On April 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:00 am to 11:24 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 711-005 of the White House Tapes. Topics include: The President met with Henry A. Kissinger. Vietnam - Kissinger's staff - Soviets - Strikes against Hanoi and Haiphong areas - Kissinger's conversation with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin - Domestic situation - Bombing - Intensity - Lyndon B. Johnson - Orders - Kissinger's trip to Moscow - Massive attacks - Number of sorties - Possible cutbacks - Kissinger's conversations with Adm. Thomas H. Moorer and [David] Kenneth Rush - Intensity - Concentration of bombing - Press stories - Current number in north - Melvin R. Laird - Number in south - Distribution - Military Region Three - Impact - Increases - B-52s - The President's previous conversation with Moorer - Enemy retreat - Increases - Naval action - Destroyers - Bombing - Resumption - North Vietnam - Haiphong - Soviets Soviets - H.R. ("Bob") Haldeman's previous conversation with the President - Earl L. Butz's meeting with Kissinger - Scheduling - Butz's meeting with the President - Trips abroad - Haldeman - Problems - George W. Romney, Butz, and John A. Volpe - Reporting - Meeting with Leonid I. Brezhnev - Evaluations of Jacob D. Beam and Butz - The President's past conduct - The President's view - Brezhnev - The President's view - Meeting with Butz - Butz's knowledge of Soviets - Grain deal - Relevance to US- Soviet relations - Dobrynin - US bombing of North Vietnam Vietnam - Bombing - People's Republic of China [PRC] reactions - US overflights of PRC - Channels of protest PRC - Visit by Hugh Scott and Michael J. Mansfield - Possible Mansfield statement Vietnam - Bombing - Supporters - Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson - Statement - Significance - The President's previous conversation with Haldeman - Charles W. Colson - Timing - Provocation - North Vietnamese mistakes - Impact on Kissinger's trip to Moscow - Soviets - US- Soviet relationship - Kissinger's trip - Possible results - Summit - Bombing - Impact on North Vietnam - Blockade - Risks to summit - Kissinger's view - Laird - Statements - Aggresiveness - Statements - J. William Fulbright - Questioned by Laird - US policies - Supporters - Barry M. Goldwater - Soviets - War in south - Moorer and unknown person [?] - Halt in action Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:00 am. Barber - The President's appointment Bull left at an unknown time before 11:24 am. Vietnam - Past offensives - Llewellyn E. ("Tommy") Thompson, Jr.'s report [?] - Laos and Cambodia - North Vietnamese strength - III Corps - The President's opinion - An Loc - Army of Republic of Vietnam [ARVN] divisions - North Vietnamese loss of momentum - B-52 strikes - Sir Robert Thompson - Impact of bombing on enemy - The President's experience in Bougainville - Japanese planes - Impact - Latest report - Naval action - USS New Jersey - Impact - Use - Kissinger's previous conversation with Moorer - USS Newport News - Employment - USS New Jersey - Inadequacies - North Vietnamese reaction - North Vietnamese small boats - Torpedo boats - Military operations - Moorer - Previous telephone conversation with Kissinger - Gen. John W. Vogt, Jr. - Alexander M. Haig, Jr. - Message to Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. - Vogt - Effectiveness - Abrams - US policies - Effectiveness - Accomplishments - Vietnamization - Laird's statements - Success - Demilitarized Zone [DMZ] - Dependence on US - US policies - Joseph C. Kraft article - Hostility to summit - Hostility to the President - Soviets - Summit - Cancellation - Kissinger's note to Dobrynin - Timing - Negotiations - Kissinger's trip to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] - Failure - Vulnerability of US position - Blockade - Message to Soviet leaders Kissinger left at 11:24 am. Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Bull, Stephen B.
- Parte de White House Tapes: Sound Recordings of Meetings and Telephone Conversations of the Nixon Administration, Oval Office Sound Recordings