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January 13, 1973

Introduction

This almanac page for Saturday, January 13, 1973, 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, January 12, 1973

Next Date: Sunday, January 14, 1973

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 Key Biscayne, Florida

  • 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.

  • 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.

    No Federal Register published on this date

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.

    • Annotated and Unmarked News Summaries [Note: Although there was no News Summary on this date, due to the way News Summary products were compiled, you should also consult nearby days for potentially relevant materials.]

  • 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, January 13.

      The President had me over this morning for I guess three or four hours going through a lot of miscellaneous things. Got into the media relation question. Said that I should talk to Price about his view as to what we did wrong three years ago regarding the media. He disagrees with the President that they're all liberals and that the worst thing that could happen to them is to be proved wrong. He says that the thing they hate most is being proved out of fashion -- that is the peer group thing -- they don't want to be out for four years, which is of course Kissinger's theory, too. The President feels that this may be partially right -- they're whores, and so some of them can be had, and maybe we should try to do something with them. With that thought in mind, he wants to be sure we follow-up with Thimmesch on being the President watcher. Wants to push the Marge Beyers deal for Julie and wanted me to have a talk with Klein on his role. The President’s been doing a lot of thinking that Colson will be the outside man for labor and ethnics, Dent for the outside man on the Southerners, Kendall the outside man with business, and that Klein should be the President’s man on the outside for media and so forth. He needs to get more stroke in the television field in order to do this, but we'd put him on as a consultant to the President on media -- and on how to build the new establishment within the media.

      He went through a whole bunch of miscellaneous personal items. He wanted to be sure the writers get the point about what he said to the Chinese acrobats yesterday, as contrasted to what they sent in for him to say. Wants to use Gregg Petersmeyer as second aide and have him record everything, also work with Julie on the young. Wants to be sure Sinatra and Sammy Davis know that the President wants an "Evening at the White House" for each of them. Is interested in Connally's point on color, and also Moynihan's that the country doesn't see the real Nixon, and that maybe Greg can help on that. Wants Riland to do him a couple times this week and next, if he's back. Wants to be sure Rose is making notes on all the personal things and also that Bebe is dictating tapes on the personal vignettes on the President, what happens at Walkers Cay and all that for the President's tape record. Wants to be sure we have a superb executive director for the Bicentennial that has lots of imagination. Wants to get in the 75 Democratic Congressmen and 11 Senators who stood with us on Vietnam for a cocktail to express his appreciation for standing with us in this difficult period. Wanted to read a copy of Fairley's book on Kennedy and the Rossiter book on the Presidency, which I sent over to him later. Wanted to check out burial opportunities at Yorba Linda, as well as Rose Hills -- I don't know where that came in from left field.

      I had a report this afternoon from Dean on the Watergate. Apparently there is going to be a Hersh story in the New York Times saying that the Cubans told them that they're all still on salary, that there's a $900,000 fund at the Reelection Committee for them, that they dropped bugs all over town, that the chain of command went from Barker to Hunt to Liddy to Colson to Mitchell. Shumway and Colson and Mitchell have all given flat denials on this. The Cubans have sent a letter to dismiss Rothblatt, and he was dismissed because they want to plead guilty. McCord is off the reservation now. He had a meeting last night, he thinks he can get him back on, but he has a plan regarding calls he made in September and October. He thinks he can get a tainted evidence thing on it because the calls were bugged by the government. He's playing a blackmail game where if I fall, all fall, but he has no hard evidence. That won't be settled for a while, but Dean thinks he can settle it. Apparently, McCord was distressed at the judge's severity. The Cubans will plead on Monday.

      The main thing today was, of course, Vietnam. The President said he wanted to see Kissinger alone first when he gets back tonight, and that his chopper should be brought directly to the President's pad. And the President will see him, if he's awake, and will pound into him, and then Haig and I are to follow-up -- that he must not talk to the press and that we're going to do all possible to be sure that people think that nothing’s happened in Paris. In other words, we need to mislead them.

