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October 21, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Thursday, October 21, 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: Wednesday, October 20, 1971

Next Date: Friday, October 22, 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)
      Thursday, October 21.

      The whole thing today was the Supreme Court announcement. The President went over to EOB first thing this morning, spent the whole day over there, except for a couple of midday appointments in the Oval Office. He made quite a point of not telling me or anyone else who the nominees were, except Dick Moore. Then he had me working with Dick Moore to get things organized over at Justice, and of course, Moore assumed that I knew and spilled the beans to me. Turns out that they were set on Powell, the guy from Virginia who I expected, and thought they were set on Howard Baker as the second seat, but apparently, at some point towards the last minute last night or this morning, the President decided to go with Rehnquist instead of Baker, and they shifted over, even though Baker had been made the offer and was-- they were waiting for his response at 9:00 this morning when he was supposed to have it in. He didn't call until about 9:30, at which time he said he would accept. By then, the President had decided to go the other way.

      The President was very firm on making the notifications late this afternoon or this evening. Didn't want anybody to know ahead of time and kept Moore humping all day trying to do the research, write the bio sections of the President’s speech, and so forth. The President decided not to have anybody work with him on the speech, and he wrote it himself. He came out several times during the day with the need to make the point of a stacked jury at the ABA, that there were no men on the selection board. He wanted them hit hard tha-- on the fact that we learned from inside the ABA that they considered Mildred Lilly the best qualified woman that we could have submitted, but then they voted 11-1 against her on being qualified for the Court. He also wanted to hit hard on the point that the ABA does not have veto power, that the Constitution requires the advice and consent of the Senate, but does not require the consent of the Bar Association.

      He called wi-- during the day with a number of specific questions, such as the number of years of active practice total of the seven present members vs. the number of years the two nominees have had, the question of whether Justice Marshall was from Virginia, etcetera. He had Ziegler and me come over to the EOB and said that he wanted Ron to make the point against the ABA, that the Attorney General was going to get the point out on Mildred Lilly, but the President wanted Ron to keep the press guessing by confusing them on the fact that we might override the ABA objections to Lilly and Friday. He said-- told Ron to tell the press that the President has kept this very closely held; that he's had a number of names in mind, including those that have been speculated on; that he's not talked to any of the candidates; that we don’t-- Ron doesn't know when he decided, but he would expect he decided in his own mind during the weekend at Camp David, but as a courtesy to the ABA, he didn't make a final irrevocable decision until their report came in.

      As he sort of built up steam, he got madder at the ABA and then told Ron to say that the President, as a lawyer, was frankly quite distressed and surprised and disappointed regarding the ABA's leak of the list of candidates, because one of a-- the lawyers-- a lawyer's first and highest ethics is confidentiality, and here the top lawyers in the country so blatantly breached the confidentiality. He pushed hard on trying to get that point over, but the Attorney General didn't want it made, because he's releasing his letter after the President’s announcement tonight and felt that we shouldn't hit the Bar ahead of that. President said not to let any calls come through after the speech tonight because he doesn't want to talk to Burger, because he's upset with him for his threat to quit and putting pressure on. Also doesn't want to talk to Volpe because he'll complain about the lack of an ethnic, and everybody else will have other kinds of complaints.

      He did call John Connally, didn't give him the names but said he was going to make the announcement tonight. Touched base with him on the trip. Chatted about his cold that he caught from Connally. Told him he was meeting with Kishi tomorrow and that he'll tell Kishi that Connally is the one to deal with on the surcharge question, and that was about it.

      He was shocked at the Willy Brandt's announcement yesterday as the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Made the point today that we've got to watch out now that Time, in order to needle us, may go for Kissinger as the "Man of the Year", which would be very bad, so we should try to swing that around a different way.

      President did a superb job on the announcement, which ran 15 minutes. Reaction was very good overall, especially to Powell, because everybody considers him outstanding. Most of the people we checked with were not familiar with Rehnquist, but said he sounded good on his qualifications. I talked to the President a couple hours after the broadcast and said I thought he had scored another 10-strike, and he said "Well, probably so, except for my wife, but boy, is she mad." Apparently, PN really hit him on his failure to appoint a woman, because she thought she had a commitment that he would do so and didn't buy the argument of the Bar turning her down. So, that apparently was the only really sour note.

      End of October 21.
    • 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

    Chinese Representation in the United Nations

    Vol. XVII, China, 1969-1972

    China,January-September 1971

    • 160. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig) to the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Eliot) and the Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Pursley), Washington, October 21, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 522, Country Files, Far East, China, Vol. IX. Confidential. In an October 19 covering memorandum to Haig, Froebe wrote, “This we believe is necessary in order to judge the advisability and timing of the transfer [of weapons] in terms of its probable impact on the plans for the President’s China trip and our efforts to improve relations with Peking.”

