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August 9, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Monday, August 9, 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: Sunday, August 8, 1971

Next Date: Tuesday, August 10, 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.

    No Federal Register published on this date

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, August 9th. The President had the morning clear, unfortunately, and called me in at 8:45, and I was there for over four hours, as he wandered through odds and ends with various people. He had Henry in for a good chunk of the time, and...

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      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 12, Side A, Withdrawn Item Number 7 [AC-12 (A), Sel 4]
      Duration: 28 seconds

      …discussed the whole Soviet problem, and the relationship to the Soviet pact with India. The President told Henry to give the Indian ambassador, at noon today, a direct threat that they were now at the point where they’ll have to make a conscious choice between going with us or with the Soviet. And that they should go into it with their eyes open and know what they're doing.
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      We talked about the question of the Chinese trip, vis-à-vis the Soviets, and some of the media reaction, and so forth. Some of the negatives are starting to come in now, but none of them seem to bother him very much. On the Hirohito visit, he wants to be sure it's played just as a gesture, because of it being the first time a Japanese Emperor has landed on US soil. This is not a State visit, and it's got to be handled very delicately, but put on with great style.

      In discussing when to meet with Ambassador Bunker, President felt it should be late this afternoon, and he wants to keep Vietnam on the back burner, not make a big thing out of it this time.

      He talked with Henry about meeting with Howard Stein and wanted him to sell him on what rats Muskie and all the other Democratic candidates are, and that the only man of character is McCarthy. The point here is that we'd like McCarthy in the race in a fourth party, and he wants Henry to sell Stein on backing him, by making the point that he's the only one with the intellectual capacity, capability of handling the job, and so on.

      He then got into the media study that's coming out in September and had all kinds of ideas on how we should be following up on that. He made the point that in '60 we had a worse job done on us than in '68, and we never corrected any of it, where JFK kicked them on every bad shot. 62' was the same deal in California. '68, despite overwhelming pounding, we came through. He makes the point that both '60 and '68 were really standoff elections, and that the public distrusts a lot of the press, so the press credibility is a problem for them, too. This proves to him the effect of local campaigning and of our use of television in '68, especially the regional telethons. He feels that lots of people saw the man on local media and that that overrode the network news coverage. He wants to set up a team and a game plan to develop a crew of listeners in the key states' local shows, not just the network shows, then figure out how to get at them when they jab us. He feels that we can have mediocre people handling magazines, newspapers, etcetera. But that we've got to realize the importance of TV, and that the columns are only important because of their influence on TV. He wants us to work on every broadcast from now on, with the book being the jumping-off point. Wants to start people talking about the book now, and get it to everyone who counts and kill the networks with it.

      We talked a little about the plans for attending the opening of the Kennedy Center, and he bought my idea of going the second night, not attending the main concert, and letting the Kennedys take the glory there, and he wants to get credit for taking that position. We discussed with Ron the possibility of another press conference this week and concluded that we would do one, so he's going on that basis.

      He got back on the writers again, still concerned that they don't read any books, and so they don't get any background or inspiration. And he's not getting anything from them arising from the mail. Still needs anecdotes. Still needs heart and fire instead of just dry, dull statistics.

      Later today, I learned that Connally was still in town, although we had expected him to go to Texas. He had stayed here because he didn't like the feel of the international monetary situation on Friday, and he's going to stick around through today and tomorrow morning to see what the reports are. He was also very disturbed about the Paul Scott column leak saying that Nixon's considering closing the gold window. He feels the whole market is very shaky, and he wants to stick around. So I set up a meeting for him with the President over at the EOB, and the President called me over to talk about the Paul Scott leak and wanted me to track it down, find out who did it, which is going to be very difficult to do. But, he suspects Peterson, as do I, but it's going to be very tough to pin it on anybody.

      Later, he had a meeting with Mitchell on general political things. John came in with a list of items, State's screw up with the textile situation, and the need to get Gurney in for a picture.

      That was about it.

      And the President closed out the day with his meeting with Ambassador Bunker.

      End of August 9th.
    • 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. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969-1972

    Foreign Assistance Policy, 1969-1972

    Trade and Commerce, 1969-1972

    Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

    South Asia Crisis, 1971

    • 116. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Irwin to President Nixon, New York, Washington, August 9, 1971

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 21 INDIA–USSR. Confidential. Drafted by Quainton; cleared by Schneider, Van Hollen, Igor N. Belousovitch (INR/RSE); and in draft by Laingen, Douglas M. Cochran, Chief of the South Asia Division (INR/RNA), and Wayne S. Smith (EUR/SOV).

    • 117. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, August 9, 1971, 1:15-2:30 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 643, Country Files, Middle East, India/Pakistan, July 1971. Secret. The meeting took place in Kissingerʼs office at the White House. The time of the meeting is from Kissingerʼs appointment book. (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 438, Miscellany, 1968–1976, Record of Schedule)

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

    Between Beijing and Moscow: Summit Announcement, July 19-October 12, 1971

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

    Vol. XXIV, Middle East Region and Arabian Peninsula, 1969-1972; Jordan, September 1970

    Indian Ocean

    Vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe, 1969-1972

    Hungary

    Vol. XL, Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    • 281. Message From the Ambassador to Germany (Rush) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Bonn, August 9, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 59, Country Files, Europe, Ambassador Rush, Berlin, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The message was sent through the special Navy channel in Frankfurt. No time of transmission is on the message; a handwritten note indicates that it was received in Washington at 1948Z.

    • 282. Message From the Ambassador to Germany (Rush) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Bonn, August 9, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 59, Country Files, Europe, Ambassador Rush, Berlin, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The message was sent through the special Navy channel in Frankfurt. No time of transmission is on the message; a handwritten note indicates that it was received in Washington at 1949Z.

    • 283. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, August 9, 1971

      Source: National Security Council, NSDM Files, NSDM 125. Secret; Exdis. Sent for action. Butterfield stamped the memorandum indicating that the President had seen it. In an August 9 memorandum to Kissinger, Downey explained that, “in accordance with your instructions, there is at Tab A a memo for the President setting out the state of the negotiations, the key issues, and the problem of the Consulate General.” (Ibid.) According to another copy, Downey drafted the memorandum to the President on August 9. (Ibid., SRG Files, SRG Meeting 8–6–71, Berlin Negotiations (NSSM 136))

    Vol. E-1, Documents on Global Issues, 1969-1972

    Oceans Policy

    • 408. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, August 9, 1971

      Kissinger recommended a strategy for resolving the fisheries dispute with Ecuador, and possibly Peru and Chile, while simultaneously advancing U.S. oceans policy in Law of the Sea negotiations.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 799, Country Files, Latin America, LA Gen., Vol. VI, Jul 71-1974. Secret; Exdis. Sent for action. A notation on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it. Nixon initialed approval of the recommendation on August 11 and wrote, “K inform Connally,” indicating he wished Kissinger to inform Treasury Secretary John B. Connally. Tab A is published as Document 406.

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

    Afghanistan, 1969-1972

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

  • 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)