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April 28, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Wednesday, April 28, 1971, 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 27, 1971

Next Date: Thursday, April 29, 1971

Schedule and Public Documents

  • The Daily Diary files represent a consolidated record of the President's activities. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    The President's day began at The White House - Washington, D. C.

  • The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents made available transcripts of the President's news conferences; messages to Congress; public speeches, remarks, and statements; and other Presidential materials released by the White House.

    Digitized versions can be found at HathiTrust.

  • Each Public Papers of the Presidents volume contains the papers and speeches of the President of the United States that were issued by the White House Office of the Press Secretary during the time period specified by the volume. The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events. In instances when the release date differs from the date of the document itself, that fact is shown in the text note.

    To ensure accuracy, remarks have been checked against audio recordings (when available) and signed documents have been checked against the original, unless otherwise noted. Editors have provided text notes and cross references for purposes of identification or clarity.

  • The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other Presidential documents.

  • The Congressional Record is the official daily record of the debates and proceedings of the U.S. Congress.

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 News Summaries, Box 30, News Summaries - April 1971 [During this period, the Staff Secretary only removed pages from the News Summaries which contained President Nixon's handwriting, often leaving the document with no date. Although there are no specific documents with this date, you should also consult the full folder for the month.]

  • 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 28.

      The President spent the day in press conference preparation supposedly, but because this gave him free time, I got caught for some long sessions, including an especially long one this morning with Henry. He started-- the President, before that, started out telling me about a couple of memos he had written, one to me and one to Ehrlichman, on problems from yesterday. Ehrlichman's regarding the cancer program; the President's convinced by Elmer Bobst that we should not put this in the NIH, but rather should set up our own agency to do it, so that we can get some credit and get some steam behind it with a real manager and PR-type running it, instead of a doctor. Then, on the Voluntary Action Program, he sent a memo to me because he was thoroughly disgusted by the group that Etherington turned out for the reception last night. When Henry came in, we got into a discussion of a number of other things, and then the President led into his major development, which I won't cover here in specifics but only for recall. Henry reviewed the past record and read the current document. Continued on the other side.

      [End of tape reel AC-07(A)]

      [Begin tape reel AC-07(B)]

      Continuing Wednesday April 28. Regarding Henry’s major development he read me the background and then the current document and then there was a long discussion about implementation. Primarily, the question of selection of an emissary, with the President ruling out himself or Rogers, and then ruling out Kissinger, because that would break all the china with State. This boiled it down to David Bruce, or the remote possibility of Nelson Rockefeller. This was discussed in some detail along with timing and various potential outcomes and scenarios, with no decisions made at that time. We had another session in the afternoon at the EOB, and Henry had his thoughts more in line by then and made the point that he was the only one who really could handle this, and that the way to go at it was in effect to set it up for the President, with a secret meeting prior to that with Henry; and that's the way it was left as Henry took off late this afternoon for a week in Palm Springs. No action will be taken for a week or ten days, and then we'll start moving from there.

      All of this led the President to quite a lot of discussion about the need to build a stronger team, which apparently he'd given a lot of thought to last night, and got into the whole question of the lack of strength in the Cabinet. We also got into a discussion of shifting around the timing of the Midway trip and will probably now wait until the latter part of June, instead of trying to do it on the anniversary on the 8th. The President agreed to do this only if Henry would promise that he could announce the end of the draft, or the end of sending draftees to Vietnam, on the 8th, so that we'd have some announcement at that time.

      Later-- earlier today we were in something of a flap over Rogers' speech yesterday in London at the SEATO meeting, where he gave a speech on China, which was singularly inappropriate. Haig called me at home tonight even more upset because he'd given another speech today, this time saying that in our moves with China or Russia the action might offend the other party, but if it did, that was just a dividend that we would get out it. This, of course, is a horrifying thing, and Haig wanted me to send a cable, as did Kissinger, to Rogers telling him to say nothing more on China. I agreed to do it, and then later in checking with the President by phone, he felt I should not send a cable, but should wait and call Rogers on the phone tomorrow. Which I am now going to do.

