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This file contains:
From Chapman to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarian. 1 pg. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/18/1971
From Chapin to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarian Bill Wolper. 3 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/8/1971
Copy of a memo from Chapin to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarians Bill Wolper and Bruce Herschensohn. 6 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/7/1971
From Chapin to David Parker RE: RN's daughters. 1 pg. [Subject: Personal] [Memo], 1/19/1972
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WHSF: Contested, 2-38
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WHSF: Contested, 2-38
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This file contains:
From Chapman to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarian. 1 pg. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/18/1971
From Chapin to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarian Bill Wolper. 3 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/8/1971
Copy of a memo from Chapin to Haldeman RE: campaign documentarians Bill Wolper and Bruce Herschensohn. 6 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 12/7/1971
From Chapin to David Parker RE: RN's daughters. 1 pg. [Subject: Personal] [Memo], 1/19/1972
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Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Contested Materials Collection
Folder List
Box Number
Folder Number
Document Date
No Date
Subject
Document Type
Document Description
2
38
12/18/1971
Campaign
Memo
From Chapman to Haldeman RE: campaign
documentarian. 1 pg.
2
38
12/8/1971
Campaign
Memo
From Chapin to Haldeman RE: campaign
documentarian Bill Wolper. 3 pgs.
2
38
12/7/1971
>
Campaign
Memo
Copy of a memo from Chapin to Haldeman
RE: campaign documentarians Bill Wolper
and Bruce Herschensohn. 6 pgs.
2
38
1/19/1972
Personal
Memo
From Chapin to David Parker RE: RN's
daughters. 1 pg.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Page 1 of 1
December 18, 1971
2:00 p.m.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
MR. H. R. HALDEMAN
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Campaign Documentarian
Attached you will find a memorandum from Peter Dailey where he comes out with a decision
in Savor of hiring Bruce Herschenschn to do the documentaries for the campaign. This is
, reversal from his opinion that Wolper would be best. In his memorandum, he explains
his reasoning.
Attached you will also find a memorandum from Bill Carruthers arguing that we should stick
with the Wolper decision.
I understand the logic behind Dailey's wanting Herschensohn since he feels that Bruce would
be much better in adjusting to "changing circumstances" throughout the production of the
documentary. However, I feel that we are going with second-best when we could have the
best. I believe that Jeb, Peter Dailey, and some others are unable to step up to the plate on
the Wolper decision. However, this is probably understandable and everyone would much
rather go with a sure-thing. You should know that Dick Moore and Len Garment feel that
the decision to go with Herschensohn is correct.
DECISIONS
1.
Follow Dailey's advice and hire Herschensohn. Approve
Disapprove
2.
Haldeman would like to meet Herschensoh prior to his being hired.
Approve
Disapprove
3. We should stick with Wolper.
Approve
Disapprove
SPECIAL NOTE: Jeb has informed us that the Attorney General bows to you
on this decision. However, since ther e is opposition to Wolper now by Peter
Dailey, it is Magrader's feeling that he would have to notify the Attorney General
of Dailey's negative attitude toward Wolper should you indicate that Wolper should
take precedence over Herschensohn.
December 8, 1971
1:45 p.m.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
MR. H. R. HALDEMAN
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Campaign Documentarian
PURPOSE OF MEMORANDUM:
To give you a status report on the project to choose a campaign documentarian.
It alerts you to the possibility of our requesting you to meet with Wolper tomorrow
if we so recommend. Decision questions at the end of this memorandum.
For several months now, we have been conducting a search for thes best-qualified
and most professional documentarian to produce films for the 1972 campaign.
At the present time, there are three films which will probably be recommended
for production. Although the reasoning on these films and arguments pro and
con will be submitted to you and the Attorney General shortly, it is anticipated
that at least three films for the Convention and/or campaign will be needed.
Bill Carruthers is the person who has headed the search for our documentarian
and he has talked to several professionals and we have looked at their work. We
have now come down to two candidates. The first candidate is David Wolper
whose professional skill in this area is undisputed and his credits are long. The
second candidate is a man by the name of Bruce Herschensohn who works for
Frank Shakespeare at the USIA and who would resign if chosen. Bruce was
recommended to Carruthers by a man in Los Angeles and after viewing his work
we feel that he is a fine candidate.
Attached at the back of this memorandum you will find arguments for and against
both Wolper and Herschensohn.
Since Wolper is better known to you, at least by reputation, in fairness I should
point out that Bruce Herschensohn heads the USIA film department and has been
involved in the supervision of approximately twenty to thirty documentaries a year
2.
out of USIA, as well as giving basic guidance on another fifteen to twenty
documentaries a year. He wrote and produced, as well as scored the music
for "Years of Lightning - Day of Drums". Bruce is a "Goldwater Republican"
who started out with his own film company in Los Angeles and came to
Washington during the Johnson years.
