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October 18, 1972

Introduction

This almanac page for Wednesday, October 18, 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, October 17, 1972

Next Date: Thursday, October 19, 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.

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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, October 18th. The principal concern today was the debate about the schedule. The President had me in at 8:15 and wanted to get started talking about it right away, so I missed the staff meeting. He feels that the key argument on getting out is the problem next week on television, the momentum story for McGovern and the coverage of him, which will mean that we'll be blamed for losing the House and Senate, and we have the problem of having to live with those people. So we have to do what we have to do in order to avoid being a loser. He raised the idea of going back to a one event stop rather than helicoptering in to three places, wondered if there was one place out in the country that would work out. He just feels Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, with no outside schedule will not wash, so we've got to do a one shot on Wednesday or Thursday. He suggested Kentucky for Louie Nunn, and we expanded that to doing it, instead of Saturday after Ohio, do it as a Kentucky, West Virginia stop on Wednesday or Thursday evening as a night rally. He feels that we've got to decide on a plan now and not change, and at first wanted to just add Kentucky to Ohio on Saturday, then, the more he thought about it, got to the idea I mentioned above, doing it Wednesday night with some good statements dropped in conjunction with it.

    Colson was panic stricken about the idea of expanding the schedule and argued strongly all kinds of points, trying to avoid it. Ehrlichman raised the point of some other ideas, most of which the President shot down as he shot down most of Colson's ideas for activities at the White House. He still feels the real need is for one thing in the middle of the week, and so that's where we're ending up and try to work that out.

    He got into juggling the radio speeches around, and also the final week he's going to move Chicago up to Tuesday, because we’ve learned McGovern's going to be in Chicago Wednesday night and Thursday. And then will do his TV Thursday night, with a radio speech Wednesday, in-between.

    The only other item today is Henry and his Vietnam negotiations. The President called Haig in first thing, said he's very concerned about Henry's plan to go to Vientiane for a second meeting with Le Duc Tho, because he feels he's got to come back here after the meeting with Thieu for consultation. Although, as the day went on, the thing looked better, and Rogers even reviewed the political settlement...

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    DECLASSIFIED - E.O. 13526, Sect. 3.4: by MS, NARA, June 12, 2013
    Audio Cassette 25, Side B, Withdrawn Item Number 23 [AC-25(B) Sel 19]
    Duration: 57 seconds

    …felt that it was a complete capitulation by the other side and better than we could have possibly hoped for. He had Haig in later this afternoon again talking about the same thing, but giving Haig some advice to give Henry on how to handle Thieu. His point was that he should not go in with the full details of the settlement right at the beginning. He should hold out a little; make, build it up some. Make the point that the President laid down the conditions that there be no coalition government. And don't show him paper on what we do have, and don’t give him the dope on the political settlement. Go first into the military, and go through all that, and then give him part of what we've got, and let him argue about it. Then step back to what we actually have, which he, by this time, would be delighted to buy.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The President is still not fully sold, I don't think, on whether he should push for the deal before the election, but the way Henry is going now, it looks as if it will be inevitable, and the President later today relented and said he could go to Vientiane if he had the full deal worked out... 

    [End of tape reel AC-25(B)]

    [End of October 18th]
  • 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

Breakthrough in Paris Blocked in Saigon, October 8-23, 1972

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

Economic Normalization and Soviet Jewish Emigration, September-December 1972

Vol. XIX, Part 1, Korea, 1969-1972

Republic of Korea Troops in Vietnam and Force Modernization, April 1971-December 1972

  • 163. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Korea, Washington, October 18, 1972, 1436Z

    Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 543, Country Files, Far East, Korea, Vol. V, 1 Jan–31 Dec 1972. Confidential; Immediate; Exdis. Drafted by Kriebel on October 17; cleared by Green, Ranard, Sneider, and in S/S; and approved by Johnson.

