by Bob Woodward
27: Nixon’s full May 9, 1972, memo on bombing in Vietnam to Kissinger. (See here.)
28: Kissinger’s five-page TOP SECRET October 23, 1972 cable to Nixon and Haig detailing his conversations with Thieu. (See here.)
29: The October 25, 1972, news summary with Nixon’s handwritten praise to Pat Buchanan at the top. (See here.)
30: Haldeman’s request for Butterfield’s future plans and “pro forma letter of resignation,” dated November 7, 1972. (See here.)
31: Butterfield’s November 10, 1972, response to Haldeman, detailing his fears of being “typed” and desire to leave the White House in favor of becoming secretary of the Air Force or the Navy. (See here.)
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
8:10 a.m.
February 19, 1969
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Subject:
Wire from the Virgin Islands Legislature
In the attached wire addressed to you the Virgin Islands legislature, in what appears to be a purely political move, states its inability to reasonably and responsibly proceed with its budget hearings without a new Governor, and petitions you to make an immediate appointment to fill the vacancy left by former Governor Paiewonsky on February 12th.
It is the opinion of your staff - particularly Bryce Harlow and myself - that on the admittedly odd but still possible chance that this subject will be brought up (even in casual conversation) during this morning’s meeting with the bipartisan leadership, you should not be “caught short,” but made aware of the matter as it now stands.
I first learned of the issue when Secretary Hickel called me early yesterday evening. I obtained a copy of the wire and learned simultaneously that Bryce Harlow, Peter Flanigan, and Harry Flemming were at that moment hashing it out in Bryce’s office. As of this morning, things are on track. We are going ahead with Peter Bove without further delay.
Meanwhile, I would recommend that: Secretary Hickel respond to this wire (1) stating, on your behalf, an appreciation for the legislators’ concern; (2) reminding them (gently) that the law provides that the Government Secretary “shall have all the powers of the Governor . . . in case of a vacancy in the office of Governor . . . or temporary absence of the Governor”; and (3) assure them that a man of outstanding qualifications is in the process of being appointed.
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
AGREE: RN
DISAGREE:
COMMENTS:
June 19, 1969
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE PRESIDENT
There are 22,354,000 U. S. blacks in America, which is 11.1% of our 200 million (plus) population. (This comes from three reliable sources.)
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
Top Secret
P Notes enrte to KB
(Nov 27th)
1 P talked to Laird & K – rumor it (My Lai) was going to break before it broke. Some possibilities of a fix – event 1 ½ years ago, yet suddenly...
✓ out Claremont man. Do we have his ltr – the one sent – supposedly sent to me?
✓ all talkers. Army photog. Cleveland P/D [Plain Dealer] man sold mat to Life & to C P/D. How much?
They’re vulnerable on 2 counts
- A Photog mother & dad are Cleveland peaceniks
- B Meadlo too smooth for a farmer
P thinks Pentagon too scared to investigate adequately
another vulnerable spot - $ passed
- Stein family fund
- Claremont fellow jewish
- Hersh
-(lib jew)
- DNS
We need some ammo in the hands of some senators. ✓ with Nof [Nofziger, a Nixon aide] & Har [Harlow, a Nixon aide] – very discrete.
What about Dominick. What has he been saying?
Take “a Dominick” on this. We need a big senator – a gut fighter – a stand up Sen. Have Lyn & Har pick a Sen or two – or some Cong’men who could dig into this one on a personal basis. We can feed info to them.
Get backgrounds of all involved – all must be exposed – Meadlo too smooth.
[?] in on this. Photos too. You handle - E can get investigator
Follow up on Laird sending over atrocity pics (to WH)
3 pts to be made
- 1 extent to which it happened greatly exaggerated – prove fix &/or exagg
- 2 backgrounds on all
- why the big delay
Let’s ✓ this Mike Wallace too - He’s far left.
- prove fix
- discredit witnesses
- ″ Time & Life for using this
- Is def going to go after the fix angle?
- For enemy, it’s policy
- For US, it’s a breach of policy
Get right wingers with us. Salvatore should help finance – get pics in his hands.
Note: Say Sal talks too much to get into this
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 17, 1969
SECRET
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
RE:
Ronald Lee Ridenhour (And Other Information re My Lai)
The attachment to this memorandum responds to your request for a report on Ridenhour. It is the first of two which were due in my hands last week. The other should reach me no later than December 18th . . . and whatever is new will be passed on to you without delay.
In addition to the specific matter of Ridenhour, you will be interested in the following items relative to our earlier talk:
-- An investigator was provided by John Ehrlichman. The man was given a clear set of guidelines and sent into the field where he remains today. A summation of his reports will be the subject of a near-future memorandum.
-- Bryce Harlow and Lyn Nofziger put their heads together and came up with Senator Fannin as the “right man to tackle this job”. Eddie Hebert was their second choice but, as you know, he was recently given the My Lai project within Congressman Rivers’ investigation subcommittee. (I’m not familiar with their reasons for not selecting Peter Dominick.)
