National Security Policy


1. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) for the President’s Files

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Presidential/HAK MemCons, Box 1025, MemCon—The President, Sec. Richardson, and HAK, Jan. 4, 1973. Secret; Sensitive. The memorandum is not initialed by Kissinger. The meeting, held in the Oval Office, concluded at 12:37 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) There is a tape recording of this conversation. (Ibid., White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation No. 833–11)


2. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis (Tucker) to Secretary of Defense Richardson

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Schlesinger Papers, Gardiner Tucker. Secret. Tucker sent this “status report” to Richardson under a covering memorandum of January 30. On the covering memorandum, Richardson wrote on February 11, “This impresses me as an absolutely first-rate paper. Would like to discuss with you ASAP.” Tucker later sent the memorandum to Secretary of Defense-designate Schlesinger under a covering memorandum of May 17. A stamp on a June 1 OSD covering memorandum indicates that Schlesinger saw it. (Ibid.) Under a covering memorandum, February 3, Tucker sent Richardson and Clements another lengthy paper, this one an overview of current defense strategies and missions. (Ibid.)


3. National Security Decision Memorandum 203

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–238, NSDM 203. Confidential. A copy was sent to the Secretary of the Treasury.


4. National Security Study Memorandum 169

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 365, Subject Files, NSSMs—104–206. Top Secret; Sensitive.


5. National Security Study Memorandum 171

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–196, Study Memorandums, NSSM 171 [1 of 2]. Secret. NSSM 171 is also printed as Document 2 in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. E–12, Southeast and East Asia, 1973–1976.


6. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Presidential/HAK MemCons, Box 1026, January–March 1973. Secret; Nodis. The luncheon meeting ended at 2:36 p.m. Also in attendance were: Clements, Warner, Seamans, Moorer, Zumwalt, Abrams, Cushman, Goodpaster, Foster, Ziegler, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jerry W. Friedheim, Under Secretary of the Army Kenneth E. BeLieu, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Moore, Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Admiral Daniel J. Murphy, and General Horace M. Wade, Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force, who was substituting for Ryan. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


7. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (Korologos) for the President’s Files

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files, President’s Office Files, Box 91, Memoranda for the President—Beginning March 4, [1973]. Secret. The breakfast meeting, held in the private dining room on the first floor of the White House, lasted from 8:27–9:48 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


8. Memorandum for the President’s File by Raymond K. Price, Jr.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files, President’s Office Files, Box 91, President’s Meetings File—Beginning March 4 [1973]. Administratively Confidential. Not initialed by Price. There is a tape recording of this entire conversation. (Ibid., White House Tapes, Cabinet Room, Conversation No. 117–7)


9. Draft Memorandum From President Nixon to Secretary of State Rogers, Secretary of Defense Richardson, the Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (Timmons), and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Staff Member and Offcie Files, President’s Personal File, Box 4, Memoranda from the President, Memos—March 1973. Eyes Only. Nixon departed Washington for Camp David the afternoon of March 9 and returned from the presidential retreat the evening of March 10. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


10. Memorandum From the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Malek) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, President’s Office Files, Box 21, President’s Handwriting Files, March 11–31, 1973. No classification marking. Sent for action. A note on the memorandum reads, “The President has seen.” Nixon decided during a March 9 meeting, held in the Oval Office to discuss the previous day’s announcement of an increase in the WPI and mounting criticism of the administration’s economic policies, that “stockpile sales should be vigorously pushed” and that Malek be “placed in charge of doing it.” His decision was prompted by Stein, Simon, and Ehrlichman’s shared view that there had been a “failure as yet to implement a policy of more rapid sales of stockpiled industrial materials, which seemed especially important in view of the big increase of industrial prices just reported.” The record of the meeting is ibid., Box 91, Memoranda for the President—Beginning March 4 [1973].


11. National Security Decision Memorandum 208

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 364, Subject Files, NSDMs 145–264. Confidential.


12. National Security Study Memorandum 177

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 365, Subject Files, NSSMs Nos. 104–206. Secret. A copy was sent to Moorer.


13. Conversation among President Nixon and Republican Congressional Leaders

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Cabinet Room, Conversation No. 119–2. No classification marking. The editors transcribed the portions of the tape recording printed here specifically for this volume. The transcript is part of a larger conversation that occurred between 8:38 and 10:26 a.m. Attendees were as follows: Senators Scott, Griffin, Tower, Cotton, Bennett, and Brock, Hansen, Bellmon, Cook, and Bartlett; Representatives Ford, Arends, Anderson, Edwards, Rhodes, Conable, Wilson, Martin, Devine, Clawson, Talcott, Collier, and Johnson; administration officials Stein, Dunlop, Ash, Ehrlichman, Cole, Timmons, Cook, Korologos, and Ziegler; and Chairman of the Republican National Committee George H.W. Bush. Ford left the meeting at 9:15 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


14. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Moorer)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Recording of a Conversation between Nixon and Moorer, White House Telephone, Conversation No. 44–92. No classification marking. The editors transcribed this tape recording specifically for this volume.


15. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, NixonPresidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1026, Presidential/HAK MemCons, MemCons—Presidential/HAK, January–March 1973. Secret; Nodis. All brackets, except for those added by the editor to indicate omissions in the text, are in the original. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The memorandum of conversation incorrectly lists the date of the meeting as March 18. It was actually held on May 18, according to the President’s Daily Diary. (Ibid., White House Central Files)


16. Memorandum From the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Malek) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files, President’s Office Files, Box 22, President’s Handwriting Files, June 1–15, 1973. No classification marking. Sent for information. Nixon wrote, “good job,” on the memorandum. In a June 14 memorandum to Special Assistant to the President Bruce A. Kehrli, Scowcroft concurred with Malek’s memorandum. (Ibid., NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–238, Policy Papers, NSDM 203)


17. Summary Report of the Inter-Agency Working Group on NSSM 169

Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330–78–0002, A 381 (May–Dec. 1973). Top Secret; Sensitive. The working group, chaired by Foster, included Spiers, Weiss, Tucker, David S. Brandwein of the CIA, and Lieutenant General Louis T. Seith, Director of the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, Joint Staff, JCS. Foster forwarded this memorandum and its attachment to Schlesinger under a covering memorandum of June 15 and recommended that, after review, he send them both to Kissinger. Secretary of Defense Schlesinger forwarded the report to Kissinger under a covering memorandum, July 13. “In my judgment this report represents an excellent basis for further consideration by the National Security Council,” Schlesinger wrote. (Ibid.)


18. Minutes of Defense Program Review Committee Meeting

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–118, Minutes of Meetings, Defense Program Review Committee Minutes, Originals, ’69–’73 [3 of 3]. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room.


19. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1027, Presidential/HAK MemCons, MemCons—HAK & Presidential, April–November 1973 [3 of 5]. Secret; Nodis. In an August 1 memorandum, Odeen informed Kissinger that the breakfast meeting’s main topic was expected to be United States nuclear policy. (Ibid., Box 232, Agency Files, Defense, Vol. 20)


20. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1027, Presidential/HAK MemCons, MemCons—HAK & Presidential, April–November 1973 [3 of 5]. Secret; Nodis. The breakfast meeting was held at the Pentagon. In a memorandum, August 8, Odeen informed Kissinger that the meeting’s main topic of discussion would be United States nuclear policy, the subject of NSSM 169. (Ibid., NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–195, Study Memorandums, NSSM 169 [1 of 3]) All brackets in original memorandum.


21. National Security Decision Memorandum 230

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–242, Policy Papers, NSDM 230. Top Secret. Copies were sent to Ikle, Walters, Moorer, and Ash. Kissinger, following the July 26 DPRC meeting (Document 18), forwarded the NSDM to Nixon under a covering memorandum, August 1, with the recommendation that he approve its issuance. (Ibid.)


22. Minutes of Verification Panel Meeting

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–108, Minutes of Meetings, Verification Panel Minutes, Originals 3–15–72 to 6–4–74 [3 of 5]. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.


23. Minutes of Defense Program Review Committee Meeting

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–118, Minutes of Meetings, DPRC Minutes, Originals, ’69–’73 [3 of 3]. Secret. The meeting was held in the Situation Room of the White House.


24. Memorandum of the President’s Meeting with the Republican Congressional Leadership

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 2, September 27, 1973—Nixon, GOP Leadership. Confidential. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 9:00 to 10:21 a.m. Other attendees included: Senators Brock, Scott, Wallace F. Bennett, Norris Cotton, and George D. Aiken; Representatives Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Barber Conable, Jr., Robert H. Michel, and William S. Mailliard; and administration officials Agnew, Anne Armstrong, Ash, Friedersdorf, Haig, Korologos, Timmons, Ziegler, Counselor to the President Bryce N. Harlow, and Executive Director of the Domestic Council Kenneth R. Cole, Jr. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


25. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser Files, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 2, October 4, 1973—Cabinet Meeting. Secret; Nodis. The meeting, held in the White House Cabinet Room from 9:05 to 10:34 a.m., was also attended by, among others: Agnew, Rush, Simon, Richardson, Weinberger, Ash, Laird, Colby, Stein, Scowcroft, Haig, Ziegler, Timmons, Harlow, Flanigan, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton, Secretary of Agriculture Earl L. Butz, and Secretary of Transportation Claude S. Brinegar. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


27. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1027, Memcons—HAK & Presidential, Presidential/HAK Memcons, December 1973 [1 of 2]. Confidential. The meeting was held in the Oval Office from 3:11 to 4:04 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


28. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 3, December 22, 1973—Nixon, Schlesinger, Joint Chiefs. Secret. Ellipses in the original. The meeting, also attended by Clements and Haig, was held in the White House Cabinet Room. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary)


29. Minutes of the Secretary of State’s Staff Meeting

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Transcripts of Secretary of State Kissinger’s Staff Meetings, 1973–1977, Lot File 78D443, Box 2, Secretary’s Staff Meetings. Secret. Kissinger chaired the meeting, attended by all of the Department’s principal officers or their designated alternates.


30. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–202, Study Memorandums, NSSM 191 [2 of 2]. Top Secret; Sensitive. Lodal forwarded this memorandum to Kissinger under a covering memorandum of December 29, 1973 and recommended that Kissinger send it to the President. Lodal’s memorandum also recommended issuing two directives on nuclear policy—a NSDM on employment and a NSSM on acquisition—as the response to NSSM 169 had left unresolved “serious ambiguities” pertaining to the latter issue. (Ibid., NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–242, Policy Papers, NSDM 242 1 of 2 [2 of 2])