December 19, 1970

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 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.

Acts Approved by the President

• H.R. 2214 -- Private Law 91-208
  An Act for the relief of the Mutual Benefit Foundation.
• H.R. 4634 -- Private Law 91-209
  An Act for the relief of Lawrence Brink and Violet Nitschke.
• H.R. 7267 -- Private Law 91-210
  An Act to require the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to reopen and redetermine the claim of Julius Deutsch against the Government of Poland, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 10153 -- Private Law 91-211
  An Act for the relief of Frances von Wedel.
• H.R. 12173 -- Private Law 91-212
  An Act for the relief of Mrs. Francine M. Welch.
• H.R. 12958 -- Private Law 91-206
  An Act for the relief of Central Gulf Steamship Corporation.
• H.R. 12979 -- Public Law 91-563
  An Act to amend title 5, United States Code, to revise, clarify, and extend the provisions relating to court leave for employees of the United States and the District of Columbia.
• H.R. 14684 -- Public Law 91-561
  An Act for the relief of the State of Hawaii.
• H.R. 15770 -- Public Law 91-559
  Water Bank Act.
• H.R. 18679 -- Public Law 91-560
  An Act to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to eliminate the requirement for a finding of practical value, and for other purposes.
• S. 336 -- Public Law 91-565
  An Act to amend section 3(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 to permit the exemption of security issues, not exceeding $500,000 in aggregate amount, from the provisions of such Act.
• S. 703 -- Private Law 91-207
  An Act for the relief of Arthur Jerome Olinger, a minor, by his next friend, his father, George Henry Olinger, and George Henry Olinger, individually.
• S. 1366 -- Public Law 91-562
  An Act to release the conditions in a deed with respect to a certain portion of the land heretofore conveyed by the United States to the Salt Lake City Corporation.
• S. 4187 -- Public Law 91-564
  An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Army to convey certain lands at Fort Ruger Military Reservation, Hawaii, to the State of Hawaii in exchange for certain other lands.

Digest of Other White House Announcements

Following is a listing of items of general interest which were announced in the press but not made public as formal White House press releases during the period covered by this issue. Appointments requiring Senate approval are not included since they appear in the list of nominations submitted to the Senate, below.

• The President met with Republican Congressional leaders to discuss legislation still pending and the possibility of keeping Congress in session until action is completed on key legislation.
• The President visited Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia and Gen. Earle G. Wheeler at Walter Reed Hospital.

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 19, 1970

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

• House of Representatives: December 19, 1970
• Senate: December 19, 1970
• Extensions of Remarks: December 19, 1970

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.

• Annotated News Summaries, Box 29, News Summaries - December 1970 [1 of 2]
• Annotated News Summaries, Box 29, News Summaries - December 1970 [2 of 2] [During this period, the Staff Secretary only removed pages from the News Summaries which contained President Nixon's handwriting, often leaving the document with no date. Although there are no specific documents with this date, you should also consult the full folder for the month.]
• President's Daily Schedule, Box 101, [President's Daily Schedule, Nov.-Dec. 1970] [3 of 3]
  • The President's Schedule, Saturday - December 19, 1970

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 19.
  
  The President kept himself busy this morning, which helped to give a little time to get some work done. He went out to the hospital to see Senator Russell, who probably will die in the next few days, so this was what the President considers to be his last visit with him. He was very much impressed again with how powerful a man he is, and how much more impressive he is than our Northern Senators. He mused quite a bit when he got back about the fact that patriotism is so much higher in the South.
  
  He also got back on the program for last night and he felt that we have to do a better job of controlling the content of programs, so that we don't get the kind of stuff that can be offensive or the kind of far-out art and music that he doesn't like and doesn't want to be a part of promoting or sponsoring. We got back again on the Communications Director question. And, he feels more strongly than he did yesterday that we've got to move on it.
  
  During our chat he had Colson in for a while, who reported on the Teddy Kennedy question. He's getting the pictures distributed and maintaining the effort on that; also Chuck's following up on the knockdown of the press, regarding their poor performance at the press conference.
  
