our favor. This is something we're going to just have to debate
and come in with a plan on.
I was surprised that McGovern did not go to the hall. I do not believe
it would have been anti-climatic for him to have appeared last night
and then again tonight. It would have seemed to me that they would
have gone for the picture of him at the hall on the podium for
today's papers (assuming they could have still made most of them)
and then the picture of McGovern with the Vice Presidential nominee
for tomorrow morning's papers. They may have been banking on
use of his appearance in the lobby of the hotel. However, that does not
appear in the Washington Post.
Committee for the Re-election of the President
MEMORANDUM
July 14, 1972
4:00 A.M.
DETERMINED TO BE AN
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
ADMINISTRATIVE MARKING
E.O. 12055, Section 6-102
Date 6-4-80
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HONORABLE CLARK MacGREGOR
THROUGH
JEB S. MAGRUDER
FROM:
E. D. FAILOR
SUBJECT:
Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)
Mills for President
Thursday evening I talked at length with Patrick T.
McGahn, Jr., National Campaign Director for Mills for Presi-
dent. He is a lawyer from Atlantic City, New Jersey. As a
Democrat, he cannot support McGovern in '72. I have approach-
ed him on getting involved publicly in Democrats for Nixon.
It's too soon for him today. He must be contacted next week
by a rather high level person.
Gary Shenfeld, Mills Chief of Communications, was,
also, involved in these discussions. He, too, is prepared to
support the President. We should follow up on him next week.
Serious consideration should be given to the appointment
of Democrats and union members to Administration posts between
now and the election. These appointments should be made keep-
ing key states in mind and with appropriate publicity.
Eagleton
While Eagleton is not well known in either the country
or the Democratic Party he is not a bad choice. His strength
is his appeal to the urban, Roman Catholic and youth voters.
Labor has no problem with him. However, he has little appeal
to the South and he does not give geographic balance to the
ticket.
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
SONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
-2-
McGovern's selection of Eagleton make it apparent that
this appeal will be to the young in his campaign. He will
rely strongly on young people for votes and work.
It is recommended that a complete research job be done
on Eagleton immediately.
Generally, delegates had little enthusiasm for this
choice. Many had strong objections for various reasons.
The Last Night
The fourth long night of the Convention found the dele-
gates tired, bored and in a unity mood. Alabama and Washing-
ton cast all their votes for McGovern's choice for Vice Pre-
sident. Ted Kennedy spoke in the cause of unity. In short,
it was a predictable night in terms of the Convention's
public face of unity.
Those in charge of the Convention grossly mismanaged the
timing. The Acceptance Speech started at 2:50 A.M./E.D.T. --
well after prime time. McGovern's introduction by Senator
Ted Kennedy was outstanding, but was seen by few television
watchers. McGovern's speech, in my opinion, was not well
delivered.
Conclusions
The most important things we should learn from this
Convention are:
1. McGovern's forces have had iron will, outstanding
discipline and a superb organization -- and they will have it
during the campaign;
2. McGovern's candidacy will be supported by millions
of dedicated volunteers;
3. McGovern will do everything to achieve unity with-
in his party;
4. McGovern will endeavor to maintain a self-righteous-
ness attitude;
5. We must immediately exploit the existing divisions
within the Democratic party;
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
-3-
6. The GOP must have a colorful convention and not a
staid and unexciting one;
7. We must paint McGovern into his leftist corner and
keep him from moving to the center; and
8. We must maximize the use of free prime time at our
convention.
CONFIDENTIAL/EYESONLY
Committee for the Re-election of the President
MEMORANDUM
July 14, 1972
4:00 A.M.
CONF IDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
DETERMINED TO BE AN
ADMINISTRATIVE MARKING
E.O. 12005, Section 6-102
By Emprise
6-4-80
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HONORABLE CLARK MacGREGOR
THROUGH
JEB S. MAGRUDER
FROM:
E. D. FAILOR
SUBJECT:
Democratic National Convention (Thursday Session)
Mills for President
Thursday evening I talked at length with Patrick T.
McGahn, Jr., National Campaign Director for Mills for Presi-
dent. He is a lawyer from Atlantic City, New Jersey. As a
Democrat, he cannot support McGovern in '72. I have approach-
ed him on getting involved publicly in Democrats for Nixon.
It's too soon for him today. He must be contacted next week
by a rather high level person.
Gary Shenfeld, Mills Chief of Communications, was,
also, involved in these discussions. He, too, is prepared to
support the President. We should follow up on him next week.
Serious consideration should be given to the appointment
of Democrats and union members to Administration posts between
now and the election. These appointments should be made keep-
ing key states in mind and with appropriate publicity.
Eagleton
While Eagleton is not well known in either the country
or the Democratic Party he is not a bad choice. His strength
is his appeal to the urban, Roman Catholic and youth voters.
Labor has no problem with him. However, he has little appeal
to the South and he does not give geographic balance to the
ticket.
FIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
-2-
McGovern's selection of Eagleton make it apparent that
this appeal will be to the young in his campaign. He will
rely strongly on young people for votes and work.
It is recommended that a complete research job be done
on Eagleton immediately.
Generally, delegates had little enthusiasm for this
choice. Many had strong objections for various reasons.
The Last Night
The fourth long night of the Convention found the dele-
gates tired, bored and in a unity mood. Alabama and Washing-
ton cast all their votes for McGovern's choice for Vice Pre-
sident. Ted Kennedy spoke in the cause of unity. In short,
it was a predictable night in terms of the Convention's
public face of unity.
Those in charge of the Convention grossly mismanaged the
timing. The Acceptance Speech started at 2:50 A.M./E.D.T. --
well after prime time. McGovern's introduction by Senator
Ted Kennedy was outstanding, but was seen by few television
watchers. McGovern's speech, in my opinion, was not well
delivered.
Conclusions
The most important things we should learn from this
Convention are:
1. McGovern's forces have had iron will, outstanding
discipline and a superb organization -- and they will have it
during the campaign;
2. McGovern's candidacy will be supported by millions
of dedicated volunteers;
3. McGovern will do everything to achieve unity with-
in his party;
4. McGovern will endeavor to maintain a self-righteous-
ness attitude;
5. We must immediately exploit the existing divisions
within the Democratic party;
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY
-3-
6. The GOP must have a colorful convention and not a
staid and unexciting one;
7. We must paint McGovern into his leftist corner and
keep him from moving to the center; and
8. We must maximize the use of free prime time at our
convention.
CONFIDENTIAL/EYES ONLY