1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Almanac

March 30, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Tuesday, March 30, 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: Monday, March 29, 1971

Next Date: Wednesday, March 31, 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 San Clemente, California

  • 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.

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

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)
      Tuesday, March 30th. Another day with nothing planned except the Allen Drury interview and, of course, the news announcement of the plan to make the troop announcement next week. The President was in the office late this morning, but stayed in through the rest of the day. Had a, a three-hour session this afternoon, with Ehrlichman in for the last two hours, and Kissinger for the last hour, mainly just general conversation. He did get into Congressional relation questions and had me call MacGregor to check on the reaction in Congress to his plan to make the troop announcement, which of course, was all very good. He discussed with John the problem of working out who Kissinger sees and spends his time with, especially in the press. Also the point that we've got a very delicate period coming up now on our relations with Rogers and Laird, as we get into the SALT Agreement and the follow-up to it. So it's terribly important that Kissinger lays low in his media contacts and lets them be out in front. He was intrigued with the report from the, on the Washington Post editorial that blasted CBS today for their slanting of the news and also was fascinated with... 

      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
      DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013 
      Audio Cassette 6, Side A, Withdrawn Item Number 10 [AC-6(A) Sel 4] 
      Duration: 7 seconds 

      a report we'd just gotten that Westmorland and two other officers in the Pentagon have been bugged. 
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

      He thinks we ought to get that story out. Then when Henry came in, we got into a discussion of the whole SALT thing and our strategy in getting ready for it, plus the hopes for that and the follow-up events working out. That led also into a discussion of the problem with Laird, and the fact that he will not carry out orders except from the, directly from the President. It was concluded that Henry and John and I should meet with Laird and try to get a modus operandi worked out, which the President will then confirm. Also, he wants me to order Laird to get rid of Resor immediately, now that the Calley trial is over. 

      We then got into a discussion of the whole concept of the Chinese Communists in the United Nations, and Henry was concerned that Connally was being swayed by State to take the soft line on this, which he, of course, should not do. The President wanted some follow-up on that to be sure that it didn't get out of control. 

      Then the President went home at about 6:00 and called me right after he got there, and suggested that I come over for dinner... 

      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
      Deed of Gift - Privacy withdrawal re-reviewed and released by MS, NARA, October 21, 2013 Audio Cassette 6, Side A, Withdrawn Item Number 11 
      Duration: 5 seconds 

      ...his problem being that Helene Drown is there and he needed an excuse not to join her and Pat. 
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

      So I went over and went up to the study where he had the fire going and the record player blaring. We talked for about 15 minutes before Manalo served a delicious steak dinner with fried onion rings and a beautiful cheese soufflé. The President had me read the Kissinger draft of the speech and was concerned that it's the typical Kissinger draft that does not have the things the President needs to pull a speech together. I persuaded him to let me have Safire go to work on it; so I'II send him a copy tomorrow.

      He talked about his concern of Tricia and Julie using government planes for their personal trips and came up with the idea of having the Air Force charge him the commercial airline fare when they do use such planes, which is an ideal way to get around the sticky wicket there. He made several phone calls while I was there to Hugh Scott and Barry Goldwater, etcetera, following up on his phone call folder. He's doing a good job on keeping current on those. He came up with the idea of trying to organize the administrative assistants and secretaries on the Hill that are for us, as a counterbalance to the predominant, left-wing types up there, and thinks we can get some mileage out of that. That led him into a question of how we can better charge up the White House staff, and he feels that maybe we need a weekly meeting when he gives them a little pep talk. This, of course, will last about one week, but it does come to mind every once in a while.

      I managed to get out after two hours, and I think he went on down and went to bed.

      End of March 30th.

      He was obviously in kind of a retrospective mood and walked out with me to the car, sort of generally chatting along the way, but with nothing apparently particular on his mind.

