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April 17, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Monday, April 17, 1972, pulls together various records created by the federal government and links to additional resources which can provide context about the events of the day.

Previous Date: Sunday, April 16, 1972

Next Date: Tuesday, April 18, 1972

Schedule and Public Documents

Archival Holdings

Any selection of archival documents will necessarily be partial. You should use the documents and folders identified below as a starting place, but consult the linked collection finding aids and folder title lists and the collections themselves for context. Many documents to be found this way do not lend themselves to association with specific dates, but are essential to a complete understanding of the material.

  • Selective document listing

    President's Office Files

    The President's Office Files consists of materials drawn together by the Special Files Unit from several administrative subdivisions within the White House Office. It is the handwriting and sensitive papers sent to the Staff Secretary that now comprise much of the President's Office Files. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

  • The H. R. Haldeman Diaries consists of seven handwritten diaries, 36 dictated diaries recorded as sound recordings, and two handwritten audio cassette tape subject logs. The diaries and logs reflect H. R. Haldeman’s candid personal record and reflections on events, issues, and people encountered during his service in the Nixon White House. As administrative assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, Haldeman attended and participated in public events and private meetings covering the entire scope of issues in which the Nixon White House engaged in during the years 1969-1973. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    • Transcript of diary entry (PDF)
      Monday, April 17.

      President called me at 1:15 in the morning last night. Pretty cranked up. Said we better move either to get Ervin lined up on a deal on Monday, the thing we'd been talking about Sunday afternoon, or else Kleindienst is out. We are to use another subterfuge or whatever is necessary but we must have a decision.

      Staff meeting this morning. Shultz raised the point that they needed a '74 budget session with the President this week or next, because it involves a lot of actions now regarding vetoes and planning and so forth that need to be worked out, and we need to build some of this into the campaign.

      We got into the whole Kleindienst planning thing in considerable detail this morning. We had to prepare a public tender of Flanigan: cover all the bases on restrictions on him, reserving the rights on other people and so forth, trying to make the deal with Ervin, which Fannin was to do at 10:00. We decide to-- Ervin made the deal, and so we decided to send a Flanigan letter to the Chairman, which is what Ervin wanted. That sets aside Executive Privilege, agrees to take questions within our rules. Ervin agreed that there'd be no other White House witnesses, that he'd support Kleindienst out of the committee on the 20th, that he'd take no part in the filibuster, and that he'd support Kleindienst on the floor when he goes in on the 27th. He said he's anxious to avoid a confrontation with the President on this sensitive constitutional question, but as the record stands now he has to have Flanigan as a witness.

      The other concern was the problem of Gleason, who's due to testify on Tuesday. We've got to stop him at any cost, so we're discussing how to do that if-- since Ervin's bought the Flanigan deal we can't cut off the hearings with the Kleindienst withdrawal. The President agreed to all this, and we went ahead and worked out the deal on that basis. So it now looks as if we may be able to get Kleindienst through after all.

      Vietnam line was a major matter of importance in the President's meeting this morning. He told Ziegler to be enigmatic, not tell the press anything, nothing belligerent or controversial. He's very disturbed about a New York Times quote saying; "That if Hue falls, that's the end of Moscow", meaning the trip. Says we should hit the critics for shooting at the wrong target, that they should direct their fire at the Communist forces from North Vietnam that are invading, rather than against the President's-- the President, who's trying to stop this invasion. He says Ron should say, it's puzzling to him why the critics always end up taking the side of the enemy who are invading South Vietnam rather than the side of our allies who are trying to defend their country against a Communist invasion. Regarding any limits on attack activity, the President will do what is necessary. The bombing will stop when they withdraw across the demilitarized zone. Regarding negotiations, we should look them cold in the eye. For almost three years, before the January 25th speech, the press bullyragged Ron and the President regarding the negotiations. On January 25th the full record was put out. A lot of you who had said the Administration was not going far enough had red faces. I'm not going to discuss now what's being done since January 25th, but the record, when reviewed, will also leave some of you with red faces. So don't assume that the tip is all of the iceberg. He wants Colson to unleash Agnew with a tough Buchanan speech, hitting the accusers, defeatists, taking the side of the enemy, etcetera. Make the point that he's proud the President is willing to risk his political future to do what's right.

      He's still pushing on keeping his schedule basically clear in order to concentrate on Vietnam. He is very pleased with Rogers' testimony on the Hill today. Bill did a good job, took a hard line, although before he went up, the President was very concerned about whether he would do so. As it turned out, he was really very good. The-- other thing the President wanted to do is to get the Congress to do a resolution condemning the North Vietnamese invasion as a counter to the Muskie resolution. Also hope that maybe Connally would dissociate himself from the partisans who condemn the United States for helping the country to defeat-- to defend themselves against the Communist takeover rather than condemning the aggressors. That he's proud that we have a President who will stand up, so on. He wants to be sure we stay on the invasion concept and attack the attackers. Especially in a debate planned for Wednesday in the Senate on Vietnam. We spent some time discussing the Kissinger trip cover, the President's idea that we'll go to Camp David, say that Kissinger's up there with him and that that'll do it. I'm concerned that won't do it.

      End of April 17.
    • Original audio recording (MP3)

  • The National Archives Catalog is the online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records. It is the main way of describing our holdings and also provides access to electronic records and digitized versions of our holdings. 

