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September 23, 1969

Introduction

This almanac page for Tuesday, September 23, 1969, 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, September 22, 1969

Next Date: Wednesday, September 24, 1969

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.

    Addresses and Remarks

    • Supersonic Transport (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1309, September 23, 1969)
      The President's Remarks Announcing His Decision To Continue Development of the SST.

    Announcements

    • Disaster Assistance for California (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1309, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Allocation of Additional Funds for Repair of Damage Caused by Heavy Rains and Flooding.
    • Disaster Assistance for Iowa (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1310, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Allocation of Additional Funds for Repair of Flood Damage.

    Appointments and Nominations

    • United States Ambassador to the Republic of Ivory Coast (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1309, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Intention To Nominate John Frick Root of Pennsylvania.
    • District of Columbia Council (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1310, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Intention To Nominate Dr. Henry S. Robinson, Jr., as a Member of the Council.
    • Office of Economic Opportunity (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1310, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Intention To Nominate Frank Charles Carlucci III as Assistant Director for Operations.
    • Inspection of Tax Returns (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1310, September 23, 1969)
      Announcement of Granting of Authority to the House Select Committee on Crime During the 91st Congress.

    Executive Orders

    • Inspection of Tax Returns (5 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1311, September 23, 1969)
      Executive Order 11483 Providing for Inspection of Certain Tax Returns by the House Select Committee on Crime.

    Checklist of White House Press Releases

    The releases listed below, made public by the Office of the White House Press Secretary during the period covered by this issue, are not included in the issue.

    • Press conference of John A. Volpe, Secretary of Transportation on the supersonic transport.

    Digest of Other White House Announcements

    Following is a listing of items of general interest which were announced in the press but not made public as formal White House press releases during the period covered by this issue. Appointments requiring Senate approval are not included since they appear in the list of nominations submitted to the Senate, below.

    • The President announced his intention to nominate Brig. Gen. Sylvester T. Del Corso, Adjutant General of the State of Ohio, for promotion to reserve commissioned officer in the Army in the grade of major general.
    • The President transmitted to the Congress the Third Annual Report of the National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education.

    Nominations Submitted to the Senate

    Does not include promotions of members of the Uniformed Services, nominations to the Service Academies, or nominations of Foreign Service Officers.

    • CLINTON E. KNOX, of New York, a Foreign Service Officer of Class one, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Haiti.
    • HEWSON A. RYAN, of Massachusetts, a Foreign Service Information Officer of the Class of Career Minister for Information, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Honduras.
    • HAROLD C. PASSER, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, vice William H. Chartener.
    • CRISTOBAL C. DUENAS, of Guam, to be Judge of the District Court of Guam for the term of 8 years, vice Paul D. Shriver, resigned.

  • 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.

    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, September 23.

      SST day. President made the announcement at 9:00 - but it had leaked last night, probably by Scoop Jackson. For the first time, we had a really well-prepared game plan ahead of time, due to Alex ramming it through yesterday.

      Then some morning appointments, including fairly long session with Mitchell after a meeting with him and Senator Griffin regarding Haynsworth appointment. Appears it may be in some actual trouble. Griffin meeting was on this - secret.

      Minor flap at start of the day because there had been no speech material prepared for Tricia for her trip to Philadelphia to open a museum exhibition. Problem is still almost complete lack of communication between East and West Wings. Hope Stuart's return will resolve this.

      President is all of a sudden enamored with use of the Dictaphone, and is spewing out memos by the carload - plus about double the volume of news summary marginal comments. Pushing me hard on both PR organization, and staff restructure and reduction.

      He was delighted this morning that pool dismantling was under way, and worked out a plan with Ziegler and me to take a few press through the whole new press set-up. Ziegler had a long session with President in the late morning and succeeded in talking him out of his plan to meet a small group of press for a backgrounder - and instead to have a full press conference Friday. Then President spent about a half hour telling me how to re-juggle the schedule to accommodate it.