  Henry came in for part of the time that Chuck was there to get the President's signature on a letter to Frank Church regarding the foreign aid supplement. The President blew up when he discovered that the purpose of the letter really was to let Church get off the hook on his anti-Cambodia position. The President told Henry to change the letter substantially to correct the language so as to may-- make it absolutely clear that the President was not changing his position, Church was changing his. Henry also slipped in an order recommended by Admiral Anderson, reaffirming security regulations regarding leaked NSC documents, but it's something that won't have much effect.
  
  After Colson left, the President got to pondering the possibility of him as Director of Communications. He's very much intrigued with trying this as a possibility, but there would be some real problems.
  
  We discussed some more of the idea of a TV show with Nancy Dickerson. The general consensus now is to do it just with her, not the networks. The President's back on the favorable line on that, although there’s some, now, some staff disagreement. He wants Paul Keyes and others to go to work on potential questions that would give good insight into the man. Also, he wants Carruthers' ideas on locale, and so on.
  
  In spite of last night's program disaster, he wants to consider David Frost as an interviewer, with the idea of then getting the program on a network or something; the idea being that Frost is more well-known and might be a safer guy to use as an interviewer.
  
  We had a long meeting with the Vice President, Ehrlichman, and Finch this morning regarding his takeover of the office—or the responsibility—for relations with Governors, mayors, and county executives. It went pretty well. VP was in a good mood, wearing a t-shirt and a sort of sweat jacket. He is obviously very anxious to take on this responsibility on a full-scale basis and seems to understand the level of activity it will require of him, and wants to do it. It is astonishing how bad he is on judging staff, however. He feels that C.D. Ward is our very top man on inter-governmental relations, and he wants to get three or four more like him in there. He even suggested bringing Chotiner in as a man to help him on this, which would have unmitigated disastrous effects from a PR viewpoint, at least.
  
  The President asked me to call John Connally and then just after that, Connally called me. He's planning to come up Monday for a meeting with the Treasury staff, or Sunday night, then go back Monday afternoon for his anniversary Monday night. He read me some segments of an incredibly horrible, vicious column by Pete Hamill in the New York Post which really tore him apart. He showed great humor as he roared with laughter about some of the really vicious personal slices that Hamill took at him and, to a degree, at the President. Fortunately, he apparently has a sense of humor and is able to maintain it.
  
  I had a long session with our new TV guy, Mark Goode, or at least our candidate for the job, and on and off with the senior guy we now have, Bill Carruthers. I think we're putting together a good unit here. Carruthers is much more impressive than Goode, but Goode will work out very well as the No.2 man, the technician in handling follow-up on the scene. If we can now get the PR communications deal worked out, we'll have solved a couple of our major hang-ups and be able to move ahead more constructively. The other problems we're going to be working at are the Finch assignment and Rumsfeld's real role.
  
  That’s the end of December 19.
• 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 19, 1970
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• Text search for December 19, 1970
• Date search for December 19, 1970

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 19 December 1970

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

Committee of 24

• 64. Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State, New York, December 19, 1970, 0007Z

  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 19 UN. Confidential. Repeated to London.

Chinese Representation in the United Nations

• 317. Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State, New York, December 19, 1970, 0133Z

  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, UN 6 CHICOM. Confidential. Repeated to Brussels, London, Rome, and Taipei.

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

"A Moment of Unusual Uncertainty": Meeting Between Nixon and Gromyko, October 12-December 31, 1970

• 68. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 19, 1970, 5:30 p.m.

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 29, Home File. No classification marking

Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

• 192. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the Ambassador to Chile (Korry) and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 19, 1970, 3 p.m.

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 365, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking.

Vol. XL, Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

• 148. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 19, 1970

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 690, Country Files, Europe, Germany (Berlin), Vol. II. Secret. Sent for information. Haig initialed the memorandum indicating that he had seen it.

• 149. Telegram From the Embassy in Germany to the Department of State, Bonn, December 19, 1970, 1340Z

  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 38–6. Secret; Immediate; Exdis. Repeated to Berlin.

• 150. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 19, 1970

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 58, Country Files, Europe, Berlin, Vol. 1 [2 of 2]. Secret; Nodis; Sensitive; (Outside System). Sent for action. According to another copy, Sonnenfeldt drafted the memorandum. (Ibid., Box 685, Country Files, Europe, Germany, Vol. VIII)

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

India and Pakistan: Pre-Crisis, January 1969-February 1971

• 105. National Security Study Memorandum 109, Washington, December 19, 1970

  President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger tasked the Departments of State and Defense, the CIA, and AID to prepare a study of U.S. policy options in South Asia.
  