Vol. XIX, Part 2, Japan, 1969-1972

November 1971-December 1972: Toward a New Equilibrium

  • 137. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, October 18, 1972, 10 a.m.

    Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 538, Country Files, Japan, Vol. VIII, May-December 1972. Secret. On October 20, Holdridge sent this memorandum of conversation to Haig for approval. Haig approved it with no further distribution. (Ibid.) Nixon had rejected an earlier request to meet with Ohira, but Holdridge, citing support from Rogers, appealed this decision in an October 17 memorandum sent under Kissinger’s name but signed by Haig. According to an attached routing slip, Haig and Nixon discussed this matter by telephone, and Haig approved the memorandum on behalf of the President. (Ibid.) Ericson produced a briefing paper for Nixon’s meeting with Ohira. (Memorandum from Mueller to Kissinger, October 17; ibid., RG 59, POL 7 JAPAN)

Vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe, 1969-1972

General Policy

Vol. E-5, Part 1, Documents on Sub-Saharan Africa, 1969-1972

Nigerian Civil War

  • 216. Telegram 8136 From the Embassy in Nigeria to the Department of State, Lagos, October 18, 1972, 1346Z

    Ministry of External Affairs Permanent Secretary Joe Iyalla presented Ambassador Reinhardt with a lengthy list of alleged calculated U.S. attempts to downgrade Nigeria which, Iyalla believed, all added up to a pattern of U.S. indifference and a penchant to take Nigeria for granted.

    Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL Nigeria-US. Confidential. Repeated to Ibadan and Kaduna.

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

  • 122. Intelligence Note Prepared in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Washington, October 18, 1972

    Summary: This INR Intelligence Note reported that the surge in strikes in mid-1972 was politically and economically motivated. It concluded that the unrest would not lead to the unseating of Allende.

    Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 15–1 CHILE. Confidential. Drafted by Jorgenson, Arenales, and Misback; approved by Summ; and released by Mark.

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

Visit the White House Tapes finding aid to learn about the taping system's operation and archival processing.

Old Executive Office Building

Oval Office

White House Telephone

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-D0730 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0730-, President Nixon seated informally in the Oval Office during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira, Japanese Ambassador Nobuhiko Ushiba, and Maj. General Alexander Haig. Members of the Press stand near the doorway filming or taking notes. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Masayoshi Ohira, Nobuhiko Ushiba, Alexander Haig, interpreters, reporters, photographers, press corps members.
  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0730-13A, President Nixon seated informally in the Oval Office during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira, Japanese Ambassador Nobuhiko Ushiba, and Maj. General Alexander Haig. Members of the Press stand near the doorway filming or taking notes. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Masayoshi Ohira, Nobuhiko Ushiba, Alexander Haig, interpreters, reporters, photographers, press corps members.

Roll WHPO-D0731 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0731-, Deputy Special Assistant John Nidecker receiving a China Atlas book gift from Government Publishing Office (GPO) representatives. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. unknown. John E. Nidecker, GPO representatives.

Roll WHPO-D0732 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0732-, Vice President Agnew seated at his EOB office desk during a meeting with Trudy Feldman. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. Vice Presidential Office, Executive Office Building (EOB). Agnew, Trudy Feldman.

Roll WHPO-D0733 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0733-, President Nixon seated informally with USSR Minister of Foreign Trade Nikolai Patolichev, Soviet Ambassader Anatoly Dobrynin, Secretary of State William Rogers, Commerce Secretary Peter Peterson, and Peter Flanigan and Helmut Sonnenfeldt, NSC Senior Staff Member. Members of the Press stand near the doorway taking notes. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, William Rogers, Peter Peterson, Peter Flanigan, Anatoly Dobrynin, Nikolay Semenovich Patolichev, Helmut Sonnenfeldt, reporters, photographers, Press Corps members.
  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0733-14, President Nixon seated informally with USSR Minister of Foreign Trade Nikolai Patolichev, Soviet Ambassader Anatoly Dobrynin, Secretary of State William Rogers, Peter Flanigan, and Commerce Secretary Peter Peterson or Helmut Sonnenfeldt, NSC Senior Staff. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, William Rogers, Peter Flanigan, Anatoly Dobrynin, Nikolai Semenovich Patolichev, possibly Peter Peterson or Helmut Sonnenfeldt, reporters, photographers, Press Corps members.

