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November 23, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Tuesday, November 23, 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, November 22, 1971

Next Date: Wednesday, November 24, 1971

Schedule and Public 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.

    President's Personal File

    The President's Personal File is essentially a President's secretary's file, kept by Rose Mary Woods, personal secretary to the President, for two purposes: (1) preserving for posterity a collection of documents particularly close to the President, whether because he dictated or annotated them, or because of the importance of the correspondent or the event concerned and (2) giving appropriate attention–letters of gratitude, invitations to White House social events, and the like–to members and important friends and supporters of the Nixon administration. This generalization does not describe all the varied materials of a file group which is essentially a miscellany, but it does identify the reason for the existence of the file group's core. 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, November 23

      The question came up this morning at staff meeting on the Tax Bill strategy. The principal concern Shultz has is that the bill is going to be managed by the Treasury when it goes into conference. Connally will be gone, which means it's up to Treasury staff, and he's very concerned that they won't handle it in the President's interest. We had a meeting first thing this morning with Colson in, to see if we could try to get 40 to 50 target Democratic Southern Congressmen who might vote right on the tax deduction, put the pressure on them with business especially. It was agreed we shouldn't threaten, publicly, a veto or special session, but we should be prepared for it and tell the associations and other Departments to move in, to put maximum pressure on this.

      The President also wanted me to tell Ehrlichman to get going on having the Attorney General intervene in busing cases whenever possible. He thinks Justice should be into every case against busing anytime they can find an excuse to do so.

      The next problem was the dock strike. Shultz felt that we had all the ingredients for a settlement in Miami, that it was just a matter of the actuary working out the cost; and so it was possible to have a settlement today. And if not, he thinks we should try for Taft-Hartley on the Eastern Gulf Coast without starting a board of inquiry right away. He's concerned that it will be higher than the coal settlement but less than the West Coast, so the Pay Board is on a spot. Public members won't accept it. Management probably won't. We don't really care, as long as we get the ports open.

      The next problem that came up was the discovery, inadvertently, by Shultz last night, that Peterson is planning a European trip in December, which will pose a real problem with Connally. Later today, the President was meeting with Connally and called me in to really raise hell about his discovery that Shultz was taking the-- that Peterson was taking the trip, and told me to have Kissinger and Shultz get it turned off immediately.

      He had a whole series of meetings with Connally today on the international economic situation and the domestic tax question. The budget meetings basically will be with Connally, Ehrlichman and Shultz tomorrow.

      We got an agreement to drop the Latin American trip and the trip to Australia, etcetera. I talked to the President about it and convinced him that it was not a good idea, based on the overall schedule. Kissinger then agreed to a meeting with Sato in Southern California in San Clemente, and he, of course, was all for scrapping Latin America anyway. So we have that settled now.

      The President decided this afternoon to go out to a Redskins practice without any announcement, but at the last minute had me go along. He went out and spent about 20 minutes there. Did a great job and really jazzed them up. It should be good for some excellent coverage and great photos. They gave him a big cheer as he came out on the field. He completely befuddled them with his tremendous knowledge of football as he went through all of the comments he had to make about each of the individual guys, etcetera.

      The President called me at home tonight to say that he had been talking with MacGregor, who thinks the Senate will stay in tonight and then not do much work tomorrow, so they'll be out early. Therefore, the President wants to shift the whole schedule around tomorrow, stack everything up in the morning. Have a luncheon with Connally, Shultz, and Kissinger with Arthur Burns and then try to leave at 3:00 tomorrow to get out to California earlier. So we made that shift late this evening.

      End of November 23.
    • 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. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

    UN Finances and Reduction of the U.S. Assessment

    Secretary-General Succession

    Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

    South Asia Crisis, 1971

    • 196. Minutes of Washington Special Actions Group Meeting, Washington, November 23, 1971, 9:12-10:01 a.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–115, WSAG Minutes, Originals, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Codeword. No drafting appears on the minutes. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room. A briefer record of the meeting, prepared by James Noyes (OASD/ISA) is in the Washington National Records Center, OSD Files, FRC 330 76 0197, Box 74, Pakistan 381 (Jan–Nov) 1971.

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

    Vol. XXVIII, Southern Africa

    Regional Issues

    Vol. XXXIX, European Security

    MBFR and the Conference on European Security, December 1970-December 1971

    • 78. Minutes of a Senior Review Group Meeting, Washington, November 23, 1971, 3:15-4:16 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–112, SRG Minutes, Originals, 1971. Secret. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. All brackets are in the original.

    Vol. E-1, Documents on Global Issues, 1969-1972

    U.S. Policy Towards International Production and Trafficking in Illegal Drugs

    • 212. Telegram 212605 From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom, Washington, November 23, 1971, 2114Z

      The Department transmitted the text of a letter from President Nixon to General Ne Win to be delivered by Ambassador Annenberg to the Burmese representative in London.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 729, Country Files, Europe, United Kingdom, Vol. VII. Secret; Immediate; Nodis. Drafted by Wellman, cleared by Dexter, and approved by Gross. Repeated Priority to Bonn and Rangoon.

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

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

    • 155. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between Secretary of State Rogers and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, November 23, 1971, 10:55 a.m.

      Kissinger and Rogers expressed some differences over the U.S. response to the escalation of fighting in East Pakistan.

      Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File, 15–23 November 1971. No classification marking. The omissions are in the original transcript. The announcements referred to in the conversation are apparently the projected announcements of Nixon’s scheduled meetings in December with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, French President Georges Pompidou, and British Prime Minister Edward Heath. The cable referenced in the conversation is apparently telegram 212549 to Islamabad, November 23. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL INDIA–PAK)

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

    Panama

    Vol. E-13, Documents on China, 1969-1972

    • 68. Memorandum of Conversation, New York, November 23, 1971, 10-11:55 p.m., New York, November 23, 1971, 10-11:55 p.m.

      President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger and Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Huang Hua agreed to resist Indian military action against Pakistan and agreed on how they would handle the South Asian controversy in the United Nations Security Council. Kissinger also disavowed any U.S. involvement with the Formosan Independence Movement.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 849, President’s File-China Trip, China Exchanges, Oct 20, 1971-Dec 31, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. According to information contained in Document, the meeting was held in an unidentified apartment building in New York. Howe noted that it was not in an “affluent area but had been selected primarily to insure privacy.” A typed notation on the memorandum of conversation indicates that the meeting was held on the East Side. For text of the draft UN Security Council resolution, see Document 69. For Kissinger’s summary of this meeting, see Foreign Relations, 1969-1972, volume XVII, China, 1969-1972, Document 173.

    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

    • 92. Paper Prepared for the Senior Review Group by the Ad Hoc Interagency Working Group on Chile, Washington, November 23, 1971

      Summary: This paper reviewed U.S. objectives in Chile as the protection of U.S. interests, collection of compensation, and improvement of Chilean opposition forces, while avoiding providing the Allende government with reason for rallying domestic and international support. It then outlined and analyzed the various economic policy options the United States could employ in its attempts to attain those objectives.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Lot 73D115, ARA/LA-Meyer, Subj. 70–71, Kissinger Memoranda. Drafted by Fisher, Karkashian, and Girdler. Secret; Nodis. Meyer sent this paper to the Senior Review Group. Annexes A and B are attached but not published.

  • 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)