1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Almanac

December 15, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Friday, December 15, 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: Thursday, December 14, 1972

Next Date: Saturday, December 16, 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.

    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)
      Friday, December 15th. The President's foot is still bothering him. He said this morning he had taken his bandage off and he felt that he probably had a splinter or broken bone. It doesn't hurt when he stands on it or when he's sitting, but does hurt when he walks, so he's limping very badly and is concerned about any events that require him to do any major walking. He got into some personnel questions--, on the foot, he refuses to see a doctor or do anything about it, says wearing a shoe is just as good as having a splint, and he doesn't want to make a big fuss about it.

      On personnel, he got into the ambassadors' thing...

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 28, Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 25 [AC-28(B) Sel 12]
      Duration: 16 seconds

      …changed his mind and does not want to make Sweden a black post after all. He wants to give it to a hard line right winger who will be very strong on draft dodgers then put a black in Norway or Denmark instead.
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Now he's come up with definitely wanting to move Ed David to NASA, so he can make a move on the, put the woman in charge of the AEC. We went through a whole round of ambassador things with Kissinger and decided to put Hill in the Assistant Secretary spot for Africa, Kubisch for Latin America, Farland for the Mideast, and Godly for East Asia. Move Sisco to Pakistan, Macomber to Turkey, Whitehouse to Laos, and Martin to Saigon.

      He made the point that he wants to be sure Scali to know he's to go to mass regularly, see Cook frequently, and wanted to develop the question of whether he's the first Catholic to go to the United Nations.

      Then we got into the whole question of Kissinger's briefing. He had Ehrlichman in, or Ziegler in first thing this morning. Said that they should go ahead on the Kissinger briefing at 11:30, but that there should be no extravaganza over in the White House, it should just be in the press room. Then Ziegler should plan to do the bombing and mining briefing on Saturday, making the point that these are just precautionary measures in the face of a North Vietnam buildup. The President has stated that bombing and mining would continue until we get our minimum conditions of POW's and cease-fire, and he says that the point is that bombing for a couple of weeks would put us in a good position. Ron raised the point of the Time magazine Men of the Year thing. The President said Kissinger is not to see them under any circumstances; that I'm to order him to do no interviews, social, return calls, or anything to Time. And he told me to call the White House operators to turn those calls off to Henry, which, of course, I can't do. He's written a long memo to Kissinger, which he was having typed up while Ron and I were meeting with him regarding guidance on the thing.

      He had Ron and Henry and me in a little later in the morning, and Henry had convinced him he should not have his press conference today, because of some statements by the North Vietnamese and other general developments. So the plan was to hold, the original plan was to have the press conference today, then start the military actions tomorrow, and the massive bombing on Sunday. But then Le Duc Tho said this morning that they'd agreed not to comment on the talks and that he remains optimistic. So Henry thinks we have an alternate course of letting it ride today, and then Kissinger going on tomorrow, start the minor action on Sunday and the massive action on Monday. One problem with following the original scenario would be that we would be bombing while Le Duc Tho was in Peking, which would cause a heavier reaction.

      The President then read his entire memo, which must have been four or five pages, read it to us, then he told Kissinger he wants to make the President appear to be the tough guy all the way through; that we should set it up today for Kissinger to go tomorrow. The President said I would rather bomb on Monday, unless you think we really need to do it on Sunday. He didn't like the idea of having a Sunday church service while he was bombing. Kissinger said he feels better than he has in weeks, because now we're in control of things again, instead of being in the position of the rabbit with two snakes at hi—one on each side. The President got back to discussing what Henry ought to do. He said to be nonspecific on the details, and did a lot on building up of his spirit and all. The President was obviously trying to maneuver Henry into the right frame of mind on how to approach the whole thing. And he said that…

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 28 Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 27 [AC-28(B) Sel 14]
      Duration: 25 seconds

      …as of January 1, the war is over. We'll just continue to bomb and mine until we get out POW’s back. But, we have to have the Soviets and all the rest think the President's is the meanest in the world, and the only good thing regarding the settlement now is that we get the POW’s.
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      He told Ziegler again, to work Henry over on all these points and not to let him drop the ball. After they left, the President made the point that he was very concerned about Henry's mood and said, well, he's happy now, because we're going back to the bombing, but that's the wrong approach. He wanted to be sure that Henry had a very hard briefing before he goes out to the press tomorrow, because his press things have been disasters. He must try to be effective, rather than being brilliant. He wants to be sure that we have Colson and his crew geared up for a full support of the bombing thing, if we, when we start in on it.