      After lunch hour he took Merriman Smith and two others on complete tour of West Wing, pointing out how awful the lobby, Roosevelt Room, and West basement are, then showed how the press set-up will work out in the pool area. They basically bought the idea, and he was absolutely right in approaching it this way. Now it's a fait accompli except for details.

      After the tour, I got most of the rest of the afternoon on schedule items, and some staff generalities. Then Kissinger for a while. He's not down to any real basics - needs Ehrlichman back to focus on domestic specifics. Should get off staff operational things. Problem was leaving afternoon open for homework, which he now doesn't need to do until tomorrow.
    • Handwritten diary entry (JPG)

  • 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. II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969-1972

    Managing the Department of State

    Vol. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969-1972

    Trade and Commerce, 1969-1972

    Vol. XII, Soviet Union, January 1969-October 1970

    Establishment of the Kissinger-Dobrynin Channel; Dialogue on the Middle East; and the Sino-Soviet Dispute, April 23-December 10, 1969

    Vol. XVII, China, 1969-1972

    China, 1969

    • 33. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, September 23, 1969

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidental Materials, NSC Files, Box 710, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. V. Secret. According to a handwritten notation, the memorandum was returned from the President on October 6. Sonnenfeldt forwarded an attached report to Kissinger on September 12. Kissinger then requested that a memorandum be prepared for Nixon. Attached but not printed is a 3-page “CIA Analysis of the Kosygin–Chou Meeting” that served as the basis for this memorandum.

    • 34. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China and Commander, U.S. Taiwan Defense Command, Washington, September 23, 1969, 2117Z

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, DEF 6–2 US. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Froebe (EA/ROC); cleared by Sloss (J/PM), Captain Hayward (Office of the Under Secretary of the Navy), Rear Admiral Behrens (CNO, Ops–61), Colonel Mayland (Joint Staff, J–5), Colonel Karrick (ISA/PP), Rear Admiral Shepard (ISA/EAPR), Dr. Doolin (DASD/EAPR), Green, U. Alexis Johnson, and Kissinger; and approved by Shoesmith (EA/ROC). Repeated to CNO, CINCPAC, CINCPACFLT, and CHMAAG Taipei.

    Vol. XXIV, Middle East Region and Arabian Peninsula, 1969-1972; Jordan, September 1970

    Middle East Region

    • 9. Minutes of a Review Group Meeting , Washington, September 23, 1969, 2:10-3:15 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–111, Senior Review Group, SRG Minutes Originals 1969. Secret; Exdis. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. The minutes were reviewed and approved by Kissinger. (Memorandum from Davis to Kissinger, September 25; ibid.) Prior to the Review Group meeting, Saunders prepared Talking Points and a Draft Issues Paper for Kissinger to send to Nixon. Saunders then recommended the Basic Paper, “Desalting in the Middle East,” to Kissinger. (Memorandum from Saunders to Kissinger, September 17; ibid., Box H–039, Review Group Mid-East Water 9/23/69)

    Vol. XXVIII, Southern Africa

    Regional Issues

    • 16. Memorandum of Conversation , New York, September 23, 1969, 11:30 a.m.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL UK–US. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Thompson on September 24 and approved by Brown on September 27. The meeting was held at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The memorandum is part 3 of 7.

    Vol. XXIX, Eastern Europe, 1969-1972

    Austria

    • 63. Telegram From Secretary of State Rogers to the Department of State, New York, September 23, 1969, 2110Z

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 7 AUS. Secret; Limdis. Repeated to Bonn, Bucharest, London, Moscow, Paris, Vienna, Helsinki, USEC, and Prague. Rogers and Waldheim were in New York attending the UN General Assembly meeting.

    Vol. XXIX, Eastern Mediterranean, 1969-1972

    Cyprus

    • 345. Memorandum of Conversation , New York, September 23, 1969, 4:45-5:15 p.m.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27 CYP. Confidential. Drafted by Irwin on September 23, and approved by R.L. Brown on September 25. Rogers and Kyprianou were attending the UN General Assembly meeting.

