Date: March 17, 1973
Time: 3:40 pm-6:00 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Theodore H. White and Ronald L. Ziegler.
White’s book
-Completion
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Smoking
-Request to smoke
-Cigarettes
-North Carolina
-Impact on health
-[Unintelligible name]
-Cigarette advertising
-America Tobacco
-Cancer
US-People’s Republic of China [PRC] relations
-President’s initiative
-Henry A. Kissinger
-William P. Rogers
-Significance
-Watergate
-History
-Chou En-lai
-Message
-President’s response
-PRC’s intentions
-Liaison office
-Appointment
-PRC’s ambassador to France
-Qualities
-Chief of Protocol
-Abilities
-Liaison office appointments
-US representative
-Formal contacts
-Trade
-Private channels
-Paris
The White House operator talked with the President at 3:47 pm.
[Conversation No. 416-50A]
[See Conversation No. 37-142]
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[End of telephone conversation]
An unknown man entered at 3:47 pm.
Refreshment
The unknown man left at an unknown time before 6:00 pm.
White’s book
-Dedication
US-PRC relations [?]
Ambassadors
-France
-Germany [?]
-Symbolism
-Europe
-Common market
-[Unintelligible name]
-Background
-Lawyer
Issues of President’s administration
-Domestic issues
-Vietnam settlement
-Return trip to PRC
-Vietnam settlement
-Pandering
-May8, 1972 bombing
-Hanoi decision
-December 1972 bombing
The Making of the President, 1968
-1968 campaign
-President’s role in domestic affairs
-Cabinet
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Domestic issues
-Liberals
-National leadership
-Cost of living
-Unemployment
-Crime
-Drugs
-Busing
-Government reorganization
-Transportation
-Environment
-Excitement
-Question and answer [Q&A]
-Experience as vice president
-Domestic budget
-Experts
-Revenue sharing
-Secretary of State
-Columnists writers
Presidential candidates
-Qualifications
-Foreign affairs
-Knowledge
-Impact of failure
-Need for President to make decisions
Domestic issues
-Economy
-Strengths
-Role of President
-Impact
-Consequences of mistakes compared to foreign policy
Presidential leadership
-Presidential candidates for 1976
-Strengths in foreign policy
-Domestic issues
-Importance
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-Henry Fairlie’s book on John F. Kennedy
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Interesting points
-Public interests
-Foreign policy
-Unity
-Domestic issues
-Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration
-Crises
-Great Presidents
-Role of crises
-Theodore Roosevelt
-Reasons for greatness
-Woodrow Wilson
-First term
-World War I
-Foreign policy
-First year
-Ecuador’s fisheries
-Central Africa
-Denmark
-President’s handling
-State Department responsibilities
-Latin America, Africa, South Asia
-Important issues
-Concentration on certain issues
-Delegation
-Johnson’s administration
-Insistence on making all decisions
-Target selection
-Role of President in foreign policy
-Role of presidency in domestic affairs
-Burden of work
-Reorganization of the government
-Reduction of number of committees
-Roy L. Ash
-Freeing president for important issues
-Need for free time for discussion, thought
-Kissinger
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-Foreign policy
-PRC, Soviet Union
-Middle East
-Domestic issues
-Government reorganization
-Important problems
-Need for fewer counselors
-Herman Kahn
-Face-to-face meetings
-Government reorganization
-Purpose
-President’s time
-Important problems
-Reduction of President’s decision making
-Involvement with advisory groups
-Science
-Medicine
-Space
-Civil Aeronautics Board [CAB] decision
-Johnson
-Need for lower level decisions
-Antitrust decisions
-Justice Department
-Cable television [TV]
-Licensing
-ACTION
-Staff contact with President
President’s priorities
-Energy Crisis
-Illegal immigration
-Presidential elections
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Study
-Energy
-Enormity of problem
-Foreign policy issue
-Soviet Union
-Pipeline
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-Middle East
-Domestic implications
-Need for White House attention
-Coordination within the government
-Oil import
-Gas prices
-Desegregation of schools in South
-Achievements
-Criticism
-Civil rights activists
-Public accusations
-Racism
-Blacks
-Effects
-Establishment of committee
-George P. Shultz
-South Carolina
-Alabama
-North Carolina
-Peaceful resolution
