Date: March 12, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:24 pm and 6:34 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Capt. Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr. Stephen B. Bull and the White House
photographer were present at the beginning of the meeting.
Photo session
-Flags
-Seating
Legislation
-President’s signature
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 4:24 pm.
-60-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug-2010)
Sanchez
-Return to Cuba
-Visit to North Vietnam
Refreshments
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 6:34 pm.
Oval Office
-Previous visits
-White House tour
Denton
-Public statement
-Effect on nation
-Letter to President
-Publication
-Respect for privacy
-Experience as Prisoner of war [POW]
-Plans for White House dinner for POWs
-Wives
-Discussions
-Reaction
-Repatriation
-Captivity
-Length
President’s conversation with Col. Robinson Risner
-Honorable conclusion to war
-Reasons
-POWs
-Fate of South Vietnam’s people
-War casualties
-US credibility
-People’s Republic of China [PRC], Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics [USSR]
President’s trip to PRC
-Peking
-61-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug-2010)
-Meeting with Chou En-lai
-“Handshake around the world”
-State dinner
-Reputation as anti-Communist
Vietnam
-Honorable conclusion to war
-South Vietnam’s integrity
-US credibility
-President’s advisors
-Withdrawal
-1969
-John F. Kennedy’s, Lyndon B. Johnson’s responsibility
-President’s November 3, 1969 speech
-US defeat
-Loss of power, pride
-US as great power
-Compared to France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, USSR, PRC
-US self-image
Bull entered at an unknown time after 4:24 pm.
Schedule
-Buzzer
Bull left at an unknown time before 6:34 pm.
Denton’s letter to President
-Effect on nation
-American spirit
POWs
-Ordeal in prison
-Mohandus K. [Mahatma] Gandhi, Dr. Achmed Sukarno, Radha Krishna [?]
-Significance
-Personal strength
-Adversity
-Meaning for US
-Sense of pride
-62-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug-2010)
-Sense of shame
-Retreat
-Denton’s captivity
-Survival
-Reasons
-Solitary confinement
-Length
-Means of survival
-Curiosity
-Mental, physical activity
-Awareness of time
-Prayer
-Solidarity [?]
-Reception at White House
-Scheduling
-Plans
-President’s meeting with Risner
-Briefing on national security
-State Department
-Wives
-Henry A. Kissinger, President, William P. Rogers
-Changes in world
-Dinner on White House lawn
-Tent
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Greeting
-Blue Room
-Dress
-Long dresses
-Uniforms
-Arrangements
-Entertainment
-Television [TV]
-Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
-Other celebrities
-Les Brown Orchestra
-Dancing
-Captivity
-Treatment
-63-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug-2010)
-Torture
-Risner
-Exercise
-Notoriety
-Isolation
-Denton’s leadership [?]
-Communication
-Isolation [?]
-Communications
-System
-Tapping on walls
-Code
-Dangers
-Coughing
-Code
President’s foreign policy
-Denton’s support
-US history
-Benefits for nation, world
-Opening to PRC
-US aid to North Vietnam
-POWs’ support
-Reasons
-Opposition to PRC, USSR
-Influence in Hanoi
-Communist revolution
-US restraint
-Situation in Laos
-Condition for withdrawal
-Cease-fire violations
-Condition for adherence
-World War II precedent
-Differences
-Japan, Germany
-Regime change
-Economic pursuits
-Peaceful pursuits
-Questionable effectiveness
-64-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug-2010)
-Alternatives
-Bombing
-North Vietnam’s impressions of President
-December 1972 bombing
-Difficulty
-Compared to Denton’s captivity
-Survival
-Impression of irrationality
-Liberal critics
-[Arnold] Eric Sevareid, Washington Post
-Questions about President’s sanity
-“Mad bomber”
The conversation was cut off at an unknown time before 6:34 pm. The conversation continues on
a subsequent tape [Oval Office Tape 877-1].