Roll WHPO-D0734 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: Color

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0734-, Pat Nixon attending the ceremony to designate the Main Treasury Building as a National Historic Landmark. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. South Portico, Treasury Building. Pat Nixon, Rogers Morton, Shultz, Charles Walker, Girl Scouts, audience.

Roll WHPO-D0735 Photographer: Royer | Color or B&W: Color

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0735-, Pat Nixon attending and then leaving a ceremony designating the Main Treasury Building as a National Historic Landmark. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. South Portico, Treasury Building. Pat Nixon, Secretary Rogers Morton, Shultz, Charles Walker, fife and drum band members, audience.

Roll WHPO-D0736 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0736-03-05, Vice President Agnew and Judy Agnew arriving in Grand Rapids. 10/18/1972, Grand Rapids, Michigan airport. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, officials, audience.
  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0736-07-34, Vice President Agnew giving a speech in front of a large audience. 10/18/1972, Grand Rapids, Michigan unknown building. Spiro Agnew, Judy Agnew, officials, audience.

Roll WHPO-D0737 Photographer: Schumacher, Karl | Color or B&W: B&W

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0737-03A, Vice President Agnew on the tarmac. 10/18/1972, Green Bay, Wisconsin airport, tarmac. Spiro Agnew, officials, audience, unidentified persons.
  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0737-04A-15A, Vice President Agnew giving a speech to a large audience. 10/18/1972, Green Bay, Wisconsin unknown building. Spiro Agnew, officials, audience, unidentified persons.
  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0737-16A-19A, Vice President Agnew talking with persons on a plane. 10/18/1972, enroute plane, interior. Spiro Agnew, officials, audience, unidentified persons.

Roll WHPO-D0740 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: Color

  • Frame(s): WHPO-D0740-, Shots of the presidential limousine. 10/18/1972, Washington, D.C. Diplomatic Entrance Driveway, White House.

The White House Communications Agency Sound Recordings Collection contains public statements that took place between 1969 and 1974. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

F - Secretary of State Briefings

  • WHCA-SR-F-033
    Press briefing by Sec. Rogers and Sec. Peter Peterson. (10/18/1972, White House Press Lobby)

    Runtime: 51:00:00

    Production credits: Audio feed supplied by WHCA; Recorded by JBA (initials of WHCA engineer)

    Original Format: 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape. Original source type: Original.

L - White House Press Office Briefings

  • WHCA-SR-L-041
    Press briefing by Ronald Ziegler. (10/18/1972, White House Press Lobby)

    Runtime: 0:46:52

    Keywords: press conferences, news conferences, interviews, media, press secretary, briefings, public statements to the press, People’s Republic of China, bills, laws, USSR, Soviet Union, Russia, business, exchanges, agreements, contracts, profits, finance, sales, b

    Production credits: Audio feed supplied by WHCA; Recorded by JBA (initials of WHCA engineer)

    Original Format: 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape. Original source type: Original. Technical notes: 50 minutes and 16 seconds of silence at end of recording removed from access copies.

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-5829
    "A Public Affair: Election '72".
    Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc.
    Runtime: 0:30
  • WHCA-5832
    Weekly News Summary, Tape II.
    ALL NETWORKS
    Runtime: 1:30

    14. Smith/Clark: President Nixon veto overridden by Congress. Time Code Start: 45:10. Keywords: Presidents, vetoes, bills, laws, House of Representatives, voting. Network: ABC.

    15. Reasoner/Mariano/Koppel: Henry Kissinger in Saigon, Vietnam; Paris Peace Talks (France). Time Code Start: 47:34. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations, government, officials, travel, trips. Network: ABC.

