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January 15, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Saturday, January 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: Friday, January 14, 1972

Next Date: Sunday, January 16, 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 Camp David, Maryland

  • 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.

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, January 15th. Kissinger called this morning, first to report that Shakespeare has agreed to hold up until he talks to Henry after he gets back from his trip, and second...

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 17, Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 20 [AC-17(B) Sel 17]
      Duration: 29 seconds

      ...to report secretly that he met with Rabin this morning. That State has scheduled another meeting with Rabin on Monday, and that they've given him a document regarding negotiations that he's to review with the Israeli Cabinet which they'll do on Sunday. And that'll be the item of discussion Monday. State has told us nothing about that. Henry's reviewed all the negotiations with them with Rabin and so on...
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      ...and he's now concluded that he can't leave the government now because of the country and the President. He said he's sent Rogers an order that all communications have to be cleared with him. He wants me to back up the directive, and also make the point to Rogers that he's got to deal with Kissinger, and he's got to have advance notice on any meetings that they set up. He wants me to tell Rogers that I understand Kissinger's Senate directive that reflects our understanding. Continued on the next tape. On th--

      [End of tape reel AC-17(B)]

      [Begin tape reel AC-18(A)]

      January 15th, 1972, continued from a previous tape. Subject Kissinger's phone conversation regarding his problems with Rogers.

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
      Audio Cassette 18, Side A, Withdrawn Item Number 1 [AC-18(A) Sel 1]
      Duration: 27 seconds

      He says another issue he's trying to get a copy of the State Department study on European security. But Rogers has claimed that he has exclusive jurisdictions on this area and will not give Henry the study. Henry's view is that this must be in the NSC system. That it's one of the big issues for the summit, and there's no basis for Rogers's objection because State is a part of the NSC.
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      President called at noon from Camp David, where he's working on the speech, and asked for Rogers's reaction to my report to him on Vietnam. Told me to talk to Haig about the problem, make the point that Rogers may be right in his view that we should not put out the papers relating to the secret talks. Because it would just get us into a battle on who said what to whom. He told me to suggest to Haig that if the details are made public it will look bad about Henry's negotiating skill. The best thing would be to put the substance out, but not the details.

      The President made the comment about poor old Ashbrook and McCloskey, up there trudging through the snows of New Hampshire. Reflected on the real problem of the Democrats, which is, where do they get their dough? He can't understand how any of them can have enough money to campaign at all, considering the deficit that the Party has. He called a little later to say that he's having Kissinger come up for a couple hours, that he just read his draft on the Vietnam speech, and it's a complete mess, completely confused. He wanted me to get Safire from the Super Bowl tonight to get to work on it tomorrow. He called in a couple hours later, after his talk with Henry, to say not to have Safire come up after all. To let it go, because they don't have things set with Thieu, and they're going to have to have four or five days of further negotiations, so he's moving the speech to the 25th. He wants me to therefore clear the schedule on the 25th, move the Dutch to the 26th, and drop the GOP leaders.

      End of January 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. XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972

    Indonesia

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

    Vol. E-4, Documents on Iran and Iraq, 1969-1972

    Iran 1972

    • 160. Telegram 279 From the Embassy in Iran to the Department of State, Tehran, January 15, 1972, 1037Z

      Ambassador MacArthur reported that a prominent Tehran newspaper, under government instruction, had run a lengthy editorial objecting to the continued presence in the Gulf of the U.S. fleet.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiations, Box 1282, Iran 1/1/72–5/31/72. Confidential; Priority. Repeated to Dhahran, Jidda, Kuwait, London, CINCEUR, and COMIDEASTFOR. The material submitted to Kissinger for the President’s Wednesday Briefing, January 18, included the fact that the Shah had told American journalists that Iran was opposed to any foreign presence in the Gulf. The comment was published in the New York Times on January 16. (Ibid.) In Telegram 302 from Tehran, January 15, MacArthur requested a moratorium on government-approved criticism of MIDEASTFOR’s presence in Bahrain, since the Gulf States might take Iran at its word that it desired U.S. withdrawal. (Ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL IRAN-US.)

    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

    • 96. Central Intelligence Agency Intelligence Information Cable, Washington, January 15, 1972

      Summary: This cable reported that Chilean Army General Canales declared that his military coup movement was ready to move against the Allende government. In order for the military government to be accepted by the civilians, however, there needed to be a valid reason to overthrow the administration.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 776, Country Files, Latin America, Chile, Vol. VII. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem; No Dissem Abroad. Distribution of the cable was limited to Kissinger in the White House, Cline in the State Department, and Lieutenant General Bennett in DIA. A covering memorandum from Latimer to Kissinger stated, “The attached CIA report calls attention to contingency coup plotting by a Chilean general. The CIA station chief does not believe General Canales will attempt a coup in the immediate future but he is ready to move at any time that a suitable pretext occurs.”

  • 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-096
      Remarks of General Redman at WHCA Dinner Dance, with General Terry. (1/15/1972, Sheraton Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.)

      Runtime: [Nonelisted]

      Keywords: Music, performance

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

      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-4970
      Agronsky and Company. Robert Brown, special assistant to Richard Nixon.
      Group W Productions, Inc.
      Runtime: 00:29:26
    • WHCA-4971
      This Week with Bill Moyers. Polling
      NET Public Affairs
      Runtime: 00:29:36
    • WHCA-4985
      Weekly News Summary I.
      Undetermined
      Runtime: 1:30

      12. Utley/Rich: The Vietnam war and POWs. Time Code Start: 32:35. Keywords: Vietnam War, Vietnam Prisoner of War. Network: NBC.

      13. Lewis: More on the Vietnam war. Time Code Start: 36:05. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: NBC.

      14. Utley/Flick: Longshoremen may go back on strike. Time Code Start: 39:20. Keywords: harbors, Stevedores, dock workers, longshoremen, strikes, economy, recession, inflation, money, wages, costs, unemployment. Network: NBC.

      15. Utley/Brinkley: Phase II. Time Code Start: 41:23. Keywords: wage and price controls, freezes, prices, costs, increases, decreases, economy, economics, budgets, finances, recession, inflation, money. Network: NBC.

      16. Utley/Ewing: The poor. Time Code Start: 43:59. Keywords: poverty, destitution, lifestyles. Network: NBC.

      17. Mudd/Schorr: Hubert H. Humphrey. Time Code Start: 47:40. Keywords: Senators,. Network: CBS.

      18. Mudd/Schoumacher: Muskie stumps, ex-Miss Indiana plans it. Time Code Start: 49:48. Keywords: Senators, Presidential elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates. Network: CBS.

Context (External Sources)