May 17, 1971

The Daily Diary files represent a consolidated record of the President's activities. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

• Original typewritten diary (PDF)

The President's day began at Key Biscayne, Florida

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.

Digitized versions can be found at HathiTrust.

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.

• Special Message to the Congress Requesting Extension of Negotiation Period in the Railway Labor Dispute
• Executive Order 11594—Providing for the Use of Transportation Priorities and Allocations During the Current Railroad Strike

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.

No Federal Register published on this date

The Congressional Record is the official daily record of the debates and proceedings of the U.S. Congress.

• House of Representatives: May 17, 1971
• Senate: May 17, 1971
• Extensions of Remarks: May 17, 1971

Decided

• California v. Byers
• McGee v. United States
• Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe
• Triangle Improvement Council v. Ritchie

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)
• Original audio recording (MP3)

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

• Text search for May 17, 1971
• Date search for May 17, 1971

All National Archives Units

• Text search for May 17, 1971
• Date search for May 17, 1971

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.

• President's Daily Brief of 17 May 1971

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. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

South Asia Crisis, 1971

• 50. Memorandum From Harold Saunders and Samuel Hoskinson of the National Security Council Staff to the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, May 17, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 574, Indo-Pak War, South Asian Military Supply, March 25–Aug 26, 1971. Secret. Sent for action.

Vol. XIII, Soviet Union, October 1970-October 1971

"One of Two Routes": Soviet-American Relations and Kissinger's Secret Trip to China, April 23-July 18, 1971

• 220. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, Moscow, May 17, 1971, 1255Z

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 715, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. XIII [2 of 2]. Secret; Immediate. Repeated to Ankara, Athens, Bonn, Brussels, Copenhagen, The Hague, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, USDEL SALT IV, and USNATO. Kissinger forwarded and summarized this telegram in a May 26 memorandum to Nixon, stating that the meeting between Beam and Gromyko confirmed a “complete reversal” in Soviet policy on linkage between MBFR and CSCE, possibly due to a similar reversal on SALT. (Ibid.) The memorandum is printed in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XXXIX, European Security, Document 54.

• 221. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, May 17, 1971, 10:45 p.m.

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 29, Home File. No classification marking. Transcribed from a tape recording made at Kissinger’s residence. According to a typed note on the transcript, the tape was “brought in” to the White House on May 18.

• 222. Transcript of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig), Washington, May 17, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts, Box 29, Home File. No classification marking.

Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

Cool and Correct: The U.S. Response to the Allende Administration, November 5, 1970-December 31, 1972

• 228. Memorandum From Arnold Nachmanoff of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, May 17, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–56, SRG Meetings, Chile, 6/3/71. Secret. Sent for action.

Vol. E-5, Part 2, Documents on North Africa, 1969-1972

Libya

• 76. Memorandum From Harold Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Washington, May 17, 1971

  Saunders updated Kissinger on the status of an internal plot against the Libyan regime.
  
  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 739, Country Files, Africa, Libya, Vol. II. Secret; Sensitive. Sent for information. The attachment is not printed.

• 77. Memorandum, Washington, May 17, 1971

  The CIA provided a status report on Libyan developments.
  
  Source: National Security Council Files, Nixon Intelligence Files, Libya. Secret; Eyes Only. The May 24 covering memorandum from Hoskinson to Kissinger is not printed.

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 of many of these transcripts can be found on the Yale University Library website.

The White House Tapes are sound recordings of President Richard Nixon's telephone conversations and of meetings held in the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room in the White House, the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), the Lincoln Sitting Room in the residence section of the White House, and several locations at the Presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. These recordings document many of the major events and decisions of the Nixon Administration from February 16, 1971 to July 18, 1973. Visit the White House Tapes finding aid to learn about the taping system's operation and archival processing.

White House Telephone

• 3-53; Unknown between 6:37 p.m. & 7:29 p.m.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator
• 3-54; 7:29 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.
• 3-55; Unknown between 7:30 p.m. & 7:34 p.m.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator
• 3-56; 7:34 p.m. - 7:34 p.m.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator
• 3-57; 7:35 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.

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-6315 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: B&W

• Frame(s): WHPO-6315-03A-12A, Robert Finch accepting publications from men from Vietnam. 5/17/1971, Washington, D.C. unknown. Robert Finch, unidentified Vietnamese men, unidentified men.

Roll WHPO-6316 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

• Frame(s): WHPO-6316-02A-13A, Pat Nixon hosting a reception for the Wives of Delegates to the National Federation of Independent Business Convention. 5/17/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Pat Nixon, women, musicians, aides, baby.

Roll WHPO-6321 Photographer: Kightlinger, Jack | Color or B&W: Color

• Frame(s): WHPO-6321-03-07, Pat Nixon hosting a reception for the Wives of Delegates to the National Federation of Independent Business Convention. 5/17/1971, Washington, D.C. White House, Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Pat Nixon, women, baby.

The White House Communications Agency Videotape Collection contains “off-the-air” recordings of televised programs produced between 1968 and 1974. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

• WHCA-4372
  "The Mike Douglas Show".
  WMAL, WTOP
  Runtime: 1:30
• WHCA-4379
  Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
  ALL NETWORKS
  Runtime: 1:30
  
  27. Smith: European troop cutbacks with Connally and Fulbright. Time Code Start: 58:42. Keywords: Vietnam War, Armed Forces, mlitary, troops, decreases, withdrawals. Network: ABC.
  
  28. Smith: Commentary on restraint in the economy. Time Code Start: 61:05. Keywords: economy, economics, debt, budgets, finances, recession, inflation, money. Network: ABC.
  
  29. Chancellor/Fredrick: Secretary of State Rogers at the United Nations (U.N.). Time Code Start: 62:59. Keywords: cabinet, advisors, organization of nations, intergovernmental alliance. Network: NBC.
  
  30. Chancellor/Lewis: Indochina report. Time Code Start: 64:36. Keywords: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam War. Network: NBC.
  
  31. Cronkite/Kalb: Secretary of State Rogers at the U.N. Time Code Start: 67:28. Keywords: cabinet, advisors. Network: CBS.
  
  32. Cronkite/Schieffer: Troop cutbacks in Europe with Connally. Time Code Start: 69:23. Keywords: Armed Forces, military, troops, decreases,. Network: CBS.

• TIME magazine of May 17, 1971

• New York Times of May 17, 1971

• AP Images photos from May 17, 1971
• Getty Images photos from May 17, 1971

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive is the world's most extensive and complete archive of television news. They have been recording, preserving and providing access to television news broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968.

• May 1971 Broadcast Index

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

• May 17, 1971