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February 6, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Saturday, February 6, 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: Friday, February 5, 1971

Next Date: Sunday, February 7, 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.

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)
      Saturday, February 6th. The President had no schedule today because he had planned to go to Camp David last night but was weathered out. Sixth. The President had no schedule today because he had planned to go to Camp David last night but was weathered out. He used the morning for some general review and a lot of general chat with me in between sessions with Kissinger, Ziegler, Ehrlichman and Ed Morgan, etcetera. He was very much upset about the way Assistant Director Goldstein of the Bureau of Labor Statistics had shot down our whole effort to make the point of the great progress in the drop in unemployment, as released by the statistics yesterday. He wanted some action taken immediately to get rid of Goldstein, who he feels is the same guy who screwed us back in the later years of the Eisenhower Administration. I talked with Shultz about this.

      He got into quite a bit of discussion with Henry on the whole subject of the Laotian invasion plans. He wants to be sure we are doing adequate diversionary tactics, and that Laird gets out a strong warning that if the enemy steps up infiltration, we'll bomb the checkpoints. He doesn't want any backing off or appearances of weakness to be allowed to creep out in the follow-up or as a reaction to the aftermath of the Sunday night move. He told Henry...

      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 4, Side A, Withdrawn Item Number 12 [AC-4(A) Sel 9]
      Duration: 27 seconds

      ...to set up a method by which he can get a private message to Franco to urge Franco to spell out his succession both with the Juan Carlos move and the new prime minister before he has another stroke or before he dies, otherwise, there will be anarchy in Spain. The solution was to have General Walters come in and meet with the President, then carry a special letter to Franco and a long verbal message.
      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      He had a long meeting with Ed Morgan to review their whole activity in promoting the State of the Union programs and came up with a lot of ideas of his own of briefings that he wants to have: follow-up activities; pressure on the most powerful columnists; plans for hitting the networks; concentrating on the really key people. The President dictated a lot of good ideas on how the pitch has got to be aimed at reform, and making the point that reform only works at the city and maybe the state level because there is no way you can throw people out in Washington. There are only·537 elected officials here. All the other people are career diplomats and career bureaucrats who you can't get rid of and who you can't change. The enemy, then, is the invisible bureaucracy, the self-perpetuating people that are not elected and that blatantly brag that they'll be here and are not going to change, regardless of who comes in and out, and they'll bury the new recommendations under a mountain of paperwork, etcetera. He got quite charged up on this. Also wanted Buchanan to get to work and do a speech on it.

      That led him into some discussion with me of the analysis of the State of the Union speech and his feeling that it probably wasn't as effective as it could be, because it didn't have adequate organization and a structure and a theme, as it would have if the President had done it himself. He's asked me to talk with Ray Price about this, which I will do.

      He keeps going back to Douglas Hallett's memoranda on the State of the Union and other speeches and thinks they're very perceptive in terms of seeing this area of weakness.

      He got into quite a little schedule thinking as he tried to figure out when to hold his next press conferences, and so forth. He called Ziegler in to discuss general plans in this regard. As of now, he's going to do an in-office press conference next week; then go on TV, without questions, to pitch the State of the World the following week; then probably do a televised press conference the week after that; then a few weeks after that, do the first one-on-one interview with Howard Smith of ABC.

      Following all this we took off for Camp David. He asked Henry to come along at the last minute. Talked a little on the helicopter. When we got up to Camp David, the President called me over to Aspen to find out if there was a way that Henry could be fed and cared for other than by the President. I assured him, of course, he could join with us at Laurel, which is what we'll work out. Then the President took off to bowl, and said he was going to work this evening, eat dinner alone, and that's it for February 6th.
    • 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

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National Security Documents

Audiovisual Holdings

  • 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-5602 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-5602-03-08, Reverend Billy Graham meeting with White House staff members. 2/6/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. Billy Graham, White House staff members.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-5602-09-12, President Nixon seated with Ehrlichman, Ed Morgan, Dana Mead, and John Evans. 2/6/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Ehrlichman, Ed Morgan, Dana Mead, John Evans.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-5602-13-16, President Nixon standing with Jeb Magruder, Mrs. Magruder, and Mr. & Mrs. William Poulton. 2/6/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Jeb Stuart Magruder, Mrs. Jeb Magruder, Mr. & Mrs. William Poulton.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-5602-17-20, President Nixon standing with Kenneth Khachigian and family. 2/6/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Kenneth Khacigian, Mrs. Khachigian, unidentified man.

    Roll WHPO-5603 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-5603-, Reverend Billy Graham speaking to White House staff members. 2/6/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. Billy Graham, White House staff members.

  • 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-4160
      "This Is Your Life".

      Runtime: 00:31:45
    • WHCA-4174
      Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
      ALL NETWORKS
      Runtime: 1:30

      1. Brinkley/Lewis: Indochina War. Time Code Start: 00:00. Keywords: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam War, needs review, Not in Vanderbilt News Archive for this date. Network: NBC.

      2. Chancellor/Briggs: Construction on Barge Channel stopped by Presidential order. Time Code Start: 01:56. Keywords: Presidents, orders, mandates, transportation, waterways, jobs, unemployment, labor. Network: NBC.
    • WHCA-4211
      Excerpts From the "NBC Nightly News" Indochina War Coverage, Tape I (Weekly News Summary).
      NBC

      18. Brinkley: South Vietnamese troops cross border. Time Code Start: 17:46. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: NBC.

      19. Lewis: First U.S. casualties. Time Code Start: 18:18. Keywords: Vietnam War, killed in action, KIA, death tolls, fatalities, casualty, casualties, military, troops. Network: NBC.

Context (External Sources)