-- Senator Fannin has been provided all of the documents which, by instruction, I made available to the Vice President on December 3rd and 4th . . . i.e. with the exception of Mel Laird’s personal September 3rd memorandum to you. Those things are:
-- A chronology of My Lai press coverage and information as to how the stories were handled.
-- Atrocity photos (12 taken in Hue and 53 taken elsewhere).
-- 8 fact sheets, news releases, and other documents concerning the Hue atrocities.
-- Lyn Nofziger claims that Henry Salvatore should not be counted on as a financial backer for this project in that he (Salvatore) would “never be able to keep his mouth shut”.
-- Ron Haeberle, a former Army Sergeant and combat photographer, admits that he appeared more than once before civic meetings in the Cleveland area showing color slides of alleged My Lai atrocities. Following the break of the My Lai incident in the news, he took the photos to a college friend named Joseph Eszterhas, a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter, and on November 20th they flew together to New York City where, in room 801 of the Gotham Hotel, they invited bids from the communications media for 18 of the “more revealing color slides.”
-- Seymour Hersh, the 32-year-old former McCarthy campaign press secretary, received a $1,000 grant to pursue development of the My Lai story. The grant came from the Edgar B. Stern Family Fund which is clearly left-wing and anti-Administration.
-- The Edgar B. Stern Family Fund was founded in 1936 in New Orleans by Edith Rosenwold Stern and Edgar B. Stern as a non-profit educational fund. Its present location is at 21 East 40th Street, Manhattan, and a Mr. David R. Hunter serves as Executive Director. The fund is known to have supported organizations engaged in extremist activities. In 1964 it made a grant of $4,849 to the then infant SDS . . . in connection with an Appalachian conference of SDS leaders.
In 1965 it gave $32,500 to the League for Industrial Democracy, a group identified with militant left-wing civil rights endeavors. In 1968 it was ascertained that the Stern foundation was promoting dissatisfaction among migrant workers in the King Ranch area of Texas. Additionally, Mrs. Edgar B. Stern, currently a Vice President of the foundation, is known to be a sister of the first wife of Alfred K. Stern who fled this country as a spy in the 1950s and accepted asylum behind the Iron Curtain.
-- F. Lee Bailey has been made aware of the fact that he is welcome to call anytime at DoD and that officials there will not only “play ball” but also give thought to additional ways of furthering his objectives.
-- Several persons, by their public statements, have helped to cast some doubts as to the validity of Ridenhour’s story. . . . e.g. Congressman Rivers, Congressman Hebert, Congressman Ichord, Captain Medina, etc. Moreover, SVN’s Senator Don reported that “no bodies of alleged massacre victims have been found in or around the My Lai area,” and little credence is being given to the “massacre event” in that country.
-- The investigator is now in the Cleveland area gathering data on Haeberle.
-- Our current aim is to compile discreet investigative reports on Ridenhour, Haeberle, Hersh, Meadlo, the Edgar B. Stern Family Fund, and the Dispatch News Service (to include a rundown on its present editor, 22-year-old David Obst).
-- We believe now that the emphasis should be on:
-- Putting a good lawyer in touch with Ridenhour, with instructions to make the most of Ridenhour’s “bitter feeling” toward Hersh.
-- The activities of Hersh and the Edgar B. Stern Family Fund.
I will keep you abreast of developments.
SECRET
SUBJECT:
DISCREET INTERVIEW OF RONALD LEE RIDENHOUR ON DECEMBER 4, 1969 AT CLAREMONT COLLEGE, CALIFORNIA
On December 4, 1969, Ronald Lee Ridenhour, principal in the release of the My Lai massacre story, was discreetly interviewed by a confidential investigator posing as a news reporter. The purpose of the interview was to ascertain:
-- The extent to which Ridenhour is aligned with left-wing elements.
-- The depth or degree of any relationship between Ridenhour and Mr. Seymour Hersh, the apparent driving force behind the non-government release of alleged massacre information.
Ridenhour was open and candid with respect to questions concerning his possible left-wing affiliations. He admitted that he had been approached by moratorium leaders on the Claremont campus following the publicity given to his letters to government officials. He stated these campus leaders hoped to promote him as a front and leader for a movement to take left-wing advantage of the My Lai massacre. Ridenhour advised that he had no interest whatever in such proposals and that he was not in sympathy with moratorium aims. He said his letters were written solely as a matter of conscience and that his intention was to correct whatever wrongs might have been committed.
Equally discreet interviews of several students and faculty members at Claremont Men’s College essentially supported Ridenhour’s statements. It was ascertained that he actively participated as a defensive tackle on the school’s football team and that he has not, since his enrollment on September 1st, been absent from class or otherwise away from school. Two leftist leaders on campus were interviewed also, and they referred to Ridenhour with derision, presumably because of his lack of sympathy with, and non-participation in, their activities.