-Supreme Court’s decision
-Respect for law
-Compared to Northern schools
-Demagoguery
-Goals of administration
-Shultz
-Role in desegregation
-President’s role
1968 campaign
-Black and white leadership
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
-Limitations
-White Southerners
Economy
-Labor-management relations
-Problems
-Presidential attention
-Laws and regulations
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-Cost of Living Council [COLC]
-John T. Dunlop
-Council of Economic Advisers [CEA]
-Herbert Stein
-Phase III
-Wage and price controls
-Farm prices freeze
-Food prices freeze
-Problem of supply
-Decision on gasoline prices
-Dunlop
-Impact
-Energy crisis
-Foreign policy implications
-Import quotas
-Tariffs
-Agricultural policy
-Stockpiling of goods
-Impact on foreign nations
-Bolivia, Malaysia
-Tin
-Price pressures
-Welfare system
-Working poor
-Politics
-Prices
-Need for reform
-Public reluctance
-President’s proposals
-Work bonus
-Public reaction
-Important issues
-Energy
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] series
-Environment
-Water, parks
-Attraction of issue
-Energy
-Public interest
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-Supplies
-Pipelines
-Canada
-Alaska
-Middle East
-Soviet Union
-Other sources
-Nuclear energy
-Oil shade
-Coal
-Relation to environment
-Need for presidential attention
-White House, Interior Department, Defense Department, State
Department
Trade
-Relation to jobs, raw materials, overseas markets
-Importance of issue
-Imports
-Jobs
-Organized labor
-George Meany
-Need for imports
-Export trade
-Foreign policy
-Japan
-Sensitivity
-Europe
-Toughness
-Political concerns
-Latin America
-Third World
-Trade preferences
Budget
-Enormity of problem
-Impact on economy
-Heath
-Inflation
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-Role of government
-Social areas
-Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO]
-Dispersal of functions
-Manpower training
-Labor Department
-New Deal programs
-Agricultural Assistance Administration [AAA], National Recovery Act
[NRA]
-Effectiveness
-Social Security
-Community action programs
-OEO
-Creation of bureaucracy
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Trickle-down theory
-Family Assistance Program [FAP]
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-Income strategy
-Bureaucrats, social workers
-Percent of funds to bureaucracy
-Reasons for reduction
Revenue sharing
-Special revenue sharing
-General revenue sharing
-Definition
-Tax collection abilities of federal government
-Impact on localities
-Special revenue sharing
-Aid to cities, counties, and states
-Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]
-Increases in funds
-Congressional role
-Philosophy
-Federalism, people power, local control
-Expert opinion
-Distrust of local competence
-Emphasis on Washington, DC
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-Corruption
-Administration’s approach
-Funds to localities
-“Nixon Doctrine” in domestic affairs
-Vietnamization analogy
-Emphasis on self-reliance
-Local choices
-Gymnasium
-Police
-Housing projects
-Consequences of mistakes by Washington, DC compared to localities
-California
-Rockefeller and New York
-Wyoming
-Room for innovation
-Rockefeller’s approach
-Emphasis on local self-government
-Risks
Impoundment
-Congressional relations
-Johnson
-Amount
-Compared to President’s amounts
-Reasons
-Inflation, taxes
-Power of presidency
-Special revenue sharing
-Divestiture of power
Power in Washington
-Paradox
-New Deal philosophy
-Presidential power
-Centralization
-Foreign policy
-Desegregation
-President’s statements
-Busing
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-Congress
-Spending
-Increases
-Qualitative improvements
-Objections by Congress
-Divestiture of power
-New Deal
-Wheat
-Rural Electrification Administration [REA]
-Model cities
-Subcommittees
-Congress
-Conflicts with administration
-Bureaucracy
-Cabinet
-Interests in status quo
-Resistance to change
-Labor-saving devices
-Congress
-Parochial outlook
-Need for larger outlook
Mao Tse-tung
-White’s meeting in 1944
-Qualities
-Interview for Time
-View of outside world
-Ignorance
-Knowledge of Chinese politics
-Analysis of US
-Remarks on American Revolution
-George Washington
-British advantages
-Technology
-Analogy with Chinese Revolution
-Historical specifics
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 3:40 pm.