Those people who have participated one way or another in narrowing the list down
to these two are Bill Carruthers, Dick Moore, Peter Dailey, Jeb Magruder, Frank
Shakespeare, and me. (I should add that I have talked to Garment, Jack Ball,
and Dan Seymour of J. Walter Thompson, all of whom have some reluctance
toward Wolper, basically out of concern as to whether Wolper will be directly
involved himself.)
Presently our committee is split regarding these two candidates. Carruthers strongly
favors Wolper and is prejudiced toward him. Peter Dailey also tends to favor Wolper.
The reason is fairly simple. Wolper is the best in the business for producing television
documentaries. No one else can touch him in terms of his skill and his ability to
attract good people to work on a project such as this, and the insurance of ending
up with an outstanding film is great. Moore and Chapin are concerned as to Wolper's
personal commitment to the President, the Administration, and the project other than
for purely business gains.
We have decided that the final decision on which person to pick should be yours.
(Jeb indicates the Attorney General bows to you on this decision.)
Last Monday night we reached the conclusion that in order to get a firm reading
on Wolper's commitment and 8 feel as to whether we can work with him, the
best thing to do would be to invite him to meet with us. From 8:00 to 10:00
tomorrow morning, Peter Dalley, Dick Moore, Jeb and I are going to meet with
Wolper and Warren Bush, his second in command and a registered "Nixon Republican".
Carruthers is purposely not going to attend the meeting.
We propose that after our meeting with Wolper if we feel that he should definitely
be considered as one of the two candidates that we arrange for him to meet with you
later in the day. Immediately after our meeting we will put together our consensus
in writing for you and then we would like you to size him up. If you are impressed
by Wolper and see no problems (and Moore becomes agreeable to Wolper) then our
recommendation would be that we hire him. If Wolper bombs out Thursday morning
then we will probably recommend Herschensohn who will quit the USIA and go to
work under the employment of the Committee.
3.
One other point - Wolper is favorable disposed to hiring Herschensohn into the
Wolper organization for the purpose of acting as the producer and director on
this project. This may give us the best of both worlds, although there is no
assurance that Herschensohn would accept a position with the Wolper organization
and perhaps we would be ending up with too many chiefs.
QUESTION:
Are you willing to meet with David Wolper (and Warren Bush, his second man)
sometime late tomorrow morning or early in the afternoon to size him uplin terms
of his personal and professional commitment to the President and to test him
in terms of his producing documentaries for us next year?
Moore, Carruthers, Dailey, Magruder and Chapin highly recommend that you take the
time to meet with Wolper if our meeting tomorrow morning goes well.
HALDEMAN WILL MEET WITH WOLPER
OTHER
MEMORANDUM FOR:
MR. H. R. HALDEMAN
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Campaign Documentarian
For several months now, we have been conducting a search for the best qualified
and most professional documentarian to produce films for the 1972 campaign.
At the present time, there are three films which will probably be recommended
for production. Although the reasoning on these films and arguments pro and
con will be submitted to you and the Attorney General shortly, they are basically
a 30-minute general documentary covering the First Four Years, a Foreign Policy
"Generation of Peace" documentary covering the President's foreign travel with
special emphasis on the Peking and Moscow trips, and a ten-minute documentary
on Mrs. Nixon.
Bill Carruthers is the person who has headed the search for our documentarian
and he has talked to several professionals and we have looked at their work.
We have now come down to two candidates. The first candidate is David
Wolper whose professional skill in this area is undisputed and his credits are
long. The second candidate is a man by the name of Bruce Herschensohn who
works for Frank Shakespeare at the USIA. Bruce was recommended to Carruthers
by a man in Los Angeles and after viewing his work we feel that he is a fine
candidate.
2.
Attached at the back of this memorandum you will find arguments for and against
both Wolper and Herschensohn.
Since Wolper is better known to you, at least by reputation, in fairness I should point
out that Bruce Herschensohn heads the USIA film department and has been involved
in the supervision of approximately twenty to thirty documentaries a year out of
USIA as well as giving basic guidance on another fifteen to twenty documentaries a
year. He wrote and produced, as well as scored the music, for YEARS OF
LIGHTENING - DAY OF DRUMS. Bruce is a "Goldwater Republican" who started
out with his own film company in Los Angeles and came to Washington during the
Johnson years.
Those people who have participated one way or another in narrowing the list down to
these two are Bill Carruthers, Dick Moore, Peter Dailey, Jeb Magruder, Frank
Shakespeare and me (I should add that I have talked to Garment, Jack Ball, and
Dan Seymour of J. Walter Thompson, all of whom have some reluctance toward
Wolper, basically out of concern as to whether Wolper will be directly involved
himself).
