The Last of the President's Men
Page 20
CHAPTER 5
At 8:10 a.m. Butterfield hurriedly put together a memo: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to President Nixon, Subject: Wire from the Virgin Islands Legislature, February 19, 1969, 8:10 a.m. See here in Appendix.
“Feeling duty-bound”: Alexander Butterfield, Unpublished book draft.
“My mind was made up”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 6
“On the way to the White House”: Alexander Butterfield, Unpublished book draft.
“The president was an actor”: Alexander Butterfield, Unpublished book draft.
“I had never, in 21 years”: Ibid.
On February 22, 1969, his memo: Ibid.
“The President has directed that the religious inscription”: Ibid.
Nixon’s appearance drew lots of attention: See Noel Murray, “Nixon Gets Socked in Laugh-In’s Most Famous, and Influential, Five Seconds,” A.V. Club, September 13, 2012, http://www.avclub.com/r/84881tsd.
Keyes had met Nixon in the 1960s: Interview with Steve Bull, March 12, 2015.
CHAPTER 7
Butterfield took a sheet of White House stationery: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to President Nixon, June 19, 1969. See here in Appendix.
At one point, Nixon referred: “The president’s news conference,” June 19, 1969. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Wooley, The American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2106.
CHAPTER 8
a series of press reports by journalist Seymour M. Hersh: See Hersh’s articles reprinted in: Reporting Vietnam Part Two: American Journalism, 1969–1975, ed. Milton J. Bates et al. (New York: Library of America, 1998), pp. 13–27.
Secretary of Defense Laird had laid it out: Memo from Melvin Laird to President Nixon, Subject: The My Lai Atrocity, September 3, 1969.
Haig, Kissinger’s deputy, sent internal: Memo from Al Haig to Alexander Butterfield, Subject: Additional Information on My Lai Incident, December 3, 1969, with attachment.
His first article: Reporting Vietnam Part Two, p. 13.
Sergeant Michael Bernhardt was quoted: Ibid., p. 18.
Another witness, Michael Terry, said: Ibid., p. 21.
In his November 25 story: Ibid., p. 22.
“Do you ever dream about this?”: “Transcript of Interview of Vietnam War Veteran on His Role in Alleged Massacre of Civilians at Songmy,” New York Times, November 24, 1969, p. 16, http://archive.org/details/MeadloWallaceInterviewNov241969.
Stephen Ambrose, a leading military historian, said: Robert Miraldi, Seymour Hersh Scoop Artist (Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2013), p. 27.
Across three pages of notes: Handwritten notes of Alexander Butterfield, November 27, 1969. See here in Appendix.
In a SECRET memo to the president: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to President Nixon, Subject: Ronald Lee Ridenhour (And Other Information re My Lai), December 17, 1969. See here in Appendix.
In his memoir Nixon wrote, “Calley’s crime”: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978), p. 499.
He said that “maintaining public support”: Ibid., p. 500.
“The whole tragic episode”: Ibid.
Hersh visited it in early 2015: Seymour M. Hersh, “The Scene of the Crime,” March 30, 2015, The New Yorker, pp. 53–61.
CHAPTER 9
According to his daily log: “The president toured the ground floor offices in the EOB building to wish employees a merry Christmas,” Nixon’s Daily Diary for December 24, 1969, http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtualibrary/documents/dailydiary.php.
Haldeman weighed in: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, January 14, 1970. See here in Appendix.
Butterfield checked her personnel file: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to President Nixon, Subject: Sanitization of the EOB, January 16, 1970. See here in Appendix. See also: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to H.R. Haldeman, January 16, 1970. See here in Appendix.
So on January 16, Butterfield outlined: Ibid.
CHAPTER 10
According to a tape of a conversation: OVAL 455-1; February 22, 1971; White House Tapes; Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California. This conversation took place just 10 days after the taping system was installed and working.
On November 21, 1970, Pat Nixon sent Butterfield: Pat Nixon handwritten note to Alexander Butterfield, November 21, 1970.
When Susan, who was the more seriously injured: The president’s schedule for December 4, 1970, indicates that Susan Butterfield was scheduled to meet with Nixon at 3:15. See also President’s Daily Diary for December 4, 1970, http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtualibrary/documents/dailydiary.php.
CHAPTER 11
“The basic purpose will be”: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, Subject: Church Services, November 13, 1970. See here in Appendix.
Six days later: Ted Lewis, “Praise Him from Whom the GOP’s Blessings Flow,” “Capitol Stuff,” New York Daily News, November 19, 1970.
Four days later Haldeman shot Butterfield another memo: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield and Charles Colson, November 23, 1970. See here in Appendix.
On August 10, 1971, Haldeman said: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, August 10, 1971. See here in Appendix.
Fiske had just written an article: Edward B. Fiske, “Praying with the President in the White House,” New York Times, August 8, 1971.
