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April 19, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Wednesday, April 19, 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: Tuesday, April 18, 1972

Next Date: Thursday, April 20, 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.

    • Annotated and Unmarked News Summaries [Note: Although there was no News Summary on this date, due to the way News Summary products were compiled, you should also consult nearby days for potentially relevant materials.]

    President's Personal File

    The President's Personal File is essentially a President's secretary's file, kept by Rose Mary Woods, personal secretary to the President, for two purposes: (1) preserving for posterity a collection of documents particularly close to the President, whether because he dictated or annotated them, or because of the importance of the correspondent or the event concerned and (2) giving appropriate attention–letters of gratitude, invitations to White House social events, and the like–to members and important friends and supporters of the Nixon administration. This generalization does not describe all the varied materials of a file group which is essentially a miscellany, but it does identify the reason for the existence of the file group's core. 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)
      Wednesday, April 19.

      Back to the Connally problem this morning. I couldn't get to him because he was involved, so I ended up seeing him this afternoon for yet another hour meeting. I had spent a long time with the President this morning on the strategy for handling Connally, and he wanted me to sell him on waiting until May 15 to go. He's concerned about the reason for leaving, which Connally will give in his statement. He wants to be sure that Connally expresses his support of the President and his policies so that there's no question of a rift of that kind. First, the President told me to tell him about the Kissinger trip, then we agreed later not to do that so I held off. I-- The meeting with Connally was very good, he agreed to the date, he agreed that the reason would be the basic truth, that he had only committed to come for a year, that he stayed longer to get things finished up, and now it was time for him to leave and he was going to go. He assured me that he will not get back into Democratic politics, would not, could not possibly support any of the Democratic candidates, and will support the President and say so. He was in pretty good spirits, although I think maybe he's beginning to wonder if he's doing the right things, but I think he's worried about the health problem more than even he realizes.

      We got deeply into the Kissinger trip question, because I raised the point this morning that I didn't think the Camp David cover was satisfactory and I urged some other alternatives, such as our going to Florida and saying Kissinger was at Camp David or something, but the President doesn't want to go to Florida and we ended up back with the Camp David deal. The problem then was how to notify Rogers and we spent considerable time during the day on that. Ended up deciding that Haig and I should tell him first thing tomorrow morning, but then I recommended that we do it tonight after having dinner with the President on the Sequoia.

      The President agreed, so Al and I went out to Rogers' house at 9:00 and gave him the basic line that we had heard from Brezhnev in a secret message that he wanted to meet with the President's representative for a secret talk on Vietnam in Moscow and that Henry was on his way. Bill took it extremely well, we didn't have any problem at all with him, which was kind of a surprise. So that worked out far better than we had expected.

      The Sequoia dinner with Haig was partly a report on Vietnam and partly the President blasting the press and our enemies in Vietnam. Haig told us about a report-- about how reporters had been working on the young soldiers, saying they won't take you in helicopters because they're going to land you in a mined area and they're afraid they're going to blow up their helicopters. They don't care what happens to you, but they do worry about their helicopters. So they're sending you up in buses. That's when the officers had to talk the guys into going because they were starting to more or less mutiny and he referred to them as you "press bastards", you're the ones that caused all this. The President wants Agnew to use that in his speech on Friday.

      He also had some other ideas for attack and counterattack, did quite a little pretty potent ranting and raving about the press primarily. Haig seems to feel things are going quite well in Vietnam, and the President's air attacks, particularly the bombing of Haiphong and Hanoi were tremendous morale boosters, both for the Vietnamese and for our troops that are left.

      On the Kleindienst hearings, we stalled most of the day but they finally put Gleason on. He was on the stand for three hours but didn't say anything very harmful, so all of the worry was for naught. Tomorrow is Flanigan and then they wrap it up, theoretically at least.

      Shultz sent out a memo pushing for his budget meeting that he had asked for earlier. The President told me to have Ehrlichman cover the whole thing with him making the point that we're to kill HR 1 anyway, so he doesn't need to worry about the costs there, but on Defense we can't make any decisions on cuts now before Moscow. That depends on future events and that maybe we can make some cuts afterwards. On revenue sharing he thinks that can be killed, too, but in a clever way. We can't go out and say so. He wants Ehrlichman and Shultz to work this out rather than the President having to do it. He thinks Connally and the President should meet on the budget first and then after the Texas trip he'll meet with Shultz and the group.

