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August 24, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Tuesday, August 24, 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: Monday, August 23, 1971

Next Date: Wednesday, August 25, 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 San Clemente, California

  • 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.

  • 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.

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)
      Tuesday, August 24.

      The President came in just before 10:00 this morning. He had a 10:00 appointment with Ambassador Porter, which he didn't realize he had. He came in wearing a sport shirt with no tie. So he shifted the Porter appointment, chatted with me, changed his clothes, met with Porter, and then with John Mitchell. Then had Henry and me in for a while, finally got out around 3:00.

      The Porter meeting, I guess, went very well. The President seemed to be quite impressed with him and feels he's going to do a good job in Paris, and that he seems to understand the situation very well. The meeting with Mitchell was basically on California politics. We first got into the question of our dealings with labor, and President felt that Shultz is still the guy to talk to Meany, that Hodgson shouldn't do it. I reported a phone call I had from John Ehrlichman, saying that Hodgson thought that labor was beginning to crack on the freeze now, and the sub-leaders of the unions were calling, asking if all this strife, and so on, was necessary. Hodgson thinks we have a chance to get through to labor, if we approach it right, and that Meany may acquiesce some. So we talked about that. Mitchell reported on his dinner with the Reagans, at which there was a great deal of carping about a lot of trivia, mainly from Nancy Reagan. They're concerned because there's a conservative meeting in Houston that's basically a conservative rebellion, especially regarding national defense. And the President got upset about that, said the conservatives are aiming at the wrong target—they should be hitting the Congress, not the President—that we need to posture in the public mind that we are for national defense. ‘Cause we're getting a bad rap on that. Mitchell recommended Reagan as the Chairman in California, with Firestone and another liberal-type as Vice Chairmen. He said Finch is more or less in agreement with this, but waffles on it some. He thinks we need someone out here to keep the factors together, and who knows the players. He recommended Nofziger for that. The President shot that down, saying that Nofziger's too much of a loner, can't operate as a political man and is not a managerial type. We then talked about other possibilities as the guy to run the campaign here, came up with Bob Volk and John Flanigan as the only two worth pursuing. The President kept coming back to the conservative rebellion, and obviously that report concerned him. We talked about some general political things, the fact that Stein should be-- continue to be encouraged to keep McCarthy in the race if he can.

      The President returned a call to Mayor Daley, who wanted to discuss the Northern Ireland Catholic problem with him, and at the same time, Daley told the President that he had made another statement urging labor not to play politics on the economic deal and to support the President.

      Henry was in, discussing the problem of the Vietnam election again, which does pose a serious problem. President is strongly toying now with releasing the fact of our secret negotiations: blowing the channel and forcing them to deal with us publicly, and then attacking the Senate opponents, and saying they forced us to abandon our secret negotiations, and so on. Kissinger also got back on the line of what a real heartbreak the whole war situation is, because we really won the war, and if we just had one more dry season, the opponents would break their backs. And this, of course, is the same line he's used for the last two years, over and over, and I guess, all of Johnson's advisors used with him, to keep the thing escalating. I'm sure they really believe it at the time, but it's amazing how it sounds like a broken record.

      The President took off for the afternoon, called me late in the afternoon to report that the oil slick from a leaking naval ship had fouled his beach, so he can't use it. And he had decided to invite the Mitchells to his dinner with the Reagans tomorrow night, told me to have-- for me and the rest of the staff to take the next two days off.

      End of August 24.
    • 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. VII, Vietnam, July 1970-January 1972

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

    • 252. Memorandum for the President’s File, San Clemente, August 24, 1971, 10:45 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1025, Presidential/HAK Memcons, MemCon between President and Amb. William J. Porter Re: Paris Peace Talks, Aug. 24, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting was held in the President’s office in the Western White House. According to Nixon’s Daily Diary, it ended at 11:28 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files)

    Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

    South Asia Crisis, 1971

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

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

    Argentina

    • 71. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, August 24, 1971., Washington, August 24, 1971

      President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger informed President Nixon that President Lanusse would request assistance from the Soviet Union if the United States did not give assistance to Argentina. The Argentine leader also requested a personal representative from Nixon to travel to Argentina to discuss the country’s economic problems.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 768, Country Files, Latin America, Argentina 1969–71. Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent for action. The memorandum was approved by “Haig for HAK for Pres.” Written on the bottom of the second page, in an unknown hand, was, “8/24–Nachmanoff and Kennedy alerted.” Attached but not published is an August 14 memorandum with Lanusse’s request for assistance, which is discussed at the end of the first paragraph. Attached but not published is Tab A, an August 25 memorandum from Kissinger to the Secretaries of State and the Treasury informing them that the President had decided to send a personal representative to President Lanusse. Attached but not published at Tab B is an undated backchannel in which Nixon informed Lanusse he planned to send a personal representative to Argentina.

    Bolivia

  • 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

  • The White House Photo Office collection consists of photographic coverage of President Richard Nixon meeting with prominent social, political, and cultural personalities; speaking engagements and news conferences of the President and various high-ranking members of the White House staff and Cabinet; Presidential domestic and foreign travel, including Presidential vacations; social events and entertainment involving the First Family, including entertainers present; official portraits of the President, First Family, and high-ranking members of the Nixon administration; the 1969 and 1973 Inaugurals; the President’s 1972 Presidential election campaign appearances (including speeches) and other official activities of the White House staff and the President’s Cabinet from January 20, 1969 until August 9, 1974 at the White House and the Old Executive Office Building; other locations in Washington, DC, such as The Mall; and the Presidential retreats in Camp David, Maryland, Key Biscayne, Florida, and San Clemente, California. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    Roll WHPO-7151 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-7151-03-13, President Nixon seated informally in his office during a meeting with William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, La Casa Pacifica, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-7151-09, President Nixon seated informally in his office during a meeting with William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, La Casa Pacifica, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter.

    Roll WHPO-7152 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-7152-02A-09A, President Nixon seated informally in his office during a meeting with William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations, and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter, Henry Kissinger, reporters, photographers, press photographers.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-7152-03A, President Nixon seated informally in his office during a meeting with William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations, and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter, Henry Kissinger.

    Roll WHPO-7153 Photographer: Schumaker, Byron | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-7153-02-04, President Nixon sitting with Henry Kissinger and William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter, Henry Kissinger, press photographers.

    Roll WHPO-7154 Photographer: Schumaker, Byron | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-7154-01-08, President Nixon sitting with Henry Kissinger and William Porter, U.S. Ambassador to the Paris Peace Negotiations. 8/24/1971, San Clemente, California Western White House, Presidential Office. President Nixon, William Porter, Henry Kissinger, press photographers.

  • The White House Communications Agency Videotape Collection contains “off-the-air” recordings of televised programs produced between 1968 and 1974. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    • WHCA-4601
      NBC Special: "Ninety Day Freeze", part II. President Nixon's "Phase One" wage/price controls television personality Hugh Downs, cartoonist Bill Maudlin, Jinx Falkenberg, Bob Meisner.
      Daphne Productions and Roland & Jaffee Productions
      Runtime: 00:34:34

Context (External Sources)