    16. Smith/Matney: Ziegler comments on Watergate; McGovern comment. Time Code Start: 51:24. Keywords: Watergate, Senate committee hearings, investigations, testimony, testify, cover-ups, break-in, burglary, theft, plumbers, scandals. Network: ABC.

    17. Reasoner/Shoumacher: President Nixon surrogates campaigning. Time Code Start: 53:36. Keywords: Presidential elections, campaigns, campaigning. Network: ABC.

    18. Smith/Jarriel: U.S.-USSR trade agreement. Time Code Start: 56:00. Keywords: Soviet Union, USSR, business, exchanges, agreements, contracts, profits, finance, sales, buying, selling. Network: ABC.

    19. Reasoner/Zimmerman: Shriver campaigning in New Jersey. Time Code Start: 58:06. Keywords: Vice Presidents, Presidential elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates. Network: ABC.

    20. Smith: Commentary on the campaign; the candidates are only hurting themselves. Time Code Start: 60:19. Keywords: Presidential elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates. Network: ABC.

    21. Chancellor/Lord: Vietnam. Time Code Start: 62:00. Keywords: Vietnam War. Network: NBC.

    22. Chancellor/Kaplan: Paris Peace Talks. Time Code Start: 63:20. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: NBC.

    23. Chancellor/Duke: Congress overrides President Nixon veto. Time Code Start: 65:12. Keywords: Presidents, vetoes, bills, laws, House of Representatives, voting. Network: NBC.

    24. Chancellor/Valeriani: U.S.-USSR trade agreements. Time Code Start: 66:43. Keywords: Soviet Union, Russia, business, exchanges, agreements, contracts, profits, finance, sales, buying, selling. Network: NBC.

    25. Chancellor: Ziegler denies any White House involvement in Watergate. Time Code Start: 69:00. Keywords: Watergate, Senate committee hearings, investigations, testimony, testify, cover-ups, break-in, burglary, theft, plumbers, scandals. Network: NBC.

    26. Chancellor/Kiker: Mississippi senate race. Time Code Start: 70:00. Keywords: Senate, elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates. Network: NBC.

    27. Cronkite/Kalb: Progress (?) at Paris Peace Talks. Time Code Start: 73:26. Keywords: Paris Peace Talks, Vietnam War, treaty, treaties, negotiations. Network: CBS.

    28. Cronkite/Mudd: Congress overrides President Nixon veto. Time Code Start: 75:48. Keywords: Presidents, vetoes, bills, laws, House of Representatives, voting. Network: CBS.

    29. Cronkite/Schieffer: McGovern blasts President Nixon's economics. Time Code Start: 77:20. Keywords: economy, economics, budgets, finances, recession, inflation, money, wages, costs, unemployment, prices, reports. Network: CBS.

    30. Cronkite/Curtis: Ziegler comments on Watergate; Laurence Young talks about Segretti. Time Code Start: 78:50. Keywords: Dirty Tricks, political sabotage, trials, Watergate, Senate committee hearings, investigations, testimony, testify, cover-ups, scandals, Presidential elections, campaigns. Network: CBS.

    31. Cronkite/Sevareid: Commentary on the voter cross section. Time Code Start: 82:00. Keywords: Vote, voters, voting, Presidential elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates, primaries, voting, registrations. Network: CBS.

    32. Cronkite: U.S.-USSR trade agreement. Time Code Start: 84:43. Keywords: Soviet Union, Russia, business, exchanges, agreements, contracts, profits, finance, sales, buying, selling. Network: CBS.

    33. Cronkite/Rather: Political races in Illinois. Time Code Start: 85:44. Keywords: Senate, elections, campaigns, campaigning, candidates. Network: CBS.

Context (External Sources)

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive is the world's most extensive and complete archive of television news. They have been recording, preserving and providing access to television news broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968.

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