December 4, 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.

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.

• Federal Register of Saturday, December 4, 1971

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

• Senate: December 4, 1971
• House of Representatives: December 4, 1971
• Extensions of Remarks: December 4, 1971

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 December 4, 1971
• Date search for December 4, 1971

All National Archives Units

• Text search for December 4, 1971
• Date search for December 4, 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 04 December 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. V, United Nations, 1969-1972

Secretary-General Succession

• 237. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission to the United Nations, Washington, December 4, 1971, 1649Z

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 303, Agency Files, USUN, Vol. IX. Secret; Priority; Nodis. Drafted by Herz and Pedersen, cleared by Robert H. Miller, and approved by Secretary Rogers.

Vol. XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971

South Asia Crisis, 1971

• 222. Backchannel Message From the Ambassador to Pakistan (Farland) to the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), Islamabad, December 4, 1971

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 426, Backchannel Files, Backchannel Messages, 1971, Amb. Farland, Pakistan. Top Secret. Received at 8:22 a.m.

• 223. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and His Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 397, Telephone Conversations, Home File, Dec 1971. No classification marking. The President was in Key Biscayne, Florida; Kissinger was in Washington. The conversation was tape-recorded at Kissingerʼs residence in Washington and subsequently transcribed at the White House. No time of the conversation appears on the transcript.

• 224. Minutes of Washington Special Actions Group Meeting, Washington, December 4, 1971, 11:13-11:41 a.m.

  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–115, WSAG Minutes, Originals, 1971. Secret. No drafting information appears on the minutes. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room. A briefer record of the meeting prepared by James Noyes (OASD/ISA) is in the Washington National Records Center, OSD Files, FRC 330 76 0197, Box 74, Pakistan 381 (Dec) 1971.

• 225. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between President Nixon and His Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), December 4, 1971, 12:15 p.m.

  Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 370, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. The President was in Key Biscayne, Florida; Kissinger was in Washington.

Vol. E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969-1972

Afghanistan, 1969-1972

• 351. Telegram 7282 From the Embassy in Afghanistan to the Department of State, Kabul, December 4, 1971, 1230Z

  Ambassador Neumann reported that King Zahir and Foreign Minister Shafiq shared the U.S. concern about the flow of illegal narcotics from Afghanistan and were “taking the subject very seriously.”
  
  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, SOC 11-5 AFG. Confidential. Repeated to Ankara and Paris.

• 352. Telegram 7281 From the Embassy in Afghanistan to the Department of State, Kabul, December 4, 1971, 1235Z

  Ambassador Neumann discussed Afghanistan’s reaction to the crisis occurring in Pakistan with King Zahir and Foreign Minister Shafiq.
  
  Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 27 INDIA-PAK. Confidential; Priority. Repeated to Belgrade, Islamabad, London, New Delhi, and Tehran.

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

• 71. Memorandum for the Record, New York, December 3 and 4, 1971, New York, December 4, 1971

  Commander Howe reported on his telephone calls and meetings with two Chinese diplomats: Wang Hai-jung and T’ang Wen-Sheng. Howe had been instructed to communicate to the Chinese that the Pakistani Government had left it up to the United States Government to determine whether or not to request a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
  
  Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 849, President’s File-China Trip, China Exchanges, Oct 20, 1971-Dec 31, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Drafted by Howe. A handwritten notation indicates that Haig saw the memorandum. Attached at Tab A is the message outlining communication channels between the U.S. and China and the steps the United States was taking in order to diffuse the situation. Handwritten notes on the attached message read: “Delivered by Jon Howe to Miss Tang 10:15 pm, 12/13/71” and “Win Lord.” For discussion of the communication channels agreed upon at the November 23 meeting, see Document 68. Attached at Tab B but not published is Howe’s hand-written note, dictated by Haig on December 4.

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 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-4856
  "Thirty Minutes" AND "This Is Your Life, Gen. Omar Bradley".
  WCET, Los Angeles
  Runtime: 01:06:55
• WHCA-4872
  Weekly News Summary, Tape I.
  ALL NETWORKS
  Runtime: 01:27:45
  
  13. Utley/Valeriani: Washington believes India is responsible for conflict in Pakistan-India War. Time Code Start: 27:13. Keywords: East Indian, Indo-Pakistani war. Network: NBC.
  
  14. Mudd/Kalb/Hottelet: State department blasts India; United Nations (U.N.) council debate on India/Pakistan War. Time Code Start: 28:57. Keywords: organization of nations, intergovernmental alliance, Asian, Pakistani, East Indian, war. Network: CBS.
  
  15. Mudd/Duvall: Republican Southern Conference with Julie Nixon Eisenhower and David Eisenhower, Vice President Agnew. Time Code Start: 31:52. Keywords: Presidents, families, Vice Presidents, Republicans, political parties, conferences, conventions. Network: CBS.

• New York Times of December 4, 1971

• AP Images photos from December 4, 1971
• Getty Images photos from December 4, 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.

• December 1971 Broadcast Index

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

• December 4, 1971