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Refreshment
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 6:00 pm.
Mao Tse-tung
-Meeting with President
-Questions about US
-Kissinger
-White’s draft on PRC trip
-Substance of discussion
-Interest in US
-Types of politician
-Poets, professionals
-Compared to Chou
-Grasp of power complexities
-“Poet”
-Revolutionary leaders
-George Washington
-Conservative nature
-Qualities
-Poetry, philosophy
-Dreamers
-Outlook
-Strengths
-Conceptualist
-Understanding of different societies
-Detailed knowledge
-Meaning for the world
-US
-Japan
-PRC
-Soviet Union
-Third World nations
-Understanding of people
-Difference from average western statesman
-Factual knowledge
-Population, economy, military, trade policies
-Understanding of political dynamics
-Compared to Chou
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-Statesman qualities
-Knowledge of world
-Trivia
-Great forces
-US-PRC relations
-Mao’s attitudes
-Chou
-Realist
-Areas of cooperation
-“Big plans”
-Knowledge of President
-Compared to other heads of state
-Technical details, trivia
-Leaders
-Necessity for broader term discussions
-US-PRC relations
-Basis of relations
-Trust
-Understanding of interests
-Compared to affection
-Kissinger’s views
-Compared to President
-Background
-Poverty
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Background
-Compared to President
-Political leadership
-Writers
-Trivia
-Polls
-Focus on great forces of history
-Compared to President’s background
-Soviet Union
-Discussions with President
-Chou
-Philosophical subjects
Leadership
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-Winston S. Churchill
-World outlook
-Gen. Charles A. J. M. de Gaulle
-Leadership
-France
-Understanding
-Gen. Douglas MacArthur
-World outlook
-Interview with White during World War II
-Time
-MacArthur’s view of US Navy
-Philippines
-View of Gen. George C. Marshall, Franklin Roosevelt
-Changing views
-Churchill
-Chou
-Communist press [?]
-Pragmatism
-Discussions with President
-Great Wall
-Roads
Mao
-President’s meeting
-Kissinger’s meeting
-Health
-Evaluation of President
-US-PRC relations
-Subtlety
-Japan
-Vietnam
-Community of interest
-Trust
-Individual qualities
-Compared to ideology
-National interest
December 1972 bombing of North Vietnam
-Compared to May 8, 1972 decision
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-Difficulty of decision
-World War I, World War II
-Wilson
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Compared to May 8, 1972 decision
-Reasons
-Soviet Union
-Summit
-North Vietnam’s offensive
-Soviet leaders
-Brezhnev
-Impact
-Mining
-Bombing
-South Vietnam morale
-Summit
-Risks
-1972 election
-Necessity
-Defeat of offensive
-Respect
-Impact
-US-Soviet Union negotiations
-Productivity
-Difficulty of decision
-Expectations
-Kissinger’s “Peace is at hand” statement
-Political statement
-President’s reaction
-North Vietnam’s delay in negotiations
-1972 elections
-Message
-President’s confidence
-Demarcation line
-US reaction
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-North Vietnamese expectations
-1972 election
-US opinion
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-Peace
-Kissinger
-South Vietnam
-North Vietnam
-Terms of settlement
-Bombing halt
-Mining
-Congressional recess
-Influence of 1972 election
-Compared to May 8, 1972 decision
This conversation was cut off at an unknown time before 6:00 pm.