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November 8, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Wednesday, November 8, 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, November 7, 1972

Next Date: Thursday, November 9, 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 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

  • Argued

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, November 8.

      The President was in early this morning. I didn't get in till a little later. He was pouring over the vote analysis, and later he talked to Harry Dent about getting out the line about what the President had done for candidates. He was concerned about how we handled the low vote turnout. Wanted to be sure that we established the records-- of number of states, the record plurality or majority, what was LBJ's. Wanted to make sure that we started pissing on the Party, before they piss on us. Hit them with bad candidates, bad organization, and so on. Ziegler bounced in and said that he was going to announce Haig, and was going to announce the Cabinet and staff meetings. And the President told him to tell them that the meetings are not to discuss anything, the purpose is to initiate a series of discussions over the next 30 days, with regard to the second term and the planning.

      The President and I then went into the staff meeting. He opened the thing by saying -- making reference to fact that last night had been an election night -- that he had gotten a lot more sleep than he was accustomed to getting in his elections. That there were to be no vacations, we need to get the organization set in place for the next term, concentrate on the budget, reorganizing the staff and Departments. That he intends a very significant reorganization of the White House staff, and he will discuss that later with the people concerned. At the moment he wants them to know that he's very proud of this staff-- that they're accused of a lot of things, and maybe the most frequent accusation is that they are efficient, and to that we should plead guilty. They are also loyal, and they've gotten a lot done. And we will continue to have problems with the Congress, but we have more influence now, because of the majority. Everyone will have suggestions on how to improve his own office, there’s no sacred cows. We should tear up the pea patch in the organization of Cabinet and the agencies and so on. As far as your plans are concerned, we'll each of you individually, we'll work them out after thorough discussion and try to develop the best place for everybody. After the Eisenhower midterm victory, we didn't change things enough. Maybe a president shouldn't serve more than four years, but I'm not ready to raise that question yet. And then he went into his Disraeli story about the exhausted volcano. He said that didn't apply to the individuals, but it does apply to the entity, and a responsible leader has to be sure that we don't fall into that-- it’s the responsibility of the leader to be sure we don’t fall into that situation. We can't climb to the top and look down into the embers, we've got to still shoot some sparks, vitality and strength, and that we get some of that from new people, both in the Cabinet and here in the staff. So this is not a case where we say good-bye and start all over, but we do say thank you --we want your views, want to know what you’d like to do. Whatever you decide these are the members of the first team, you all helped to make possible what happened. Needless to say, the staff was ecstatic.

      I stayed on after the President left and covered the specific details of how we're handling the transition period, while he went and opened the Cabinet meeting. He spoke to the Cabinet for about an hour, and again I went in after he had left and followed up on the details of getting them all to submit their resignations, and having their Departmental meetings, etcetera, to work out the follow-up on that.

      I had a call in to Connally, and he was ecstatic, especially pleased that Texas was going to go over a million. He had a few ideas on staff people that he wants us to consider, although he said most of his people weren't looking for jobs. I made the point that we wanted them, in order to get some good Democratic representation in the new Administration structure, not just to pay them off.

      On the plane to Florida this afternoon, the President got into the whole media reaction and line thing. He wants Ziegler to put a total embargo on Time and Newsweek, there's to be no background to Sidey regarding election night or anything else at any time. He wants total discipline on the press, they're to be used as enemies, not played for help. Wants the story out that a private poll among the White House press showed that 80 out of 89 supported McGovern. He told me to tell Henry that it's OK to talk to Evans and Novak, but not to the other people. He made the point that most second terms have been disasters and that someone should write this, because he's determined that his won't be. He wants to get a leak out, that we'll have a major shake-up at State and Defense. He feels that we need to get across the points that he’s outlined earlier on the election analysis. Bebe had a big crowd at Homestead, and another one at Key Biscayne when the chopper landed, and that ended the "Day After".

      End of November 8.
    • 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. 

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    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. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

    Special Meetings of the Security Council

    Vol. IX, Vietnam, October 1972-January 1973

    Paris Negotiations Collapse, October 24-December 13, 1972

    • 95. Summary of Conclusions of a Washington Special Actions Group Meeting, Washington, November 8, 1972, 2:08-3:20 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–117, Washington Special Actions Group, WSAG Minutes (Originals) 7–27–72 to 9–20–73. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. The minutes are attached.

    • 96. Letter From President Nixon to South Vietnamese President Thieu, Washington, November 8, 1972

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 996, Alexander M. Haig Chronological File, Haig Chron, November 1–16, 1972. No classification marking. Haig delivered this letter to Thieu when they met on November 10 (see Document 97). The letter is reproduced in Hung and Schecter, The Palace File, pp. 383–384.

    Vol. XV, Soviet Union, June 1972-August 1974

    Economic Normalization and Soviet Jewish Emigration, September-December 1972

    Vol. XXXIII, SALT II, 1972-1980

    SALT II, 1972-1980

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

    U.S. Relations with India and Pakistan, 1972

    • 311. Memorandum From Harold Saunders and John Holdridge of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, November 8, 1972

      In apparent response to what he found to be a disappointing decision by the U.S. on his request for PL–480 wheat, Pakistani President Bhutto decided to recognize the Governments of North Korea and North Vietnam, and was considering recognition of the Sihanouk Government in Cambodia. He also withdrew Pakistan from SEATO.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 628, Country Files, Middle East, Pakistan, Vol. X, Sept 72–Oct 73. Secret. Sent for action. Hoskinson initialed for Saunders. Telegram 9038 from Islamabad, November 8, reported that Pakistan had recognized North Korea and North Vietnam and was considering recognition of the Sihanouk Government in Cambodia. (Ibid.) Kissinger checked the approval line. A handwritten notation in the margin next to the approval line, in Richard Kennedy’s hand, reads: “Kennedy to call in Amb Khan per telcon with HAK 11/9/72.”

  • 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)