      End of April 19.
    • 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

    All National Archives Units

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

    Kissinger's Secret Trip to Moscow, April 19-25, 1972

    Vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe, 1969-1972

    Poland

    Vol. XXXII, SALT I, 1969-1972

    Kissinger's Secret Trip to Moscow and Aftermath, April 19-May 17, 1972

    • 259. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, April 19, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 21, HAK Trip Files, HAK’s Secret Moscow Trip Apr 1972, TOHAK/HAKTO File [1 of 2]. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. Sent for action. For the full text of the memorandum, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XIV, Soviet Union, October 1971–May 1972, Document 125.

    • 260. Conversation Between President Nixon and His Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, April 19, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation No. 713–1. No classification marking. According to the President’s Daily Diary, Nixon met with Kissinger from 3:27 to 5:01 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files) The editor transcribed the portion of the conversation printed here specifically for this volume. A fuller transcription of the conversation is printed in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XIV, Soviet Union, October 1971–May 1972, Document 126.

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

    U.S. Relations with India and Pakistan, 1972

    • 252. Telegram 67415 From the Department of State to the Embassy in India, Washington, April 19, 1972, 1650Z

      Ambassador Keating was instructed to lodge a strong objection to the statement made by the Indian Foreign Minister in Parliament on April 17 concerning Vietnam. The U.S. considered the statement to be “a further unfriendly act on part of GOI,” and Keating was instructed to minimize his contacts with Indian officials for 2 weeks.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL INDIA-US. Secret; Priority; Nodis. Drafted on April 18 by Schneider; cleared in NEA by Davies, in EA by Deputy Assistant Secretary William H. Sullivan, and in the White House by Sonnenfeldt; and approved by Irwin.

    • 253. Telegram 67420 From the Department of State to the Embassy in India, Washington, April 19, 1972, 1650Z

      The Embassy was instructed to use the details of the proposed economic assistance program for South Asia provided in telegram 67420 to brief the Indian Government on the provisional nature of the $90 million allocation for India.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, AID (US) INDIA. Confidential; Immediate. Repeated to Islamabad and Dacca. Drafted on April 18 by Schneider; cleared by Laingen and Van Hollen, MacDonald (AID), and Saunders (White House); and approved by Irwin.

    Vol. E-13, Documents on China, 1969-1972

    • 123. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, April 19, 1972, 10:05 a.m.-12:52 p.m., Beijing, April 19, 1972, 10:05 a.m.-12:52 p.m.

      NSC staff member Lord provided President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger with a brief summary of Senators Mansfield and Scott’s trip to China.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1038, Files for the President-China Material, Mansfield/Scott Trip to China [April-May 1972]. The precise location of the meeting is not indicated on the memorandum. Lord transferred the memorandum to Kissinger under a May 12 covering memorandum that was sent for information. No classification marking appears on the memorandum of conversation. The covering memorandum is classified Secret; Sensitive. Attached but not published at Tabs A and B are Mansfield and Scott’s reports. Attached at Tab C of the covering memorandum are the memoranda of their conversations with Chou En-lai and Ch’iao Kuan-hua. The text of the first conversation is published herein and is presumably drafted by Norvil Jones, a staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Texts of the subsequent conversations are published as Documents 124–26. Tabs D and E are attached but not published.

    Vol. E-16, Documents on Chile, 1969-1973

    Cool and Correct: The U.S. Response to the Allende Administration, November 5, 1970-December 31, 1972

    • 110. Memorandum for the 40 Committee, Washington, April 19, 1972

      Summary: This memorandum requested funding for efforts to support the PIR after it left the UP governing coalition.

      Source: National Security Council, Nixon Intelligence Files, Subject Files, Chile, 1971–72. Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. A notation on the first page indicates the 40 Committee approved the memorandum by telephone on April 24.

  • 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)