  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 365, Subject Files, National Security Study Memoranda, Nos. 104–206. Secret. Copies were sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the U.S. Information Agency.

Vol. E-16, Documents on Chile, 1969-1973

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

• 43. Memorandum From the Acting Chairman of the Ad Hoc Interagency Working Group on Chile (Crimmins) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, December 19, 1970

  Summary: This memorandum transmitted the paper titled “Options for the United States in the Event of Expropriation of U.S. Business Interests by Chile,” for consideration by the Senior Review Group. The paper stressed that the chances for expropriation of the mining and metal processing industries were high and outlined various strategies the United States could employ in the event.
  
  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files) Box H–50, SRG Meeting, Chile 12/23/70. Secret; Nodis. Enclosures 2 through 6 are attached but not published. These papers were distributed to the members of the Senior Review Group on December 21. The SRG meeting was held December 23. The minutes are printed in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XXI, Chile, 1969–1973, Document 194.

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-5347 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: Color

• Frame(s): WHPO-5347-01-04, Burlington Rotary Boys Choir performing at the White House Staff Christmas Party. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. White House Grand Staircase and State Floor. Burlington Rotary Boys Choir, unidentified female choir leader, unidentified pianist, unidentified guests.

Roll WHPO-5348 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

• Frame(s): WHPO-5348-04A-28A, President Nixon and Pat Nixon hosting the White House Staff Christmas Party. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. White House, State Floor. President Nixon, Pat Nixon, Burlington Rotary Boys Choir, unidentified female choir leader, unidentified pianist, unidentified guests.

Roll WHPO-5349 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: Color

• Frame(s): WHPO-5349-01A-06A, Julie and David Eisenhower with friends in the Oval Office. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. Julie Eisenhower, David Eisenhower, friends.

Roll WHPO-5350 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-5350-02-11, President Nixon meeting with Senator Hugh Doggett Scott Jr., Sen. Robert Griffin, and Congressmen Gerald Ford with Leslie Arends, George Shultz and John Ehrlichman. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Hugh Doggett Scott Jr., Robert Griffin, Gerald Ford, Leslie Arends, George Shultz, John Ehrlichman.
• Frame(s): WHPO-5350-07, President Nixon meeting with Senator Hugh Doggett Scott Jr., Senator Robert Griffin, Congressman Gerald Ford, Congressman Leslie Arends, George Shultz and John Ehrlichman. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Hugh Doggett Scott Jr., Robert Griffin, Gerald Ford, Leslie Arends, George Shultz, John Ehrlichman.

Roll WHPO-5351 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-5351-01A-05A, President Nixon visiting Senator Richard B. Russell and General Earle G. Wheeler at Walter Reed Hospital. 12/19/1970, Washington, D.C. Walter Reed Hospital, exterior. President Nixon, Richard B. Russell, Earle G. Wheeler, unidentified males.

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.

P - Formal Presidential Remarks

• WHCA-SR-P-701219
  Remarks by President Nixon at Staff Open House. (12/19/1970)
  
  Runtime: 7:15
  
  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-4051
  Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
  All networks
  Runtime: 01:05:51
  
  1. Brinkley: Supersonic Transport (SST). Time Code Start: 00:00. Keywords: Supersonic Transport, SST, aircraft, speed of sound, subsonic airliners. Network: NBC.
  
  2. Duke: Congress called back early. Time Code Start: 00:52. Keywords: House of Representatives. Network: NBC.
  
  3. Bennett: Indochina war. Time Code Start: 03:40. Keywords: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam War. Network: NBC.
  
  4. Pierpoint: White House and Congress. Time Code Start: 04:45. Keywords: House of Representatives. Network: CBS.
  
  5. Schoumacher: Congress. Time Code Start: 05:42. Keywords: House of Representatives. Network: CBS.

• New York Times of December 19, 1970

• AP Images photos from December 19, 1970
• Getty Images photos from December 19, 1970

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 1970 Broadcast Index

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

• December 19, 1970