Then on August 19, 1971: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, August 19, 1971. See here in Appendix.
“I created a new Cabinet-level position”: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978), p. 342.
He underscored “my respect for”: Ibid., p. 519.
“one of the three that has counted”: Robert H. Ferrell, ed., Inside the Nixon Administration: The Secret Diary of Arthur Burns, 1969–1974 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2010), p. 39.
A February 22, 1971, memo from Haldeman: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, February 22, 1971. See here in Appendix.
According to Butterfield’s notes: Handwritten notes of Alexander Butterfield, undated. See here in the Appendix.
He seemed to enjoy: Jerry Schecter, “Parting Shots: Henry Kissinger, Not-So-Secret Swinger,” Life, January 28, 1972, pp. 70B–71.
On February 9, 1971, Haldeman sent a memo: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Alexander Butterfield, February 9, 1971. See here in the Appendix.
CHAPTER 12
Nixon first decreed: Typed notes of Alexander Butterfield on H.R. Haldeman memos to Alexander Butterfield dated April 13, 1970, and February 18, 1971.
The next month he determined: Typed notes of Alexander Butterfield on an H.R. Haldeman memo to Alexander Butterfield dated March 22, 1971.
That evening Butterfield called Al Wong: A November 19, 1973, account by Supervisory Security Specialist Raymond C. Zumwalt of the United States Secret Service Technical Security Division provides additional details.
One Watergate book on Nixon’s tapes: OVAL 450-1 and 450-10(cl); February 16, 1971; White House Tapes; Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California. See also Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nichter, The Nixon Tapes (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), pp. 3–5. Digital audio and transcripts of these conversations may also be found at http://www.nixontapes.org/origin.html.
“the best chronicled in history”: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978), p. 500.
In Nixon’s assessment, the operation: Ibid., p. 499.
“Such an objective record”: Ibid., p. 501.
“Although I was not comfortable”: Ibid., pp. 501–2.
Taping selected conversations or phone calls: Ibid., p. 502.
“I did not want to have to calculate”: Ibid.
“Initially, I was conscious of the taping”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 13
“Your Minnesota friends”: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Gro
sset & Dunlap, 1978), p. 102.
In May 1969, the first months: See Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, The Brethren (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), pp. 14–15.
“I am willing to risk annoying him”: Handwritten cover note from Warren Burger to John Ehrlichman, May 8, 1969. See here in Appendix.
“Dear Mr. President,” Burger began: Letter from Warren Burger to President Nixon, May 8, 1969. See here in Appendix.
After hearings lasting: “Senate Committee Okays Burger Court Appointment,” United Press International, June 4, 1969.
Six days later the Senate did so: Supreme Court Nominations, Present–1789, http://www.senate.gov/pargelayout/reference/nominations/Nominations.htm.
“I’m not a bit thin-skinned”: Memo from President Nixon to H.R. Haldeman, May 9, 1971, as quoted in Stanley Kutler, ed., Watergate: A Brief History with Documents (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), p. 16.
“Your fortitude and forbearance”: Letter from Warren Burger to President Nixon, May 10, 1971. See here in Appendix.
Burger said that in 1969 the president: Letter from Warren Burger to H.R. Haldeman, August 5, 1972. See here in Appendix.
In a formal endorsement: Alexander M. Haig, Jr. with Charles McCarry, Inner Circles (New York: Warner Books, 1992), p. 271.
The next year Henry Kissinger said: Ibid., p. 272.
“The president was in a cold rage”: Ibid., p. 275.
“I will not pretend”: Ibid.
Haig produced a four-page: Memo from Al Haig to H.R. Haldeman, June 20, 1972. See here in in Appendix.
Butterfield sent Haig a “Dear Al” letter: Letter from Alexander Butterfield to Al Haig, September 7, 1972. See here in Appendix.
CHAPTER 14
Bull, a stalwart Nixon defender, told me: Interview with Steve Bull, March 12, 2015.
Richard Dudman, who had written critically: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to Henry Kissinger, July 14, 1969, and Memo from Alexander Butterfield to H.R. Haldeman, May 19, 1969.
On the subject of public television: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to H.R. Haldeman, July 16, 1969.
Butterfield, on Nixon’s orders: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to John Mitchell, June 20, 1969.
To a report that the Nixon administration: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to John Ehrlichman, June 10, 1969. See here in Appendix.
“Not only was it a sensation for the media”: Henry Kissinger, White House Years (Boston: Little, Brown, 1979), p. 163.
“Nixon had an extraordinary instinct”: Ibid.
“Under no circumstances”: Bernard Kalb, “Why They Mattered: Stanley Karnow, 1925–2013,” Politico Magazine, December 22, 2013.
“If it is hard to go,” he said: Memo from H.R. Haldeman to Ron Ziegler, subject: Press for the Russian trip, April 3, 1972.