Ridenhour made a series of startling charges against Seymour Hersh. He stated that Hersh flew out to interview him on or about November 20. He had not known Hersh prior to that interview. He said that Hersh implied that he (Hersh) was a Washington “government official”. He realizes now, of course, that Hersh is not with the government, but his distinct impression at the time of the interview was that he very definitely was. Having been interviewed previously by military investigators, Ridenhour did not feel that Hersh’s coming to him (as a government official) was at all unusual. Ridenhour stated that he “innocently” supplied Hersh with the names of G.I. ’s whom “he had heard” were participants or witnesses to the alleged massacre. One of these names provided Hersh was Paul Meadlo.
Ridenhour was very upset by Hersh’s subsequent (post-interview) activities. He bitterly charged Hersh (“He’s a no-good son of a bitch.”) with manipulating the story to make it appear that he (Ridenhour) had conducted extensive interviews of alleged participants and witnesses. Ridenhour was particularly incensed by the fact that Hersh had realized financial gain at his expense. He said he was hurt and embarrassed by the whole affair, and he asked the confidential source if he could supply a lawyer “to help him bring suit against Hersh.” No promise was made to this request, but the door was left open.
Miscellaneous Information:
-- Admits he did not get along well in the service. . . . “I’m one of those guys who question orders.”
-- Born in California in 1946. . . . single and never married.
-- Vietnam veteran.
-- Parents reside in Phoenix, Arizona.
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
CONFIDENTIAL
January 14, 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR ALEX BUTTERFIELD
The President would like you to check to find out who the woman is in the EOB who has the two Kennedy pictures. What’s her background . . . is she new, old, someone we can trust, etc. Please get a report back to me on this quickly.
Thank you.
H. R. HALDEMAN
[HANDWRITTEN NOTE]
This has now delayed nearly a month – and he asks about it once a week – at least. H
[In Butterfield’s handwriting] “Done”
MEMORANDUM FOR:
MR. HALDEMAN
FROM:
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
RE:
Pictures in the EOB
I have just received your January 14th memorandum concerning pictures in the EOB . . . and my delay (for nearly a month) in getting certain information back to the President.
I remember precisely what the President said when he spoke to me about this and there was no request for a report back -- only a clear directive that action be taken. Whereas I am not in the habit of dragging my feet ever (especially on a matter of expressed priority interest to you or the President) I did in this case adhere to the President’s word of caution that a sweeping order to bring down all pictures of past Presidents -- coming on the heels of his December 24th “walk-through” -- might well be taken as “Presidentially-directed”.
There are 2 parts to the project: (1) Discreetly institute the proper “picture policy” . . . and ensure that its merits (indeed its justification) are clearly understood by all personnel in the Executive Office of the President, especially GS employees on the White House Support Staff; and (2) Assign one of our own people to every support office, or in some other way set up a system which will ensure across-the-board loyalty of White House Support Staff personnel. . . . even if it is necessary to “abolish all offices and start over from scratch.” The first half of the project -- admittedly the easiest half -- was begun with my own “walk-through” the EOB offices on January 1st, less than 48 hours after the President’s departure for San Clemente. It was completed on January 14th, just 13 days later. The second half of the project is just beginning -- and will not be done overnight. I am looking at personnel files now, and when I finish I will recommend to you 1 or 2 possible courses of action. . . . that is, unless you want to stay out of it entirely and give me a full rein.
Finally, let me say that it was only this past Tuesday when I first learned from you that the President was asking for a progress report on this subject. On Wednesday I reported to you by memorandum that I would have a rundown for you today (January 16th). In that I did not hear from you, I assumed that schedule was satisfactory; then came your note expressing impatience, itself delayed by a day and a half.
A written re
port to the President is attached.
Attachment
January 16, 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
RE:
Sanitization of the EOB
Recalling your word of caution to me that a sweeping order to take down from EOB walls all pictures of past Presidents -- coming on the heels of your December 24th walk-through -- might well be taken as “Presidentially-directed”, I did not move on this project until after your departure for San Clemente. However, on New Year’s day I made my own inspection of EOB offices occupied by White House Support Staff personnel and less than a week later spoke to Bill Hopkins about general policy on the matter, his views, etc. I couched my pitch to Hopkins in terms of my surprise discovery . . . i.e. learning that civilian government employees, unlike military personnel, do on occasion display pictures of past commanders or commanders-in-chief on (Federal) office walls. I took time to elaborate on the fact that the taking down of pictures of former chiefs, in offices or other official business environments, is only a gesture of common courtesy to new chiefs -- a gesture of “pledged loyalty” . . . with no disrespect whatever intended for those who have served and moved on. Bill Hopkins knew all of this, of course, so was naturally understanding of the position I was taking. I asked him to make a detailed check (not telling him of my earlier check) . . . which he did prior to your return to Washington. Here is a recapitulation of results:
-- Of 35 large and small offices occupied by White House Support Staff personnel, 6 displayed photographs of one or more former Presidents . . . in addition to your own.
-- 27 offices (including the 6 mentioned above) displayed your picture.
-- 8 offices displayed no pictures of U.S. Presidents.