      He talked to Ziegler about how to deal with the press, said that the speculation has led to universal optimism and pessimism both, and for your guidance I would not speculate. Kissinger wants to leave it totally open that both sides agreed that there would be no comment during the course of the negotiations and that's all we can say. The President's concern with Kissinger tomorrow and with Ziegler that we have to have a plan on the PR side that we can ride with through the week, and so that we can control Kissinger. We have to get our enemies out on a limb. We should go ahead now on an attack on sabotaging the peace. Hit the past and the rugged time the President's been through, but that's all. We should be set up for a significant assault if we succeed, we must continue to fight against the old establishment. We should use Scali; let him and Colson go a little bit, otherwise the attack won't get done. I should call Colson tomorrow and tell him but tell him he can't inform anyone. Then when Henry goes to Hanoi, he's got to have our press man and photographer with him to handle the press. So we need game plans with a line to handle this week with the Congress, with Rogers and Laird, and with the press. We should use Ziegler, Scali, Colson this week and next on all of this. There is a critical decision for example on how to brief the leaders on the 23rd. He doesn't want a big meeting with Moss because of his going out and screwing us before. Also he doesn't want Fulbright, so he's going to limit it to the Big Five -- he doesn't want to argue with Fulbright and so on. Then, he said maybe we have to have the Big Five press the chairman and just take Fulbright and let Kissinger take the questions. Rogers and Laird shouldn't be pampered on this whole thing; that they’ve got to be straight-armed and do what they're told.

      He'll have the Cabinet in and give them a five minute briefing and then the leaders, and then move the leadership meetings that are scheduled to Wednesday. And then he got into juggling that schedule around and really didn't end up with anything. The decision, firmly though, is that he wants Kissinger to do his press briefing the second day -- not before the President's announcement as he usually does. The problem is how we keep the leaders in the meeting at 8:00 before the President goes on TV. We could say we have an understanding with the Vietnamese that it's not announced until 9:00 -- and there's a question of a plan if Thieu doesn't go along which we need to work out.

      He then had Ziegler in. He made the point that all the calls and consultations should be Monday morning, saying, that we've suspended all military action above the DMZ, and this will remain enforced so long as the negotiations show progress. There should be no discussion of the substance of the negotiations and no characterization. He agreed to do a picture with Henry on Sunday morning. Told me to wire Henry to tell him to ignore the press when he gets off the plane tonight, don't wave, don't smile because we have to maintain the proper mood here -- also Haig should wear his uniform. He's worried about Rogers. Says I've got to tell him that he should not come down. We don't want to build expectations, and that he has to take the Ziegler line regarding consultation with Congress. With Colson and Scali, he wants to lay the foundation that the critics are screwing things up. Ziegler should say that it is totally irresponsible-- it can only have the effect of endangering the negotiations and prolonging the war.

      He called me this evening and made the point again that I have to straight-arm Rogers, that there is nothing more to say except that we made progress. We have to be ruthless and, if necessary, absolutely brutal with him -- there is nothing to be said beyond what Ziegler says. Kissinger must not go back Monday; he must at least stay here till Tuesday. Thieu has to go along. The President will ask Congress, himself, for no funds, rather than let Congress chop him. It's better for the President to take the lead on this, if it's going to be inevitable anyway. The operators are to be instructed that no calls at all are to be put through to the President, except the immediate family, they're all to come through me.

      End of January 13.
    • 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

  • 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

    America Leaves the War, December 30, 1972-January 27, 1973

    Vol. XXXIX, European Security

    Opening Negotiations, December 1972-July 1973

    Vol. XLII, Vietnam: The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho Negotiations

    Settlement Accomplished: The Accords Initialed and Signed, January 1973

    • 47. Memorandum of Conversation, Paris, January 13, 1973, 9:48 a.m.-4:55 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 866, For the President’s Files (Winston Lord)—China Trip/Vietnam Negotiations, Camp David Memcons, January 8–13, 1973 [January 23, 1973]. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting took place at La Fontaine au Blanc, St. Nom la Bretèche. All brackets, except where noted, are in the original. The tabs are attached but not printed; on Tabs A, B, C, see Appendix 3.