Presently our committee is split regarding these two candidates. Carruthers strongly
favors Wolper and is prejudiced toward him. Peter Dailey also tends to favor
Wolper. The reason is fairly simple. Wolper is the best in the business for producing
television documentaries. No one else can touch him in terms of his skill and his
3.
ability to attract good people to work on a project such as this, and the insurance
of ending up with an outstanding film is great. Moore and Chapin are concerned
as to Wolper's personal commitment to the President, the Administration and the
project other than for purely business gains.
We have decided that the final decision on which person to pick should be yours.
(Jeb indicates the Attorney General bows to you on this decision.)
Last Monday night we reached the conclusion that in order to get a firm reading
on Wolper's commitment and a feel as to whether we can work with him the best
thing to do is to invite him in to meet with us. From 8:00 to 10:00 this coming
Thursday morning, Peter Dailey, Dick Moore, Jeb and I are going to meet with
Wolper and Warren Bush , his second in command and a registered Nixon Republican.
Carruthers is purposely not going to attend the meeting.
We propose that after our meeting with Wolper if we feel that he should definitely
be considered as one of the two candidates then we arrange for him to meet with
you later that day. Immediately after our meeting we will put together our consensus
in writing for you and then we would like you to size him up. If you are impressed
by Wolper and see no problems (and Moore becomes agreeable to Wolper) then our
recommendation would be that we hire him. If Wolper bombs out Thursday morning
then we will probably recommend Herschensohn who will quit the USIA and go to work under
the employment of the Committee.
4.
One other point - Wolper is favorable disposed to hiring Herschensohn into the
Wolper organization for the purpose of acting as the producer and director on
this project. This may give us the best of both worlds, although there is no
assurance that Herschensohn would accept a position with the Wolper organization
and perhaps we are ending up with too many chiefs.
QUESTION:
Are you willing to meet with David Wolper (and Warren Bush, his second man) sometime
late Thursday morning or early Thursday afternoon to size him up in terms of his
personal and professional commitment to the President and to test him desires in
terms of his producing documentaries for us next year?
Moore, Carruthers, Dailey, Magruder and Chapin highly recommend that you
take the time to meet with Wolper if our meeting that morning goes well.
Haldeman will meet with Wolper
Other
December 7, 1971
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DAVID WOLPER
ARGUMENTS FOR
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Best reputation and highest qualified documentary
Major identification with the Kennedys and with
producer worldwide.
other Democrats over the years.
Personal supervision.
Large diversified company which raises the
question of his full attention on project.
Claims to be committed to the President.
Is he enough of a propagandist - can he sell -
Thinks in major league terms.
does he have the empathy?
Has established company.
The problem of being sharp-shooted around the
White House due to his past ties to Democrats.
Professional documentarian and not propagandist.
Would his work be prejudiced by key in-house
people and cause problems which might be hard
Wants the business personally and professionally.
to overcome?
The Wolper name has the prestige of a Good
It seems expensive.
Housekeeping stamp - which may mean accepta-
bility by networks of film for convention.
Did documentaries for Humphrey and LBJ which
were used at their conventions.
Skilled in documentary-oriented television.
Reputation for hiring or keeping on staff the best
people and can attract the best people.
December 7, 1971
BRUCE HERSCHENSOHN
ARGUMENTS FOR
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Experiences producer who supervises a large
Problem of forming a company quickly
number of documentaries each year.
to handle project.
Personally can write, direct and score music
Have four years as a supervisor put him
for the documentary.
out of touch with the more commerical
world?
An experienced propagandist.
Degree of experience in television?
Absolute loyalty to the President and the
Administration's cause.
The question of how directly he is
involved in a day-by-day basis in editing
Has keen knowledge of the President and
and supervising films at USIA - is he
Administration policies and background.
more an Administrator?
Wants the job and is committed to the
The instantaneous start-up problem.
project - he has to give up something
to take the job.
It is the only thing he would be doing
January 19, 1972
10:30 a. m.
MEMORANDUM FOR:
DAVID PARKER
FROM:
DWIGHT L. CHAPIN
SUBJECT:
Julie and Tricia
Ken Cole talked to me yesterday about the desire on his part
and that of the Domestic Council to try to use the girls in
events which are oriented to key domestic iniatives of the
President. He was not specific but I think he will be talking
to you about the various areas where he feels the girls can
concentrate and do some good for the President politically.
In any case, don't wait for Ken to contact you. Send a
memorandum to Cole with a copy to Ehrlichman, asking them
to provide you with a list of the particular domestic programs
which they feel are suitable for the girls to plug for the
President, naturally for political purposes. Then have them
relate some event suggestions. They should include a brief
rationale on these so that when you try to persuade Julie and
Tricia you will have some logical reason for doing so. When
you get the information from the Domestic Council, I would like
to review it with you, prior to your going to the girls.