December 11, 1971

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

• Original typewritten diary (PDF)

The President's day began at Camp David, Maryland

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.

• Letter Accepting the Resignation of David Packard as Deputy Secretary of Defense.

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.

• Federal Register of Saturday, December 11, 1971

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

• Senate: December 11, 1971
• Extensions of Remarks: December 11, 1971

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.

• News Summaries, Annotated News Summaries, Box 32, [Dec. 9-24, 1971] [2 of 3] [Note: Due to the way News Summary products were compiled, you should also consult nearby days for potentially relevant materials.]
  • News Summary, December 11, 1971, (Friday wires, networks, columns)

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)
  Saturday, December 11th.
  
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
  Audio Cassette 16, Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 18 [AC-16(B) Sel 14]
  Duration: 40 seconds
  
  Kissinger called this morning from the UN in New York. Thinks he has the Pakistan thing in good shape. They're going to push for a cease-fire and withdrawal at the UN with the idea losing it, and that will set the base for going with the cease-fire, on which we have a secret deal with the Soviets. He talked to Veronshov last night and thinks he's got it set up.
  
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Then, later in the day, after Henry got back down here, he called again, this time to say we're having terrible State Department problems now that Rogers is back. He doesn't want me to do anything about it now, but I may have to later. Apparently, Sisco was scheduled to go on Face the Nation tomorrow, and Rogers canceled him because there were differences between Sisco's backgrounder and Kissinger's backgrounder. And now Kissinger's backgrounder has been read into the Congressional Record by Barry Goldwater. So he doesn't want Sisco to have to face up to the differences and the disagreement. Henry's furious because he makes the point that now we're running a tremendous bluff and we need to demonstrate that we're a united government, and he's afraid that the fact of a disagreement will get out, especially with the Sisco cancellation. He thinks we may have to tell State where to head in for the duration of the crisis.
  
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
  Audio Cassette 16, Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 19 [AC-16(B) Sel 15]
  Duration: 5 seconds
  
  Also, he thinks the Chinese are going to hit in India within 72 hours.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  He says he showed Alex Johnson all the stuff they're working on, so State is fully informed. And he's saying I may have to call Rogers and demand a united government, but he doesn't think it's necessary to move on it yet.
  
  Shultz called this morning in a big stew, because there was a story in the New York News today saying Laird was fighting for a Defense budget of $81.5 billion, up $5 billion from this year's $76.5. Shultz feels this puts the President in a terrible position and louses up any possibility of a rational approach. George is also upset because he's discovered there was a Laird letter to the President, top secret sensitive that never officially went to the OMB. Although, NSC asked for some OMB help on it, so Laird, I mean, Shultz has seen it on a bootleg basis. The problem is Kissinger's man doesn't understand the difference between outlay and authority and is, therefore, screwing up the budget discussion, and Laird by this public move is putting us in an impossible position. When I pushed him, George said we need two things. First, the ability to sit down with Laird. The President keeps Shultz out of this, but Shultz thinks he should do it. At least to give him some straight talk, because Laird doesn't, hasn't even had a chance to be straightforward up to now on the budget. Because he doesn't know what our problem is. Second, we need some discipline on the leaks. We keep bouncing the little guys, and then the Secretary of Defense pulls one like this, and we let him get away with it. He says the article has a lot of information that's contained in the Laird memo to the President and therefore clearly is a Laird leak. He says the problem is that we have Kissinger as the sole channel, and then he's not in the channel and he's not available, and the show can't stop while Kissinger handles crises. Shultz doesn't know Kissinger's position on it, and Kissinger has a new staff man who isn't able to function, so that's a problem. We also have a problem today, I think, in that Laird put out a story on their huge cutting of the draft, because of the reduction by Congress in the size of the Army. This, seems to me, is going to badly hurt the President's January Vietnam announcement.
  