    Turkey

    • 424. National Security Study Memorandum 75 , Washington, September 23, 1969

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–218, NSSM 75. Secret. A copy was sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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

    U.S. Policy Towards Terrorism, Hijacking of Aircraft, and Attacks on Civil Aviation: Israeli Attack on Beirut Airport and Hijacking of TWA Flight 840, January-December 1969

    • 26. Memorandum of Conversation Between Secretary of State Rogers and Israeli Foreign Minister Eban, New York, September 23, 1969, 5 p.m.

      On September 20 Rogers and Eban discussed the Israeli passengers on TWA Flight 840 still held by Syrian hijackers. Eban said that the idea of linking the release of the passengers to the release of captured Syrian pilots was “intolerable.” Rogers agreed that the two cases could not be equated. Eban commended Italy’s efforts and said there was little more UN Secretary-General U Thant could do.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967-69, AV 12 US. Secret; Limdis. Drafted by Atherton on September 23, and approved by Brown on September 27.

    U.S.-Cuba Hijacking Agreement, 1969-February 1973

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

    Cuba

  • 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

  • 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-2017 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-2017-03-28, President Nixon and government officials announcing the decision to green light development of the supersonic transport. 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. President Nixon, John Volpe, Henry Jackson, senators, representatives, business leaders.

    Roll WHPO-2018 Photographer: Knudsen, Robert L. | Color or B&W: Color

    • Frame(s): WHPO-2018-01A-20A, President Nixon and government officials announcing the decision to green light development of the supersonic transport. 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. President Nixon, John Volpe, Henry Jackson, Gov. Daniel Evans, senators, representatives, business leaders.

    Roll WHPO-2019 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-2019-14-18, President Nixon and government officials announcing the decision to green light development of the supersonic transport. (SST). 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. President Nixon, President Nixon, Daniel Evans, John A. Volpe, Secretary of Transportation. Daniel J. Evans, Governor. Senators: Harry M. Jackson, JolIn Stennis, Clifford P. Case, John O. Pastore, Norris Cotton, Congressmen: Thomas Pelly, Catherine May, Edward Boland, William E. Minshall, Harley Staggers, William Springer.

    Roll WHPO-2020 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-2020-01A-04A, President Nixon and government officials announcing the decision to green light development of the supersonic transport. (SST). 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Roosevelt Room. President Nixon, President Nixon, Daniel Evans, John A. Volpe, Secretary of Transportation. Daniel J. Evans, Governor. Senators: Harry M. Jackson, JolIn Stennis, Clifford P. Case, John O. Pastore, Norris Cotton, Congressmen: Thomas Pelly, Catherine May, Edward Boland, William E. Minshall, Harley Staggers, William Springer.

    Roll WHPO-2021 Photographer: Atkins, Oliver | Color or B&W: B&W

    • Frame(s): WHPO-2021-01-15, President Nixon receiving the book "Toward a Meaningful Bicentennial," from Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott in the Oval Office. 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Hugh Scott.
    • Frame(s): WHPO-2021-15, President Nixon receiving the book "Toward a Meaningful Bicentennial" from Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott in the Oval Office. 9/23/1969, Washington, D.C. White House, Oval Office. President Nixon, Hugh Scott.

  • 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.

    H - White House Staff Member Recordings

    • WHCA-SR-H-077
      Remarks by Herbert Klein to military leaders. (9/23/1969, Pentagon)

      Runtime: 40:00:00

      Production credits: Audio feed supplied by "OPI"; Recorded by ELB (initials of WHCA engineer)

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

    P - Formal Presidential Remarks

    • WHCA-SR-P-690920
      Remarks by President Nixon Announcing Decision To Continue Development of the Supersonic Transport. (9/23/1969)

      Runtime: 5:40

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

Context (External Sources)