“We have lost”: William Buckley, Jr., “ ‘Week Changes World,’ But to What Extent?,” Lawrence Daily Journal-World, March 2, 1972, p. 4.
“He clearly liked one secretary better”: Reached at her home in North Carolina on June 24, 2015, Nell Yates declined to comment. “I don’t see any reason to drag all this out,” she said. “It is overkill if you ask me. I think I’ll hang up now.”
CHAPTER 15
Secret taping at Camp David: Account by Supervisory Security Specialist Raymond C. Zumwalt of the United States Secret Service Technical Security Division, November 19, 1973.
“Been here before?”: CDHW 189-9; May 17, 1972; White House Tapes; Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California.
Nixon’s daily records show: President’s Daily Diary for May 17, 1972, http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/documents/dailydiary.php.
The next morning, May 18: President’s Daily Diary for May 18, 1972, http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/documents/dailydiary.php.
“Are you going out this time?”: OVAL 746-12; July 1, 1972; White House Tapes; Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California.
Later, according to a tape: OVAL 228-1; November 20 1972; White House Tapes; http://www.nixontapes.org.
CHAPTER 16
“You asked for particulars”: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to H.R. Haldeman, subject: Notification of Wallace Shooting, May 16, 1972. See here in Appendix.
“ ‘The President was agitated and wanted’ ”: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President’s Men (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974), p. 329.
“It is my personal plan to assassinate by pistol”: Arthur Bremer, An Assassin’s Diary (New York: Harper Magazine Press, 1973).
Those seven words can be heard: OVAL 772-015; September 7, 1972; Presidential Records Program, The Miller Center, University of Virginia, http://www.whitehousetapes.net/transcript/Nixon/772-015-0 (Webpage no longer active).
Nixon had been clear: Ibid.
On April 10, 1969, at the president’s instruction: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to John Ehrlichman, Subject: Notes from the President (Action Item), April 10, 1969. See here in Appendix.
Two days later in another: Memo from Alexander Butterfield to John Ehrlichman, Subject: Note from the President (Action Item), April 12, 1969. See here in Appendix.
CHAPTER 17
On March 24, 1972, CIA director: Memo from Richard Helms to President Nixon, March 24, 1972, with two enclosures totaling 18 pages. See here in Appendix.
The source of one attachment: Ibid., Attachment A.
On September 26, 1972, Bruce Kehrli: Memo from Bruce Kehrli to Alexander Butterfield, Subject: Security Violation, September 26, 1972.
The CIA bulletin showed: Central Intelligence Bulletin, September 23, 1972. See here in the Appendix.
An equivalent report and satellite photograph: Ibid.
Top Secret “intercepted messages”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 18
He forwarded an email: Email from Jason Schultz to Michael Ellzey, forwarded to Bob Woodward, June 5, 2015. I said I would supply the Nixon Library with copies of any relevant memos in my possession after publication of this book.
Thomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said they have no such memo. This archive has the world’s largest nongovernment library of declassified documents from the United States. After a thorough search, Blanton also said there is no evidence of a follow-on study of the effectiveness of the bombing.
Blanton did find a one-page January 10, 1972, memo that Kissinger sent to Nixon reporting on a CIA source saying that raids one day in December “were more effective than past raids.” But Nixon is quoted downplaying its significance, telling Haig in a telephone conversation, “It was a routine protective reaction strike” and he didn’t want the White House to get involved in commenting.
John Negroponte, a foreign service officer: Interview with John Negroponte in 2015.
In the president’s own handwriting: Memo from Henry Kissinger to President Nixon, January 3, 1972. See here in the text.
On January 2, 1972, five days before: Richard Nixon: “A conversation with the president,” Interview with Dan Rather of the Columbia Broadcasting System, January 2, 1972. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Wooley, The American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid-3351. Audiovisual recording also available at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California.
Up to that point, Nixon had ordered: Electronic Records of the Air War Over Southeast Asia: A Database Analysis. Holly High, James R. Curran and Gareth Robinson, Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Fall 2013), pp. 86–124. Published by University of California Press. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/vs.2014.8.4.86. Figure 4, p. 104. CACTA/SEADAB refers to the Combat Air Activities File and the Southeast Asia Data Base. See here in Appendix.
104 HIGH, CURRAN, AND ROBINSON
Year
Laos
Vietnam S
Vietnam N
Cambodia
Thailand
Other
Total
1965
36,967
43,284
536
44
80,830
1966
63,447
193,254
128,280
41
385,022
1967
93,623
292,176
191,420
38
19
1,232
578,508
1968
156,619
338,042
198,670
102
1,280
694,713
1969
489,037
596,147
651
6
62
964
1,086,866
1970
631,658
403,882
1,691
78,220
5
59,320
1,174,775
1971
414,792
178,506
6,754
63,253
15
663,320
1972
167,370
706,894
207,284
57,042
104
337
1,139,031
1973
82,869
68,595
14,490
273,728
521
572
440,774
1974
21,717