      After the meeting, Kissinger informed the President: “We confirmed the final texts of the agreement and all associated understandings, and settled all the remaining issues of principle in the protocols.” Repeating what he had said many times before to Nixon, Kissinger made clear: “The problem now of course is in Saigon.” To that end, he and others were making every effort to persuade Thieu to accept the settlement as negotiated. For example, he continued:

      “I had a very useful session with Thieu’s envoys, former Prime Minister Do and former Ambassador to the U.S. Diem, last evening. They had also gotten the right messages from Capitol Hill. Diem is returning to Saigon and their report should be of help. We have also provided Bunker with argumentation about the agreement, which I used here as well with the South Vietnamese, in order to start paving the way for Haig’s mission.” (Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. IX, Vietnam, October 1972–January 1973, Document 276)

      The Capitol Hill reference is to Nixon’s directing Kissinger to get prominent conservatives and supporters of South Vietnam in the Senate—Republican Barry Goldwater from Arizona and Democrat John Stennis from Mississippi—to say publicly that the settlement was good for South Vietnam and that President Thieu should accept it. See ibid., Documents 294–297. “Haig’s mission” refers to Haig’s trip to Saigon where he was to see President Thieu on January 20. According to Haldeman, President Nixon explained how Haig should carry out this task:

      “His [the President’s] strategy there is to keep the whole approach with Thieu on our terms, and we don’t want to appear to be begging, especially on the record. The P made the point that Haig must take a very hard line on Thieu, that he’s here only as a messenger, not to negotiate, that the P has been totally in charge of all this, and he will go ahead regardless of what Thieu does.” (The Haldeman Diaries, Print Edition, p. 569)

      Haig met with Thieu in Saigon on January 18 and 20. For his reports on the meetings, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. IX, Vietnam, October 1972–January 1973, Documents 292, 310, and 311.

  • 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

  • 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.

    I - Various Administration Events

    • WHCA-SR-I-125
      WHCA dinner dance with General Redman, General Terry, and Colonel Priddle [not received by NARA]. (1/13/1973)

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

    L - White House Press Office Briefings

    • WHCA-SR-L-105
      Press briefing by Ronald Ziegler. (1/13/1973, 4 Ambassadors Presss Center, Miami, Florida)

      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-6006
      Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
      ALL NETWORKS
      Runtime: 01:29:22

      17. Utley/Dobyns: Paris peace talks, with Kissinger to meet with President Nixon. Time Code Start: 34:30. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, the war Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations, government, officials. Network: NBC.

      18. Utley/Karnow: Commentary on the past week of Paris peace talks. Time Code Start: 37:35. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: NBC.

      19. Hackes: The Vietnam war and more on the Paris peace talks. Time Code Start: 39:35. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: NBC.

      20. Utley: Film of bombing on Hanoi, B-52 downed and two more POWs. Time Code Start: 41:12. Keywords: Vietnam War, Vietnam Prisoner of War, bombings, aircraft, crashes. Network: NBC.

      21. Utley/Delaney: Rice imports in South Vietnam. Time Code Start: 43:45. Keywords: Vietnam, food, agriculture. Network: NBC.

      22. Utley: Senators comment on the Super Bowl with First Lady Pat Nixon. Time Code Start: 46:25. Keywords: Presidents, families, wife, sports, Senate, Senators, officials, football. Network: NBC.

      23. Mudd/Pierpoint: Paris peace talks, Kissinger to meet with President Nixon. Time Code Start: 48:04. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations, government, officials. Network: CBS.

      24. Mudd/Fenton: Paris peace talks with Kissinger. Time Code Start: 49:40. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations, government, officials. Network: CBS.

      25. Mudd/Wagner: Vietnam. Time Code Start: 51:50. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: CBS.

Context (External Sources)