      Some general thoughts as of the end of March. Our position, looked at objectively, would appear to be at an all-time low at the present reading. The polls show us the lowest we've been: Gallup at 50, Harris showing a drop just the other day from 43 to 41. The credibility figure is way down; the rating on handling of the Vietnam War is the lowest it's been. The magazines did one of their periodic "this week Nixon's in deep trouble" sort of orgies. The Laos withdrawal effect is at its peak, or bottom. And there is a considerable base for feeling that we've really gone down substantially. In spite of this, the general attitude of all of the staff people, and certainly of the President, as well as most of the Cabinet members, seems to be very much upbeat, positive, and optimistic. The reason probably is best expressed by the phone conversation I had with Bill Rogers yesterday, in which he reported on a talk he had had with Peter Lisagor earlier in the day. Lisagor had raised the question with him that he couldn't understand why he seemed so happy and optimistic, and why everybody in the White House seemed to be the same way when it appeared to Lisagor that we were in serious trouble and getting worse. Rogers answered that the reason in his mind was that we know what we're doing and where we're going and, therefore, are not concerned about the outlook. On the other hand, the press, and perhaps the people, at this point, don't know and won't for a little while, so they take a more pessimistic view. This is really pretty much the case. Rogers went on to say that when we came in here two years ago, we inherited a number of monumental problems and didn't know for sure how to solve them, although we had some ideas. We've put our ideas into practice, and modified some of them, and now have a clear idea of what we are doing, and see that we're on the road to solution and know how we're going to get there. With this in mind, we have no great concern about the temporary setback situation, because we realize that it is temporary. All of this may be overoptimistic, but on the other hand, there are all kinds of potential optimistic factors that aren't even taken into consideration in it. At the very least, it would appear that the economy has bottomed out and is gradually inching back into a sound position. And that in any event, we're going to get out of the war one way or another, and we have a pretty fair chance of getting out honorably.

      Looking beyond that, there are a number of monumentally optimistic possibilities. Henry definitely feels he's got the SALT thing lined up, and that we can announce that in a couple of weeks; that that will lead to a Summit and a four power meeting after that in the fall. We know that at some point not too far off, we'll be able to announce that no more draftees will be serving in Vietnam. Henry feels, and now the President concurs, that there's a 50/50 chance at least of getting a Vietnam settlement this summer and ending the war completely. The Berlin negotiations appear to be reaching some sort of productive possibilities. The economic situation could turn out to be substantially better than we think it is at the moment. Then of course, there are all sorts of unforeseen possibilities on the bright side, as well as many on the dark side, that could come up. All in all, the outlook appears to be strongly balanced in our favor, and I think all of us feel it both rationally and intuitively, and that that provides the basis for the optimism that everybody seems to have. Overall, the conclusion would be that probably this week, or this period of two or three weeks, will mark the low of the second, of the first term, and also that probably the troop announcement next week will be the basic turning point from which things will start moving upward.

      End of March 30th.
    • 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. III, Foreign Economic Policy; International Monetary Policy, 1969-1972

    Foreign Economic Policy

    Vol. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969-1972

    Foreign Assistance Policy, 1969-1972

    Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

    South Asia Crisis, 1971

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

    "A Key Point in Our Relationship": Backchannel Talks on SALT, Berlin, and the Summit

    • 163. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rogers to President Nixon, Washington, March 30, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 715, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. XIII. Confidential. Sonnenfeldt forwarded the memorandum, as well as a draft covering memorandum for the President, to Kissinger in San Clemente on March 31. “Prior to the opening of the Party Congress,” Sonnenfeldt explained, “Secretary Rogers signed off on a memorandum emphasizing the ‘increasing acerbity’ in Soviet criticism of the US and predicting a ‘hard and orthodox line’ at the Congress, and a ‘critical, blunt attitude toward the US.’ As you know from my memorandum [Document 166] I did not find this to be the main thrust of the Brezhnev report. If anything, the report inclined towards moderation and conciliation in tone, if not substance. Thus you have the problem of whether to forward this memorandum.” (Ibid.) In an April 2 note, Richard Kennedy suggested that Kissinger “might want to revise” the covering memorandum if he decided to submit it to the President. Three days later, Kissinger wrote his response in the margin: “OBE. Don’t forward.” (Ibid.)

    • 164. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, San Clemente, California, March 30, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 491, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1971, Vol. 5 [part 1]. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent for information. Nixon and Kissinger were both in San Clemente. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) A notation on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it.