      He then got into the point he's been making quite frequently the last several days, that we've got to get hold of the government, and he's concerned about Kissinger, Ehrlichman, Whitaker, and Flanigan. They’re just, they don't get the point that as to how we've got to do it, and with Shultz, you just have to go through the agony, but on the others, maybe we can make the point to them, that it's far more important to get the government lined up, and therefore, the President ought to get the people into the office from time to time, that that's more important than preparing for a press conference. Maybe we should be doing memos like we did last night for Kissinger. And he says so I need my time cleared away, so I can give these people guidance. He keeps saying he has the feeling that the government's out of control; that the people we have don't know what to say and don't know how to say it, so we aren't getting our points across. I don't quite put those two things together, but anyway. He says Flanigan and Whitaker have no subtlety or pizzazz, and even though they're loyal, they don't get our points across.

      He called Mike Mansfield while I was in the office, referred to his meeting with Hugh Scott, then said when you all get back in June, instead of the President being tied down to the weekly meeting with the GOP, we'll have monthly or biweekly GOP Leaders' meetings. But would like to have a fairly regular occasion, if we can get the right small bipartisan group to sit down, and talk about things: maybe Scott and Griffin, Ford and Arends, plus Mike and Byrd and Alliton, the new leader in the House, to just chat about the general work load and so on. I don't want to get into the Congressional-White House confrontation. I'd like you to think about this, how we would do it. Also, I want to continue the two man meetings with just Mike and the President, also Carl sometimes. For example, on reorganization that we're doing now, it doesn't involve the Congress, just the President and the Departments, and we should bring in the key chairmen and talk it all over. There are a few special problems, such as Long and Mills and Mahon that I'll have to handle directly. We want a meeting, I want a meeting with Mike alone, right after January 2nd, regarding the best way to go about doing this. I'm not suggesting any permanent honeymoon, but there are some areas where we can work together, such as Energy; Scoop Jackson was in to report on his trip and also covered the whole energy thing, which cuts across all lines.

      As we look at the political scene, for instance, Connally thinks that in the years to come, people are going to be voting men, not parties, so we can't act on a party versus party basis. We have an opportunity to think how we can work with a divided government to find areas to agree and to reduce the partisan thing. A few sensitive people should talk and work it out. We do have some problems with our partisans on both sides, but let's at least talk about it. It's based, he's basing this conclusion on Timmons's view and his recommendation, because Bill said we can't go ahead with the President just meeting with the GOP, we have to do more than just work with the minority. He told Mike he was at liberty to discuss this with anyone he liked, but not to let it get into the press. He also told him to call Korologos and talk it over with him and said that if Truman dies, we'll be in touch with him to work out the arrangements on that.

      I had a whole series of personnel meetings today. I met with Anne Armstrong and she came in with the pitch that, based on what the President seemed to be trying to accomplish in the meeting yesterday, she had an idea. She had gone home and looked over the White House staff roster and discovered to her great surprise that I wasn't the top person on the staff, it was Finch and Rumsfeld, because of being counselors and with Cabinet rank. She said if you really want to build up the women thing, why not make her a counselor, give her Cabinet rank and solve all your problems? I completely agreed with her, and told her I would discuss it with the President. She had some other ideas on women personnel things that she also reviewed with me.

