Office of the Historian

325. Telegram From the White House Chief of Staff (Haig) to Secretary of State Kissinger in Amman1

Washington, November 8, 1973, 0423Z.

Tohak 52/WH37273. The President is elated by your accomplishments. Israelis have informed us here of inevitable Cabinet endorsement in the morning.2 You never fail to exceed our expectations.

Due to overriding necessity to reinforce confidence here, the President feels strongly that there should be no, repeat, no announcement of any easing of oil restrictions from your party if you are also able to add this feather to your cap. He hopes that progress made in this area could be announced by him from the White House after your return. In conjunction with such an announcement and as Scowcroft advised you earlier, he would hope to have meeting as early as next week with [Page 911] Faisal3 in Washington. Following that meeting he would hope to announce progress on oil issue.

The President has delivered a strong message to the nation on the energy crisis tonight.4 It has been extremely well received and your accomplishments in the oil area would provide essential, repeat, essential capstone to this message and assist us in dramatically healing recent wounds.

I promise you early notice on any new jolts. As of now the problem I anticipated is under control but I will keep you advised in timely manner. As a related matter, we are dramatically increasing the size and competence of White House legal staff along the lines I described prior to your departure. Thanks to you and your most recent accomplishments I sense a sharp turn upwards.

Warm regards,

Haig
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 41, Kissinger Trip Files, HAK Trip—Mideast, Islamabad, Peking, Tokyo, Seoul, TOHAK 1–69, Nov. 5–16, 1973. Top Secret; Immediate; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Sent through Scowcroft to Rodman for Kissinger.↩
  2. Sisco met with Meir, Allon, Dayan, and Yariv on November 7 from 7:30 p.m. to midnight, to inform them of the agreement on disengagement and the convening of a peace conference. (Memorandum of conversation; ibid., RG 59, Records of Henry A. Kissinger, 1973-1977, Box 24, CAT “C”, Nov–Dec 1973 HAK–Golda Meir. The Israeli Cabinet endorsement was relayed from Meir to Nixon through Dinitz, according to a memorandum from Scowcroft to Nixon, November 7. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 611, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. 13, Nov.–Dec. 1973)↩
  3. In telegram Tohak 43/WH37260, November 7, Scowcroft informed Kissinger that the President was very anxious to have King Faisal visit Washington as soon as possible, possibly as early as the following week. (Ibid., Kissinger Office Files, Box 41, Kissinger Trip Files, HAK Trip—Mideast, Islamabad, Peking, Tokyo, Seoul, TOHAK 1–69, Nov. 5–16, 1973) In Hakto 20, Kissinger told Scowcroft that setting up a meeting with Faisal in Washington was “total insanity” and would be seen as a sign of “U.S. collapse.” (Ibid., HAK Trip—Mideast, Islamabad, Peking, Tokyo, Seoul, HAKTO 1–60, Nov. 15–16, 1973)↩
  4. For the text of President Nixon’s November 7 speech, see Public Papers: Nixon, 1973, pp. 916–922.↩