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

    Vol. XXXII, SALT I, 1969-1972

    From Stalemate to Breakthrough, August 24, 1970-May 20, 1971

    Vol. XL, Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    Germany and Berlin, 1969-1972

    Vol. E-2, Documents on Arms Control and Nonproliferation, 1969-1972

    Chemical and Biological Warfare; Geneva Protocol; Biological Weapons Convention

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

    India and Pakistan: Crisis and War, March-December 1971

    • 127. Telegram 986 From the Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, Dacca, March 30, 1971, 0905Z

      The Consulate General’s report on the crisis on March 30 described the killing of students and faculty at Dacca University.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 23–9 PAK. Confidential; Priority. Also sent to Islamabad. Repeated priority to Bangkok, London, New Delhi, Calcutta, Karachi, Lahore, CINCPAC, CINCSTRIKE, and MAC.

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

    Nicaragua

    • 502. Telegram 722 From the Embassy in Nicaragua to the Department of State, March 30, 1971, 2310Z., March 30, 1971, 2310Z

      The Embassy reported that President Somoza and Conservative Party President Agüero signed an agreement on presidential succession, which would ostensibly initiate a process of structural change in the country’s economy and political life.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 12 NIC. Confidential. In Airgram A–40 from Managua, April 11, the Embassy forwarded a copy of the agreement between Somoza and Agüero and translated copies of the speeches they gave at the signing ceremony. (Ibid., POL 15–1 NIC)

  • 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 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-5953 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-5953-04-13, Vice President Agnew meeting with General O. Angelis of Greece and an unidentified man. 3/30/1971, Washington, D.C. Executive Office Building, EOB, Vice Presidential Office. Spiro Agnew, Gen. O. Angelis, unidentified men.

    Roll WHPO-5954 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-5954-04-05, Vice President Agnew and General O. Angelis of Greece looking at a plaque. 3/30/1971, Washington, D.C. Executive Office Building, EOB, Vice Presidential Office. Spiro Agnew, Gen. O. Angelis.

  • 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-4247
      "Thirty Minutes" AND "The Advocates". Comedian Pat Paulsen.
      ABC
      Runtime: 1:30
    • WHCA-4248
      "60 Minutes".
      ALL NETWORKS
      Runtime: 00:59:46
    • WHCA-4255
      Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
      ALL NETWORKS
      Runtime: 1:30

      25. Smith/Bell: Vietnam & Firebase Mary Ann (FSB). Time Code Start: 49:18. Keywords: fire support base, firebases, temporary military encampments, artillery air strike coordination center, Vietnam War. Network: ABC.

      26. Smith: Troop pullouts. Time Code Start: 51:19. Keywords: Vietnam War, Armed Forces, mlitary, troops, decreases, withdrawals. Network: ABC.

      27. Reasoner: Commentary on judging soldiers. Time Code Start: 52:00. Keywords: military, troops. Network: ABC.

      28. Chancellor/Goralski: Calley's verdict (Lt. Calley and My Lai Massacre trial). Time Code Start: 54:08. Keywords: Vietnam War, Lt. Calley, My Lai Massacre, military trials, massacres, war crimes, atrocities, mass murders, civilians deaths, shootings. Network: NBC.

      29. Continuation of reaction to Calley's verdict (Lt. Calley and My Lai Massacre trial). Time Code Start: 56:58. Keywords: Vietnam War, Lt. Calley, My Lai Massacre, military trials, massacres, war crimes, atrocities, mass murders, civilians deaths, shootings. Network: NBC.

      30. Chancellor/Streithorst: Vietnam report. Time Code Start: 62:14. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: NBC.

      31. Chancellor/Bourgholster: 24th Soviet Congress convenes. Time Code Start: 64:16. Keywords: Soviet Union, Russia, USSR, Congresses, convening. Network: NBC.

      32. McGee: President Nixon sends congratulations to National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention. Time Code Start: 66:42. Keywords: Presidents, statements, media, radio, television, TV, the press, network broadcasting corporations, conferences, meetings. Network: NBC.

      33. Cronkite/Williams: Vietnam report. Time Code Start: 67:08. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: CBS.

      34. Sevaride: Commentary on reaction to Calley's verdict (Lt. Calley and My Lai Massacre trial). Time Code Start: 70:25. Keywords: Vietnam War, Lt. Calley, My Lai Massacre, military trials, massacres, war crimes, atrocities, mass murders, civilians deaths, shootings. Network: CBS.

Context (External Sources)