      Then I had a meeting with Finch, who was worried about the GSA facility in Laguna Niguel that we should be pushing for the President's interest. He pushed Firestone for Ambassador to Britain. He was worried about the Voluntary Action thing merging with the Urban Coalition, which is some deal Romney’s promoting, and thinks we ought to put Gregg Petersmeyer in the NRC, to build up a cadre of young people.

      John Connally called. He on his way to Saudi Arabia said he'd call Malek on people ideas. Covered a lot of items and mentioned several of them to me that he wanted followed up.

      I had a long meeting with Stans on his whole campaign thing. He reports that on the financing deal, we spent $47.5 million, but we had budgeted $43 million. And he thinks there's another million, maybe in, at the most, in backup bills. He says he collected $51 million, so he's got something like $2.5 million or $3 million in overage, and he's concerned about what to do with it. Thinks he should transfer it to a cleanup fund before December 31, use what's needed to pay for litigation, contingent liabilities on taxes if we have to pay them, and some refunds to noisy contributors who were upset about appointments. Then he had eight alternatives for use of the funds: one, return to the contributors at about 5 percent; two, carry it to '74; three, carry it to '76; four, turn it over to the RNFC; five, turn it over to the Senate and House campaign committees; six, distribute it to the Republican State Committees; seven, pay off campaign debts; and eight, establish a GOP endowment fund to earn money for the Party. He says Dominick and Wilson both say that money was no problem in any case they know of among the candidates that lost. He says he's got half to a million in commitments that can be capitalized on for '74. He went through a whole schedule of how he wants to handle the recognition of major contributors, and his bad list of guys that need to be whacked. He wants to be sure that Malek's working with him on personnel stuff.

      End of December 15th.
    • 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

    Trade and Commerce, 1969-1972

    • 286. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, December 15, 1972, 6 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Agency Files, Box 290, Treasury, Volume III. Secret; Nodis. The meeting was held in Shultz’ office. Drafted by Hormats and forwarded to Kissinger under cover of a December 18 memorandum, in which Hormats noted: “The consensus of the meeting was that we should go forward with a comprehensive trade bill giving the President the authority to implement tariff reductions. The dissent from the consensus was Volcker (Treasury) and Shultz tilted towards his position. Timing of submission will depend in large part on the timing of the President’s foreign policy initiatives—specifically the ÔYear of Europe’.” Earlier on December 15 Sonnenfeldt and Hormats sent Kissinger a memorandum marked “urgent action” regarding that evening’s meeting, indicating their understanding that Shultz might be inclined not only to forego enabling legislation, but also to postpone trade negotiations for at least a year. Hormats and Sonnenfeldt thought Kissinger should give Shultz political input on the importance of moving ahead in 1973 with negotiations based on a firm legislative mandate. (Ibid.) Kissinger apparently was unable to attend the meeting and Hormats attended for the National Security Council.

    Vol. IX, Vietnam, October 1972-January 1973

    The Christmas Bombings, December 14-29, 1972

    Vol. XV, Soviet Union, June 1972-August 1974

    Summit Preparations; Jackson-Vanik Amendment; Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons, December 1972-April 1973

    • 70. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 15, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 67, Country Files—Europe—USSR, Map Room, Aug. 1972–May 1973 [1 of 3]. Confidential; Sensitive; Eyes Only. A handwritten note at the top of the memorandum reads: “Map Room, Breakfast, Dec. 16, 1972, 8:30 a.m.” According to Kissinger’s Record of Schedule, he met with Dobrynin in the Map Room from 8:42 to 9:50 a.m. on December 16. (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 438, Miscellany, 1967–76) No other record of Kissinger’s conversation with Dobrynin has been found.

