1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Almanac

May 17, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Wednesday, May 17, 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: Tuesday, May 16, 1972

Next Date: Thursday, May 18, 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.

  • 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)
      Wednesday, May 17.

      The President is still at Camp David. Called at 10:15 this morning and then a couple of times while we were playing tennis this afternoon. He said he had told Kissinger to read the Riot Act to the writers on the Moscow speech, that he wants it cut to 1800 words, he definitely wants to take Andrews, he's going to read all his toasts or statements, and he wants them written for that purpose and not longer than 250 words. He called later to say he wanted it cut to 200 words maximum, 150 words preferable.

      Going into the Wallace thing, he had talked to Lukash, and Colson and others to get readings. He thought the Michigan results were fantastic and that maybe Ehrlichman and Harper and the Domestic Council people will now believe that there is a busing issue. Says he wrote a memo to Ehrlichman with a copy to me on busing. He is anxious to try to go over and visit Wallace at the hospital, if he can, on the way down from Camp David on Friday. Feels that we should quit babying Mansfield now and go ahead and hit him because he's going against us at every turn as he is still on the antiwar amendment.

      Got into the Connally thing, wants to be sure that I keep in touch with Connally every day and that he doesn't feel left out of things, and also wants to have a big party for the Connallys after we get back from Russia, maybe even an "Evening at the White House" with great entertainment. Have the Texas people with Cabinet, Congress and so on. He wants all that set up.

      End of May 17.
    • 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

Audiovisual Holdings

Context (External Sources)