“A Moment of Unusual Uncertainty”: Meeting Between Nixon and Gromyko, October 12–December 31, 1970
1. Background Press Briefing by President Nixon
Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL 426, Subject File, Background Briefings. No classification marking. The briefing—the last of four such regional briefings before the mid-term elections—was held in the Hartford Hilton Hotel for selected “Northeastern editors and broadcasters.” In a memorandum to the President on October 8, Herbert Klein, White House Director of Communications, explained: “Emphasis in the selection of editors and broadcasters has been placed on the states in which there are key Senate races although other states are included that the list not look overly political.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) The President’s remarks, delivered on “deep background, not attributable in any way,” and “strictly embargoed” until 6 p.m. on October 13, were apparently transcribed by the Office of the White House Press Secretary.
2. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking.
3. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 128, Country Files, Latin America, Cuba (2). Secret; Nodis; Sensitive; Strictly Eyes Only.
4. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–114, WSAG Minutes (Originals) 1969 and 1970 [1 of 6]. Secret; Sensitive. All brackets are in the original. The meeting was held in the Situation Room at the White House. The time of the meeting is handwritten on the first page of the memorandum. See, however, footnote 2 below.
5. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Secretary of Defense Laird
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 405, Subject Files, USSR US Ships in the Black Sea (Silver Fox). Top Secret. According to an attached copy, Kissinger and Haig drafted the memorandum; a “blind copy” was sent to Eliot.
6. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 490, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1970, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The date is handwritten. Although no drafting information appears on the memorandum, Lord reported to Kissinger on October 14: “Attached per your request is a summary of your last four conversations with Ambassador Dobrynin. The summary arranges material by subject heading so as to trace the development through the four meetings of each topic. It does not try to get into extended commentary on the significance and potential significance of these talks, promising this for the President in a later memorandum which you may wish to ask Sonnenfeldt/Hyland to do.” Lord added that Haig had approved the memorandum in draft. (Ibid.) No subsequent memorandum from either Sonnenfeldt or Hyland has been found.
9. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Top Secret; Sensitive; Nodis.
10. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking. All brackets, other than those indicating omission of unrelated material or omissions in the transcript, are in the original.
11. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking. All brackets, other than those indicating omission of unrelated material, are in the original. According to several typewritten notes, the transcript was “paraphrased” and the transcriber “entered the conversation late.”
12. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and Secretary of State Rogers
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking. Kissinger was in Washington; Rogers was in New York.
13. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Sisco)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking. All brackets are in the original. Kissinger was in Washington; Sisco was in New York.
14. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 490, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1970, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting was held in the Map Room at the White House. According to Kissinger’s Record of Schedule, the meeting lasted until 7:15 p.m. (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 438, Miscellany, 1969–76) Kissinger recalled in his memoirs that this meeting with Dobrynin “turned somewhat acrimonious.” “In addition to his customary litany of American errors,” he wrote, “[Dobrynin] said that Gromyko had come to find out whether we had made a decision to adopt a hard line. I told him that he would find the President prepared to explore the prospects of a happier future.” (Kissinger, White House Years, p. 793)
15. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between Secretary of State Rogers and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking. All brackets are in the original.
16. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 713, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. IX. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent for information. According to an attached copy, Kissinger and Haig drafted the memorandum. A note on the memorandum indicates that “The President has seen.”
17. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Sent for information. According to Haldeman, Nixon requested a “K memo to P re what we want” during a discussion on October 14 of “how [to] play Gromyko mtg.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files, H. R. Haldeman, Box 42, H Notes, Oct. 1, 1970–Nov. 9, 1970, Part I)
18. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent for action. No drafting information appears on the memorandum, which Kissinger forwarded to the President on October 21 with the following note: “Attached are your talking points for the meeting with Gromyko. They are necessarily detailed because of the complexity of the subject matter and the importance of your talks. There were some suggestions in New York that Gromyko anticipates in depth discussion on the subjects contained in the talker.”
19. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Secret; Nodis. Sent for information. Haig signed the memorandum for Kissinger. In an attached handwritten note to Kissinger, Haig reported: “Pres wanted this p.m. We will have sep[arate] memo on VN in office for you.” In an apparent reference to the possibility of discussion at the United Nations on Vietnam, Nixon wrote the following question on the memorandum: “Debate in assembly. Coalition?”
21. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 490, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1970, Vol. 2. Secret; Sensitive; Nodis. Sent for information. In a note forwarding the memorandum to Nixon at 9:30 a.m. on October 22, Butterfield reported that this memorandum supplemented Kissinger’s October 20 memorandum, Document 19. Butterfield further stated: “You will want to read it before this morning’s meetings. One additional item: Henry Kissinger believes it essential that he meet with you alone for some 20 minutes prior to your 10:30 meeting with both him and Secretary Rogers.” According to his Daily Diary, Nixon met Kissinger alone in the Oval Office for over 20 minutes prior to Rogers’s arrival at 10:29. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files) Kissinger then called Dobrynin at 10:35 to review the agenda, including the President’s instructions on the summit. (Ibid., Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File)
22. Notes Prepared by President Nixon
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, President’s Personal Files, Box 61, President’s Speech File, October 22, 1970, Meeting with Gromyko. No classification marking. The editor transcribed the text from the President’s handwritten notes. An attached note reads: “For RMW from the President’s Out Basket.” Nixon apparently intended that Rose Mary Woods, his personal secretary, would prepare a typed version. No such version, however, has been found.
23. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to another copy, Krimer completed the draft memorandum of conversation on October 23. (Ibid.) In an undated memorandum forwarding the draft to Kissinger, Haig noted that “Win[ston Lord] and I have reviewed and clipped where questions exist.” (Ibid.) A copy of the draft memorandum with Kissinger’s handwritten insertions and corrections is ibid. Substantive revisions are noted below. On October 26, Haig returned the final version to Kissinger with a note stating that it was “revised per your instructions.” (Ibid.) Kissinger also approved Haig’s suggestion to provide a copy of the final version to the Department of State for Eliot and Rogers on an “Exclusively Eyes Only” basis.
24. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 71, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Gromyko, 1970. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. Presumably prepared by Krimer (see footnote 1, Document 23). Haig sent the memorandum to Kissinger and noted it “appears to be okay.” (Undated memorandum; ibid.) Kissinger approved a suggestion from Haig to restrict access to the White House “until after the [summit] announcement is made.” (Memorandum from Haig to Kissinger, October 26; ibid.)
25. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Soviet Ambassador (Dobrynin)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking.
26. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Soviet Ambassador (Dobrynin)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking.
27. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and Chalmers Roberts of the Washington Post
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 7, Chronological File. No classification marking.
29. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 490, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1970, Vol. 2. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting was held at the Soviet Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Kissinger forwarded and summarized the “full records” of his meetings with Dobrynin on October 23 and 27 in a memorandum to the President on November 3. (Ibid.) In a memorandum to Rogers on October 28, Kissinger also forwarded “a record of my Cuba and Summit discussions with Ambassador Dobrynin” on those dates, which was comprised of selected excerpts from his memoranda of conversation. One substantive deletion from this record is noted below. According to Haig’s handwritten notation, Rogers saw it aboard Air Force One on October 28. (Ibid.)
30. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 713, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. IX. Secret. Sent for information. A note on the memorandum indicates that “HAK has seen.”