    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

    The Two Yemens

    • 198. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, December 15, 1972

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, DEF 19–8 US–YEMEN. Confidential. Drafted on December 18 by Buck. Sisco sent talking points to Davies in a December 15 memorandum. (Ibid., POL UK–US)

    Vol. XXXIII, SALT II, 1972-1980

    SALT II, 1972-1980

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

    U.S. Policy Towards Terrorism, Hijacking of Aircraft, and Attacks on Civil Aviation: The Olympic Attack and the Anti-Terrorism Initiatives, September−December 1972

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

    Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Implementation of Safeguard System

    • 62. Telegram 227180 From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany, Washington, December 15, 1972, 2318Z

      The telegram discussed the reasons for the delay in signature of the Euratom-IAEA safeguards agreement. Disagreements over the limitation of inspector access were of particular importance to the delay. The postponement of the signature raised “serious problems” for the United States as it would suspend the implementation of the agreement, pave the way for those nations which had not adhered to the NPT, and raise additional obstacles in the U.S. Congress.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–1973, AE 3 EURATOM. Limited Official Use. It was also sent to The Hague, and Vienna. It was repeated to EC Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, and Rome. Drafted by Boright (ACDA); cleared in IO/SCT, EUR/GER, EUR/RPE, and USAEC/IP; and approved by Brewster (SCI/AE).

  • 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

  • Visit the White House Tapes finding aid to learn about the taping system's operation and archival processing.

    Oval Office

    White House Telephone

  • 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-D1109 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1109-05A-26A, Closeup portrait of Ron Walker wearing a trench coat jacket. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. outside, White House. Ron Walker.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1109-07A, Closeup portrait of Ron Walker wearing a trench coat jacket and smiling. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. outside, White House. Ron Walker.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1109-27A-28A, Standing portrait of Ron Walker wearing a knit sweater. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. outside, White House. Ron Walker.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1109-28A, Standing portrait of Ron Walker wearing a knit sweater and smiling. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. outside, White House. Ron Walker.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1109-29A-34A, Closeup portrait of Ron Walker wearing a knit sweater. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. outside, White House. Ron Walker.

    Roll WHPO-D1110 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1110-07-23, Closeup portrait of James Dwight, Assistant Director of OMB. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Office. James Dwight.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1110-24-29, Portrait of James Dwight, Assistant Director of OMB, working at his desk. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Office. James Dwight.

    Roll WHPO-D1111 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1111-01A-03A, 06A, Vice President Agnew, Judy Agnew, Mayor Walter Washington, and unidentified officials on stage at the National Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, unidentified persons, young girl scout, children.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1111-04A-05A, Vice President Agnew and Judy Agnew shaking hands with a young girl at the National Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Mayor Washington, unidentified young girl.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1111-07A, 09A, Vice President Agnew and Judy Agnew shaking hands with a young boy at the National Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, unidentified young girl.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1111-10A-13A, The newly lit National Christmas after the lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, unidentified young girl.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1111-14A, Vice President Agnew shaking hands with a crowd of children at the National Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, unidentified young girl.

    Roll WHPO-D1112 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-04-14, 17, Vice President Agnew, Judy Agnew, Mayor Walter Washington, and others at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, unidentified persons, children.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-15-16, 23-26, 31-33, The National Christmas tree and surrounding displays after the lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, unidentified persons, children.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-21, The Washington Monument seen from the Christmas tree displays area. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, unidentified persons, children.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-27, White House seen from the Ellipse, framed by Christmas tree boughs. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse, White House.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-27-30, 34, White House seen from the Ellipse, framed by Christmas tree boughs. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse, White House. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, unidentified persons, children.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1112-33, The National Christmas tree and surrounding displays after the lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.

    Roll WHPO-D1116 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1116-04-07, Official portrait painting of Vice President Agnew. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. unknown.

    Roll WHPO-D1117 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1117-02-05, Unidentified man standing near a White House floral Christmas decoration. (this is not White House florist Rusty Young). 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. State Dining Room, Blue Room, White House. unidentified man.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1117-06-18, President Nixon, Pat Nixon and Julie Eisenhower greeting re-election campaign officials and supporters near White House Christmas tree. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. State Dining Room, Blue Room, White House. President Nixon, Pat Nixon, Julie Eisenhower, guests.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1117-19-22, President Nixon and Pat Nixon greeting the James Madison High School Madrigal Singers. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. State Dining Room, Blue Room, White House. President Nixon, Pat Nixon, Julie Eisenhower, High School choir student and director.