    • 162. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, October 21, 1971, 10:30 a.m.-1:45 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1034, Files for the President—China Material, Polo II, HAK China Trip, Transcripts of Meetings. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting was held in the Great Hall of the People. Kissinger’s topical briefing materials are ibid. Kissinger met with Chou En-lai on October 20 (Monday) from 4:40–7:10 p.m.; October 21 from 10:30–1:45 p.m. and again from 4:42–7:17 p.m.; October 22 from 4:15–8:28 p.m.; October 23 from 9:05–10:05 a.m.; October 24 from 10:28–1:55 p.m. and 9:23–11:20 p.m.; October 25 from 10:12–11 a.m. and 9:50–11:40 p.m.; and October 26 from 5:30–8:10 a.m. A short “informal memcon” of Chou En-lai’s introduction to the Americans accompanying Kissinger on the afternoon of October 20 is also ibid. See Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–13, Documents 36–41, 43–44, 48, 51–52, and 54–56. Kissinger’s schedule is in National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President—China Materials, HAK’s October 1971 Visit. Memoranda of conversation of meetings held among Holdridge, Jenkins, and Hsiung Hsiang-huai, Secretary to the Prime Minister, are ibid. These meetings focused on preparations for the President’s trip, trade, and exchanges. See Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–13, Documents 39 and 43.

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

    Proximity Talks and the Backchannel: Separate Department of State and White House Negotiating Tricks

    Vol. XXXIV, National Security Policy, 1969-1972

    The Defense Budget and U.S. National Security Policy

    • 198. National Intelligence Estimate, Washington, October 21, 1971

      Source: Central Intelligence Agency, NIC Files, Job 79–R01012A. Top Secret; [codeword not declassified]. The CIA and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State and Defense, the AEC, and the NSA participated in the preparation of this estimate. The Director of Central Intelligence submitted this estimate with the concurrence of all members of the USIB except the representative of the FBI, who abstained on the grounds that it was outside his jurisdiction. The table of contents is not printed. The full text of this NIE is in the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room (www.foia.cia.gov).

    Vol. XXXIX, European Security

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

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

    • 38. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig) to President Nixon, Washington, October 21, 1971, Washington, October 21, 1971

      Haig informed Nixon that President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger had raised the issue of Nixon’s individual meetings with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai and Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Tse-tung, noting that Chou refused to agree to a private meeting between Nixon and Mao.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, China-HAK October 1971 Visit. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent for information. A notation on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it. A handwritten note from Nixon reads: “Al-OK with Henry-OK with Chou & Mao together-but RN to be alone-Henry not to be present-otherwise we differ from RN’s style in other trips & raise the Rogers problem.”

    • 39. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, October 21, 1971, 10:20 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Beijing, October 21, 1971, 10:20 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

      Department of State official Alfred Jenkins and NSC staff member John Holdridge broached the establishment of reciprocal or unilateral liaison offices and other lower level relationships such as scientific, cultural, environmental, and sports between the two nations in a conversation with the Prime Minister’s Secretary Hsiung Hsiang-hui.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, HAK visit to PRC, October 1971, Memcons-originals. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. All brackets are in the source text. The meeting was held at Hupei Hall, the Great Hall of the People.

    • 40. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, October 21, 1971, 10:30 a.m.-1:45 p.m., Beijing, October 21, 1971, 10:30 a.m.-1:45 p.m.

      Topics discussed included the technical aspects of President Nixon’s visit, the normalization of relations, pro-Taiwan Independence demonstrations in the United States, and Japan.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, HAK visit to PRC, October 1971, Memcons-originals. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. No drafting information appears on the memorandum; presumably drafted by Lord. All brackets and ellipses are in the source text. The meeting was held in the Great Hall of the People.

    • 41. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, October 21, 1971, 4:42-7:17 p.m., Beijing, October 21, 1971, 4:42-7:17 p.m.

      President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger noted that California Governor Ronald Reagan’s recent visit to Taiwan did not reflect official U.S. foreign policy. Chinese Premier Chou En-lai then called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Indochina and criticized Washington’s “refusal” to reply to Hanoi’s seven point proposal. Kissinger responded that the North Vietnamese had failed to respond both to the August 1971 U.S. eight point proposal including a withdrawal date, which he had presented to North Vietnamese negotiator Xuan Thuy in Paris in September, and to a subsequent October 11, revision of the proposal. The two also discussed the effect a ceasefire in Vietnam would have on Cambodia.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, HAK visit to PRC, October 1971, Memcons-originals. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. No drafting information appears on the memorandum; presumably drafted by Lord. The meeting was held in the Great Hall of the People.

  • 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)