  Shultz made the point that he doesn't feel he has the President's confidence in this whole Defense area, and I think he's probably right. He called me back a little later, saying he still hadn't been able to reach Kissinger, but Laird had called him regarding the memo, which he had discovered Shultz hadn't seen, and so he was sending someone over with it. Shultz then went over the problem on the phone. Laird wasn't aware of it. Laird says he'll get into it with Bob Mood, his Assistant Secretary, who does understand the problem. Shultz read Laird the newspaper article, said it gets us locked in, we need to understand where we're going. Laird disclaimed any knowledge of it. Laird is down to 79.5 on the budget now, and Shultz says there's no problem if we can just get at it. He explained to him the $80 billion obligation authority line, and Laird agreed that was good. And then there's the other problem Laird was concerned about that apparently the President told Packard in the meeting yesterday that he was going to move the outlays around, and Laird is alarmed that the President is talking about this. Shultz feels that if he could just get into it with Laird he could solve it, but it has to be done with Laird. It can't be done with someone else.
  
  Then Peterson called all in a stew, because he'd been getting a lot of playback on Rumsfeld's operation from the Business Council and related type people, saying that they're very concerned that Rumsfeld doesn't understand business and economics and how things operate. That Weber and some of the others have done an outstanding job, but Rumsfeld conveys neither the economic viewpoint nor the business viewpoint, and thus alarms them from both counts. Peterson feels we should get Rumsfeld a Deputy to handle the in-depth presentations. He gives the feeling he doesn't understand the economics, and this could be a major contributor to the confusion and indecision we now have. I think basically Peterson's just maneuvering, but that was his line as of now.
  
  The President spent the whole day at Camp David.
  
  End of December 11th.
• 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

• Text search for December 11, 1971
• Date search for December 11, 1971

All National Archives Units

• Text search for December 11, 1971
• Date search for December 11, 1971

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.

• President's Daily Brief of 11 December 1971

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

Secretary-General Succession

• 240. Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State, New York, December 11, 1971, 0026Z

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 303, Agency Files, USUN, Vol. IX. Secret; Exdis. Repeated to Bucharest.

Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

South Asia Crisis, 1971

• 275. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, December 11, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 37, Presidentʼs Daily Briefs, Dec 1–Dec 16, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Codeword. A stamp on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it.

• 276. Backchannel Message From the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the Ambassador to Pakistan (Farland), Washington, December 11, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 643, Country Files, Middle East, India/Pakistan. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only; Flash. No time of transmittal is indicated on the message.

• 277. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and His Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), December 11, 1971, 3 p.m.

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. A handwritten note on the memorandum indicates that the conversation began “ca. 3:00 p.m.” The President spent Saturday, December 11, at Camp David and returned to Washington on Sunday; Kissinger was in Washington.

• 278. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and His Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 11, 1971, 7:30 p.m.

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. The President was at Camp David, Maryland; Kissinger was in Washington.

• 279. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Minister of the Soviet Embassy (Vorontsov), Washington, December 11, 1971, 7:35 p.m.

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. A handwritten note on the transcript estimates that the call was placed “circa 3 p.m.” Internal evidence establishes that the call was placed subsequent to the 7:30 conversation between Kissinger and the President.

• 280. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and Deputy Prime Minister Bhutto

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. No time is on the transcript. Kissinger was in Washington; Bhutto was in New York.

Vol. XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972

Indonesia

• 324. Message From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Indonesian General Sumitro, Washington, December 11, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 101, Backchannel Messages 1970, Indonesia, HAK/Sumitro 1970 [1 of 2].

Vol. XLI, Western Europe; NATO, 1969-1972

Western Europe Region and NATO

• 79. Telegram From the Department of State to All North Atlantic Treaty Organization Capitals, Washington, December 11, 1971, 0520Z

  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Executive Secretariat, Conference Files 1949–72, CF 529. Confidential. Drafted by Streator (EUR/RPM), approved by Pedersen, Hillenbrand, McGuire, Springsteen, and Harrington. Repeated to Moscow, Bucharest, Belgrade, Vienna, Budapest, Warsaw, Sofia, Prague, Helsinki, and Madrid;the Missions to the UN, EC, and Geneva; CINCEUR, SHAPE, SACLANT, COSOUTH, AREUR, NAVEUR, and USAFE.