    Roll WHPO-D1118 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1118-00, The Washington Monument and the National Christmas tree view from tree displays area. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1118-03A-29A, Vice President Agnew, Judy Agnew, Mayor Walter Washington, and other officials on stage at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, Walter Washington, officials, chorus.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1118-30A-33A, Christmas tree ball ornament reflection of another lit tree. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1118-34A, The Washington Monument and the National Christmas tree view from tree lighting stage. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1118-37A-38A, White House façade at night. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.

    Roll WHPO-D1119 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1119-02A-05A, Officials on the stage during The National Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse. officials, choir, audience.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1119-06A-08A, 11A, The National Christmas tree after the lighting ceremony. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1119-09A-10A, Christmas tree lane display near the National Christmas tree, White House in background. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.

    Roll WHPO-D1121 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1121-03A-07A, The Washington Monument seen through lit Christmas trees at night. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1121-08A-13A, White House as framed by Christmas tree lights at night. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1121-10A, The White House seen through the Ellipse display lit Christmas trees at night. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.

    Roll WHPO-D1122 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1122-03-36, The National Christmas tree lit up at night, with the White House visible in the background. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1122-25, The National Christmas tree lit up at night, with the White House visible in the background. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-D1122-28, The National Christmas tree lit up at night, with the White House visible in the background. 12/15/1972, Washington, D.C. Ellipse.

  • 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.

    B - Vice-Presidential (Agnew and Ford)

    • WHCA-SR-B-238
      Remarks at the National Christmas Tree Lighting-The Ellipse. (12/15/1972)

      Runtime: 7:50

      Original Format: 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape. Original source type: Original.

    H - White House Staff Member Recordings

    • WHCA-SR-H-674
      Press briefing by Ronald Ziegler and David Taylor of NEC. (12/15/1972, Press Lobby, White House)

      Runtime: 36:00:00

      Keywords: Press conferences, news conferences, interviews, media, press secretary

      Production credits: Audio feed supplied by WHCA; Recorded by ACH (initials of WHCA engineer)

      Original Format: 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape. Original source type: Original.

    L - White House Press Office Briefings

    • WHCA-SR-L-090
      Press briefing by Ronald Ziegler. (12/15/1972, White House Press Lobby)

      Runtime: 36:00:00

      Keywords: Press conferences, news conferences, interviews, media, press secretary

      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-5954
      Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
      ALL NETWORKS
      Runtime: 01:35:07

      1. Reasoner/Rolfson: Paris peace talks; Vietnam. Time Code Start: 00:00. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: ABC.

      2. Reasoner/Gill: John Scali to become United Nations (U.N.) ambassador. Time Code Start: 03:06. Keywords: organization of nations, intergovernmental alliance. Network: ABC.

      3. Reasoner: Commentary on consensus politics. Time Code Start: 04:31. Keywords: politics, evalutations, public opinions, polls, approval ratings, Gallup poll, Harris poll. Network: ABC.

      4. Chancellor/Valeriani: Paris peace talks; Vietnam. Time Code Start: 06:20. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: NBC.

      5. Chancellor: Scali may become next United Nations (U.N.) ambassador. Time Code Start: 08:37. Keywords: organization of nations, intergovernmental alliance. Network: NBC.

      6. Cronkite/Kalisher/Rather: Paris peace talks; no peace before Christmas; Vietnam. Time Code Start: 09:02. Keywords: Vietnam War, government, officials, meetings, ending, Christmas. Network: CBS.

      7. Sevareid: Commentary on Congressional reform. Time Code Start: 12:28. Keywords: House of Representatives, legislation, reforms. Network: CBS.

      8. Cronkite: Scali may become United Nations (U.N.) ambassador. Time Code Start: 14:52. Keywords: organization of nations, intergovernmental alliance. Network: CBS.

Context (External Sources)