      There was a little flap with Shultz late this afternoon, as he said he had to see the President regarding the minimum wage decision. The President didn't want to do it, because he was working on the press conference, but did call him on the phone. It turned out that Shultz was trying to get a decision tonight on whether to go for a $2 minimum wage, and the reason being that Hodgson has to testify tomorrow. The President refused to make the decision, told him to delay it, say nothing, and that the Administration position will not be decided for a week. The President came up with an idea tonight for moving Bob Ellsworth back here to head up OEP and having General Lincoln go take the NATO job, a direct switch. It might work pretty well. It sounds like a good idea in any event. He called several times concerning the question of whether or not to use a podium for the press conference, whether to eliminate the platform and put him at ground level, whether or not he would use makeup. Obviously, he's spending some time on the mechanics. He also called one time in great glee because he had learned the market was up to 950 today, on 24 million shares, second highest day in history. The upswing is really pleasing to him.

      End of April 28.
    • 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. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

    UN Finances and Reduction of the U.S. Assessment

    Vol. VII, Vietnam, July 1970-January 1972

    The Consequences of Operation Lan Som 719 and the Search for a Settlement, April 8-October 6, 1971

    Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

    South Asia Crisis, 1971

    Vol. XIII, Soviet Union, October 1970-October 1971

    "One of Two Routes": Soviet-American Relations and Kissinger's Secret Trip to China, April 23-July 18, 1971

    • 198. Conversation Among President Nixon, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), and the White House Chief of Staff (Haldeman), Washington, April 28, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Conversation 252–20. No classification marking. The editors transcribed the portions of the tape recording printed here specifically for this volume. According to the President’s Daily Diary, Nixon met Kissinger in the Executive Office Building from 4:51 to 5:49 p.m.; Haldeman joined the meeting at 5:20. (Ibid., White House Central Files) Haldeman described the discussion in his diary as follows: “We had another session in the afternoon at the EOB, and Henry had his thoughts more in line then and made the point that he was the only one who really could handle this [secret trip to China], and that the way to go at it was in effect to set it up for the P, with a secret meeting prior to that with Henry; and that’s the way it was left as Henry took off late this afternoon for a week in Palm Springs. No action will be taken for a week or ten days, and then we’ll start moving from there.” (Haldeman, Haldeman Diaries: Multimedia Edition)

    Vol. XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972

    Thailand

    Vol. E-2, Documents on Arms Control and Nonproliferation, 1969-1972

    Chemical and Biological Warfare; Geneva Protocol; Biological Weapons Convention

    • 225. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, April 28, 1971

      Kissinger briefed the President on the Soviet draft convention prohibiting biological weapons and summarized the main points of an attached memorandum from Rogers on the subject.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 312, Subject Files, Chemical, Biological Warfare (Toxins, etc.), Vol. IV [Part I]. Confidential. Sent for information. A stamped notation on the memorandum indicated the President saw it. The instructions at Tab C were transmitted in Document 226.

    • 226. Telegram 72644 From the Department of State to the Mission in Geneva, Washington, April 28, 1971, 1647Z

      The telegram transmitted the U.S. response to the Soviet draft convention banning the production and stockpile of biological weapons that had been discussed at the March 30 Conference of the Committee on Disarmament. It also included instructions on the negotiating strategy for a possible biological weapons convention.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 312, Subject Files, Chemical, Biological Warfare (Toxins, etc.), Vol. IV [Part I]. Confidential; Priority. It was repeated to USNATO, Moscow, USUN, USDel SALT, and London. Drafted by McCormack (ACDA/IR); cleared by Farley (ACDA), Pickering (PM), Anderson (DOD/ISA), DE PALMA (IO), Rhinelander (L), and Kissinger; and approved by Rogers.

    • 227. Telegram 72645 From the Department of State to the Mission in Geneva, Washington, April 28, 1971, 1648Z

      The telegram transmitted the revised draft text of the Biological Weapons Convention.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 312, Subject Files, Chemical, Biological Warfare (Toxins, etc.), Vol. IV [Part I]. Confidential. It was repeated to USNATO, Moscow, USUN, USDel SALT IV, and London. Drafted by McCormack and Neidle (ACDA/IR); cleared by Farley (ACDA), Pickering (PM), Anderson (DOD/ISA), De Palma (IO), Rhinelander (L), and Kissinger; and approved by Rogers.

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

    Mexico

    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

    • 65. Telegram From the Embassy in Chile to the Department of State, Santiago, April 28, 1971, 1935Z

      Summary: In this telegram, Korry reported that Allende was not adequately attending to the details of state and concluded that, despite the President’s considerable political abilities, Allende’s behavior would hurt Chile in the long run.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 15–1 CHILE. Confidential; Immediate; Exdis.

  • 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)