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

India and Pakistan: Crisis and War, March-December 1971

• 174. Information Memorandum From the Director of the Planning and Coordination Staff (Cargo) to Secretary of State Rogers, Washington, December 11, 1971

  Cargo assessed U.S. interests in the South Asian crisis and stressed the importance of brokering a cease-fire in West Pakistan. Looking beyond the conflict, Cargo suggested the U.S. objective should be to establish a normal and positive relationship with the new Government of Bangladesh.
  
  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 27 INDIA–PAK. Secret; Sensitive; Nodis. A copy was sent to Sisco.

• 175. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Among the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan (Bhutto), the Pakistani Ambassador (Raza), and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), December 11, 1971, 7:28 p.m.

  Bhutto asked to meet with Nixon, and he and Raza pressed Kissinger for a firm public statement warning India to cease intervention in Pakistan.
  
  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File, 11–15 Dec 1971. No classification marking. Haig was also on the telephone. Kissinger and Haig were in Washington; Bhutto and Raza were in New York City.

Bangladesh, December 1971-December 1972

• 373. Telegram 5592 From the Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, Dacca, December 11, 1971, 1125Z

  Consul General Spivack recommended that the U.S. contact representatives of Bangladesh to “prevent them from assuming that we are inalterably opposed to idea of independent Bangla Desh or that we would take inordinately long to recognize a BDG substantially established in East Bengal.”
  
  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 16 BANGLA DESH. Secret; Immediate. Repeated to Islamabad, New Delhi, Calcutta, and London.

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.

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-7986 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-7986-02-06, President Nixon seated. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7986-07-09, Portrait of President Nixon leaning on a rail fence. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland outdoors. President Nixon.

Roll WHPO-7987 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-7987-04-23, President Nixon sitting on a couch, looking contemplative, working, writing. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland indoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7987-15, President Nixon sitting on a couch, looking contemplative, working, writing. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland indoors. President Nixon.

Roll WHPO-7988 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-04A-11A, President Nixon at Camp David, sitting in an armchair looking thoughtful. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland interior. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-12A-20A, President Nixon at Camp David sitting on a bench carved out of a log. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-13A, President Nixon wearing a leather jacket sitting on a bench carved out of a log at Camp David. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-16A, President Nixon sitting wearing a leather jacket with his hand on his chin. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-21A-34A, President Nixon at Camp David leaning on a fence rail. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland indoors, outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-22A, President Nixon wearing a leather jacket leaning on a tree at Camp David. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland indoors, outdoors. President Nixon.
• Frame(s): WHPO-7988-28A, President Nixon wearing a leather jacket leaning on a wooden fence at Camp David. 12/11/1971, Camp David, Maryland indoors, outdoors. President Nixon.

The White House Communications Agency Sound Recordings Collection contains public statements that took place between 1969 and 1974. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

H - White House Staff Member Recordings

• WHCA-SR-H-477
  Press briefing by Ronald Ziegler regarding resignation of David Packard. (12/11/1971, Press Center, White House)
  
  Runtime: 6:00
  
  Keywords: Press conferences, news conferences, interviews, media, press secretary
  
  Production credits: Audio feed supplied by WHCA; Recorded by LDH (initials of WHCA engineer)
  
  Original Format: 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape. Original source type: Original.

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-4875
  "Agronsky & Company".
  Undetermined
  Runtime: 00:29:51
• WHCA-4887
  Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
  ALL NETWORKS
  Runtime: 01:36:42
  
  13. Utley/Neal: High property taxes in Los Angeles, California exemptions not just. Time Code Start: 28:43. Keywords: property taxes, taxation, revenue, reforms, real estate, land, state taxes, deductions. Network: NBC.
  
  14. Mudd: Senator Church claims President Nixon is considering Pakistan plea for help. Time Code Start: 32:00. Keywords: Presidents, foreign aid, Asian, Pakistani, East Indian, war. Network: CBS.
  
  15. Mudd/Herman: Senator Javits establishes "Productivity Stations" (Paul Samuelson). Time Code Start: 32:40. Keywords: Senators. Network: CBS.

• New York Times of December 11, 1971

• AP Images photos from December 11, 1971
• Getty Images photos from December 11, 1971

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive is the world's most extensive and complete archive of television news. They have been recording, preserving and providing access to television news broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968.

• December 1971 Broadcast Index

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

• December 11, 1971