    The Catalog searches across multiple National Archives resources at once, including archival descriptions, digitized and electronic records, authority records, and web pages from Archives.gov and the Presidential Libraries. The Catalog also allows users to contribute to digitized historical records through tagging and transcription.

    Nixon Library Holdings

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National Security Documents

  • The President's Daily Brief is the primary vehicle for summarizing the day-to-day sensitive intelligence and analysis, as well as late-breaking reports, for the White House on current and future national security issues. Read "The President's Daily Brief: Delivering Intelligence to Nixon and Ford" to learn more.

  • The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. Visit the State Department website for more information.

    Vol. VIII, Vietnam, January-October 1972

    The Easter Offensive, March 30-May 7, 1972

    Vol. XIV, Soviet Union, October 1971-May 1972

    U.S.-Soviet Relations and the Spring Offensive in Vietnam, March 30-April 18, 1972

    • 112. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 17, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 493, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1972, Vol. 11. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. Sonnenfeldt did not initial the memorandum.

    • 113. Conversation Between President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 17, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation No. 709–8. No classification marking. According to his Daily Diary, Nixon met with Kissinger in the Oval Office from 8:58 to 9:24 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files) The editors transcribed the portion of the conversation printed here specifically for this volume.

    • 114. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union, Washington, April 17, 1972, 1424Z

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 27 VIET S. Confidential; Flash; Exdis. Drafted by Green, Sullivan, and Matlock on April 16; cleared by Hillenbrand and Kissinger; and approved by Rogers. In an April 16 memorandum forwarding a copy of the draft telegram to Kissinger, Kennedy noted that Sonnenfeldt believed “it would be best to hold it up and not reply for a day or two to avoid getting into a further exchange before Wednesday [April 19].” “If you want to go ahead and release the cable tonight,” Kennedy continued, “please just let me know and I will take care of it.” According to Kennedy’s notation on the memorandum, Kissinger cleared the telegram that evening and the President approved it the following morning. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 493, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1972, Vol. 10)

    • 115. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, Moscow, April 17, 1972, 1515Z

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 27 VIET S. Confidential; Priority; Limdis. Repeated to Hong Kong, Saigon, and USDEL France.

    • 116. Conversation Between President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 17, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation No. 709–13. No classification marking. According to his Daily Diary, Nixon met with Kissinger in the Oval Office from 10:51 to 11:03 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files) The editors transcribed the portion of the conversation printed here specifically for this volume.

    • 117. Intelligence Memorandum Prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, April 17, 1972

      Source: National Security Council, Washington Special Actions Group Files, Meeting Files, 4–17–72. Secret; Spoke; Sensitive.

    • 118. Minutes of Washington Special Action Group Meeting, Washington, April 17, 1972, 11:05-11:48 a.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–116, WSAG Minutes, Originals. Top Secret; Sensitive. No drafting information appears on the minutes. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room.

    • 119. Conversation Between President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 17, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation No. 709–19. No classification marking. According to his Daily Diary, Nixon met with Kissinger in the Oval Office from 12:15 to 12:28 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files) The editors transcribed the portion of the conversation printed here specifically for this volume.

    Vol. XVII, China, 1969-1972

    China, March-December 1972

    Vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe, 1969-1972

    Poland

    Vol. E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969-1972

    U.S. Relations with India and Pakistan, 1972

    • 249. Minutes of Senior Review Group Meeting, Washington, April 17, 1972, 3:05-4:04 p.m.

      The Senior Review Group discussed U.S. policy objectives in South Asia and the issues bearing on the possibility of improving relations with India. Members agreed that, to the extent possible, U.S. humanitarian and economic assistance to Bangladesh should be provided on a bilateral rather than a multilateral basis.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–064, SRG Meeting, South Asia, 4/17/72. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room. No drafting information appears on the minutes. The brief from which Helms spoke in assessing the situation in South Asia can be found ibid. The draft telegram cited in the minutes, containing instructions for opening a dialogue with India on a number of contentious issues, was not sent to New Delhi. After discussion by the Senior Review Group, the telegram was revised in the Department of State and returned to Kissinger for approval on April 19. (Memorandum from Eliot to Kissinger; National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 27 INDIA–PAK) The revised telegram was not sent because of continuing criticism by the Gandhi Government of the U.S. role in Vietnam. See Document 252.

    Vol. E-10, Documents on American Republics, 1969-1972

    Bolivia

    • 112. Memorandum From William J. Jorden of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 17, 1972., Washington, April 17, 1972

      In order to prevent over-burdening the Government of Bolivia’s finances, and to stay within Congressional ceilings, National Security Council staff member Jorden recommended selling Bolivia three A–37Bs in the current fiscal year, three more the next fiscal year, and defer action on the more expensive C–130s.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 770, Country Files, Latin America, Bolivia, Vol. 2, 1970–1974. Confidential. Sent for action. Haig initialed the memorandum for Kissinger. Kennedy cleared in a draft. Attached but not published at Tab A is Kissinger’s signed April 20 memorandum to State and Defense and at Tab B is an April 6 memorandum from Eliot to Kissinger. Tab C is Document 111. The interagency report submitted in February is Tab B of Document 110.

  • The Kissinger telephone conversation transcripts consist of approximately 20,000 pages of transcripts of Kissinger’s telephone conversations during his tenure as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1969-1974) and Secretary of State (1973-1974) during the administration of President Richard Nixon. Visit the finding aid for more information.

    Digitized versions can be found in the National Archives Catalog.

Audiovisual Holdings

Context (External Sources)