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March 9, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Tuesday, March 9, 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 8, 1971

Next Date: Wednesday, March 10, 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.

  • 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 9.

      The first problem of the day arose when the President started to sign some material in his action file and discovered a memorandum from Pete Peterson, saying that he had run into a problem with both Connally and Hardin, regarding the recommendation he had put through the other day on how to deal with the wheat import problem with the United Kingdom. It turns out that both the Secretaries violently disagreed with Peterson's recommendation and felt that their input had not been adequately presented. Peterson's recommended solution was that the President call Hardin and get him swung over, and send a memo to Connally, in effect confirming the decision. The President, of course, refused to do so and instructed me to meet with Peterson and explain to him that that isn't the way to handle this. That it's up to Peterson to have a meeting with the Cabinet officers concerned and get the thing straightened out, and if he's unable to do so, then he was to set up a meeting with the Secretaries and the President. He made the point that I've got to convince Peterson that he can't have Cabinet officers saying that their views are not adequately presented, and that this will start him off on the wrong foot, which, of course, it would.

      We got into quite a discussion during the day on polls, particularly the items on credibility, and the President was interested in reviewing the drop in credibility over a period of time and the question of whether that's related to the war, and so on. We pulled out a bunch of the back ones and really don't have enough to, to check it out. He feels that we haven't done an adequate job of knocking down the press credibility and that we've got to do that in our own defense, which we are moving to do.

      Another flap continues today as a result of Wilbur Mills' unilateral negotiations with Japan on a textile agreement. This causes the President to be concerned that Flanigan has lost sight of the textile problem because he's dealing with too many other things, and that we've let it drop. I don't think that's the case. And we covered it thoroughly in staff meeting, and it would appear that this is something that there was no way we could have done anything about. It does pose a problem for us, but also a great opportunity in a chance to really whack Mills. In any event, the President wanted me to talk with Bryce Harlow about how to handle Wilbur Mills. And also, it raises the question whether Flanigan's up to handling the textile negotiations that this is a highly sophisticated deal and we really need to look at it carefully without any sentimentality and determine whether he can handle it.

      The big thing of the day was Kissinger's decision to finally confront the President with his plan for resignation, which he actually did. The President told him, according to Henry, that he would not discuss the matter at all with him at this time, there were too many important things involved and we just couldn't even consider it, that we have to get to it later on. He told Henry that he would discuss it with me and possibly with George Shultz, and with no one else, and that we would work something out. In the late the afternoon, President had Ehrlichman stay in after a meeting with Shultz and then called me in. After some hemming and hawing about other things, told us about Henry's situation, and we had quite a long talk, making all of us late to dinner. The upshot of which is that we didn't really come to a conclusion on how to handle it, but all of us feel that Henry's taking this action may purge him of his internal problems and make it easier to deal with him and the whole thing. The general feeling is that Ehrlichman should try to handle Henry by getting tough with him because he's been soft, and that I should move in and handle Rogers, making it clear to him that he is going to have to start working within the system. Actually, the meeting Rogers scheduled for today, which Henry was going to refuse to attend, worked out rather well because Rogers called Henry and apologized for setting it up, said he would never do it again, that it was a one of a kind situation and asked Henry please to reconsider and come to the meeting, which Henry then agreed to do. The whole thing becomes kind of ludicrous.

      End of March 9.
    • 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. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969-1972

    Foreign Assistance Policy, 1969-1972

    Vol. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

    Chinese Representation in the United Nations

    • 335. Minutes of the Senior Review Group Meeting, Washington, March 9, 1971, 3:48-4:51 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box H–112, SRG Minutes, Originals. Secret; Nodis. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room. Jeanne Davis of the NSC staff forwarded the minutes to Kissinger under cover of a March 11 memorandum. (Ibid.) Green summarized these minutes in a memorandum to Rogers, March 11. (Ibid., RG 59, S/S Files: Lot 80 D 212, National Security Files, NSSM 107) Another record of the meeting, prepared by Armacost is ibid. A note on the minutes indicates that Farley and Petty were not present at the beginning of the meeting.

    Vol. VII, Vietnam, July 1970-January 1972

    Operational Lam Son 719, February 8-April 7, 1971

    Vol. XXIII, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1969-1972

    Vol. XXVIII, Southern Africa

    Regional Issues

    Vol. XXXVI, Energy Crisis, 1969-1974

    March 10, 1970-April 2, 1971

  • 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

Context (External Sources)