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October 23, 1971

Introduction

This almanac page for Saturday, October 23, 1971, pulls together various records created by the federal government and links to additional resources which can provide context about the events of the day.

Previous Date: Friday, October 22, 1971

Next Date: Sunday, October 24, 1971

Schedule and Public Documents

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

    The President's day began at The White House - Washington, D. C.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Archival Holdings

  • 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.

  • 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

    All National Archives Units

National Security Documents

  • 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.

  • 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. III, Foreign Economic Policy; International Monetary Policy, 1969-1972

    Foreign Economic Policy

    Vol. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

    Chinese Representation in the United Nations

    Vol. XXI, Chile, 1969-1973

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

    • 269. Memorandum of Conversation, New York, October 23, 1971

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 776, Country Files, Latin America, Chile, Vol. VI. Confidential; Limdis. Drafted by Meyer on October 26. The meeting took place in the Waldorf Towers. Nachmanoff sent this memorandum of conversation to Kissinger under cover of a November 4 memorandum in which he stated that Frei “believes that Chile faces an economic disaster, that there is growing disenchantment with the Popular Unity government, that the opposition is more cohesive than before, and that the military is very largely antagonistic to the Popular Unity government. Frei, who told Korry after Allende’s election that he saw no hope for democracy in Chile, is still pessimistic, but apparently now feels there is some hope. He urges that the United States maintain close relations with the armed forces no matter what, and expresses his opinion that the best hope for the preservation of democracy in Chile lies in the U.S.’s ability to avoid giving Allende the chance to blame his inevitable failure on the U.S.” Kissinger initialed the covering memorandum. (Ibid.)

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

    Morocco

    • 124. Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and King Hassan of Morocco, via a French Interpreter,, Washington, October 23, 1971, 11:59 a.m.-12:08 p.m.

      Nixon asked for the King’s support regarding the upcoming United Nations vote on a U.S. resolution to designate the expulsion of Taiwan an “important question” which would require a two-thirds majority vote.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Oval Office, Conversation 12–106. Secret. The editor transcribed the portion of the tape recording published here specifically for this volume. Morocco was instrumental in the defeat of Washington’s proposal to retain Taipei as a UN member, by abstaining on the “important question” resolution. With the U.S. defeat, a simple majority successfully voted for Taiwanese expulsion. In telegram 198650 to Rabat, October 30, the Department sent a record of Newsom’s discussion with the Moroccan Chargé expressing U.S. disappointment. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Files, 1970–73, POL MOR-US.)

    Vol. E-13, Documents on China, 1969-1972

    • 47. Message From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig), Beijing, October 23, 1971, Beijing, October 23, 1971

      Kissinger agreed to delay his return to Washington until after the United Nations vote, even though he argued that his visit had not affected the “Chirep” vote. He also recommended that American officials should minimize the use of language supportive of Taiwan, as it could jeopardize relations with the People’s Republic of China.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, China-HAK October 1971 Visit. Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The message indicates that it was to be delivered at the opening of business. Received at the White House at 5:21 a.m. A notation on the memorandum reads: “HAIG ONLY.” Haig underlined the sentence: “Chou has however insisted at every session that PRC will never hold still for the elaboration of new legal status for Taiwan.”

    • 48. Memorandum of Conversation, Beijing, October 23, 1971, 9:05-10:05 p.m., Beijing, October 23, 1971, 9:05-10:05 p.m.

      President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai broached the issue of the reconnaissance flights, and also discussed the joint communiqué and the security, flight, and communication arrangements for President Nixon’s visit.

      Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1035, Files for the President-China Material, HAK visit to PRC, October 1971, Memcons-originals. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. Brackets in the source text. The meeting was held in Kissinger’s Sitting Room at the Government Guest House.

  • 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.

Audiovisual Holdings

Context (External Sources)