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December 16, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Saturday, December 16, 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: Friday, December 15, 1972

Next Date: Sunday, December 17, 1972

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.

Archival Holdings

  • Selective document listing

    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.

  • 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. IX, Vietnam, October 1972-January 1973

    The Christmas Bombings, December 14-29, 1972

    Vol. XVII, China, 1969-1972

    China, March-December 1972

    • 270. Memorandum of Conversation, New York, December 16, 1972, 6-7 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 850, President’s File—China Trip, China Exchanges. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting was held at the PRC Mission to the UN.

    Vol. XIX, Part 1, Korea, 1969-1972

    Republic of Korea Troops in Vietnam and Force Modernization, April 1971-December 1972

    Vol. XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972

    Thailand

    Vol. XXIII, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1969-1972

    Proximity Talks and the Backchannel: Separate Department of State and White House Negotiating Tricks

    • 322. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel, Washington, December 16, 1972, 0145Z

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 610, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. XI. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Stackhouse and approved in draft by Sisco, and by Atherton. Repeated to Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Jerusalem, London, Paris, Moscow, Jidda, and USUN. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text omitted by the editors.

    Vol. XL, Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    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

    • 121. Telegram 227601 From the Department of State to the Mission to the United Nations, Washington, December 16, 1972, 1825Z

      The Department agreed with reluctance that the U.S. delegation should participate on the terrorism committee required by the UNGA terrorism resolution.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970-73, POL 23-8. Confidential; Routine. Repeated to London, Paris, Rome, and NATO. Drafted by Armitage and cleared by De Palma.

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

    Mexico

    • 485. Telegram 7204 From the Embassy in Mexico to the Department of State, December 16, 1972, 0026Z., December 16, 1972, 0026Z

      Ambassador McBride reported that President Echeverría indicated optimism that 1973 would see the settlement of the long-standing salinity problem.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 33–1 MEX–US. Confidential. In telegram 7363 from Mexico City, December 28, the Embassy reported an exchange of notes with Rabasa that extended the temporary salinity agreement until April 30, 1973. (Ibid.) In a memorandum to Nixon, December 29, Johnson forwarded a copy of Herbert Brownell’s report and recommendations for a permanent resolution to the Colorado River salinity issue. Neither is published. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 789, Country Files, Latin America, Brownell Report on Salinity Problem with Mexico)

  • 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)