President Nixon and Donald
Rumsfeld
Nixon Considered the Youngest Member of
his Cabinet a Rising Star
At
36 years of age, Donald H. Rumsfeld was the youngest member of President Nixon's
cabinet. Serving first in domestic policy roles, such as the Director of the
Office of Economic Opportunity, the former Congressman from Illinois also later
served in his first foreign policy position, as United States Permanent
Representative to NATO.
Nixon considered Rumsfeld a
rising star. After all who else at such a young age had served
in such senior capacities in the United States government? On
more than one occasion on the Nixon tapes, Nixon suggested that
Rumsfeld return to Illinois and run for Senate, and a few people
even mentioned Rumsfeld's name as a possible running mate with
Nixon in 1972, at the height of the "dump Agnew" movement.
Although Nixon labeled him at times as "too liberal", Rumsfeld
had the right image: he was smart, pragmatic, shrewd, a good
speaker, and had an attractive family.
However, privately Nixon also
had concerns. Nixon believed Rumsfeld was rising too fast. This
was especially a concern of Nixon's as it got closer to the 1972
presidential election, when Nixon perceived Rumsfeld to be
making "political speeches" around the country. To Nixon, it
sounded like Rumsfeld was testing the waters as a possible
candidate for office, even though he was not then campaigning
for any such office. At a time when Nixon seriously considered
dumping Spiro Agnew in 1972 in favor of former Texas democratic
governor John B. Connally, Nixon did not want to take any
chances.
Therefore, Nixon worked with
Chief of Staff H.R. "Bob" Haldeman to create a plan to retain
the talented Rumsfeld but move him into a role that Nixon
perceived to be less political. Nixon held several lengthy
conversations with Haldeman on the various positions for which
Rumsfeld would be qualified, and Nixon even invited Rumsfeld
into the Oval Office on more than one occasion to feel him out
and gauge his interest in a change of scenery.
Rumsfeld stated to Nixon that
he was particularly interested in gaining foreign policy
experience. While today we may view Rumsfeld as primarily a
foreign policy expert, in 1971-1972 Rumsfeld had been purely a
domestic policy staff member in the Nixon White House. However,
he had been exposed to foreign policy as a four-term member of
the House of Representatives and also during overseas travels
during his work on domestic policy. Despite that, if Rumsfeld planned
to continue his rise through the political ranks, especially if
he ran for Senate, he would need a higher profile in foreign
policy.
Ultimately, Nixon appointed Rumsfeld to be Permanent
Representative to NATO, where he served from 1973-1974, until
returning to Washington to serve as President Ford's Secretary of
Defense.
While Rumsfeld took part in
dozens of meetings that were taped by the Nixon recording
system, in the Cabinet Room, Oval Office, Executive Office
Building, and various White House telephones, the list below
features the conversations or meetings between Rumsfeld and
Nixon in which Rumsfeld was a primary participant.
(The conversation excerpt from
April 9, 1971 was an occasion where Rumsfeld brought his family
into the Oval Office. The remainder of the longer conversation
has been omitted.)
The participants are as follows:
- P = President Richard Nixon
- APB = Alexander P. Butterfield
- RHF = Robert H. Finch
- HRH = H.R. "Bob" Haldeman
- DHR = Donald H. Rumsfeld
- GDR = George D. Rumsfeld
- JHR = Jeannette (Husted) Rumsfeld
- JPR = Joyce (Pierson) Rumsfeld
- MS = Manolo Sanchez
- GPS = George P. Shultz
- unk = Unknown Participant
- WHO = White House Operator
Conversation Number
|
Date
|
Time
|
Participants |
Download Audio
|
OVAL 463-006 |
03/08/1971 |
5:41 - 6:38 pm |
P, DHR, unk, MS |
mp3
(56.6m) |
OVAL 476-014 (excerpt) |
04/09/1971 |
11:40 am - 1:30 pm |
P, DHR, GDR, JHR, JPR |
mp3 (2.2m) |
OVAL 480-006 |
04/15/1971 |
12:15 - 12:40 pm |
P, RHF, DHR |
mp3
(23.5m) |
WHT 042-046 |
04/15/1971 |
3:45 - 3:48 pm |
P, DHR |
mp3
(2.1m) |
EOB 276-011a |
09/10/1971 |
4:31 - 6:15 pm |
P, DHR, HRH, Unk, APB |
mp3
(64.8m) |
EOB 276-011b |
|
|
|
mp3
(3.7m) |
EOB 287-021a |
10/11/1971 |
Unk between 4:35 pm and 5:50 pm |
P, Unk, GPS, DHR, MS |
mp3
(18.2m) |
EOB 287-021b |
|
|
|
mp3
(48.0m) |
WHT 011-135 |
10/19/1971 |
1:39 - 1:44 pm |
P, DHR |
mp3
(6.1m) |
WHT 012-003 |
10/20/1971 |
3:06 - 3:10 pm |
P, DHR |
mp3
(4.7m) |
WHT 015-041 |
11/18/1971 |
Unk between 5:09 pm and 5:16 pm |
DHR, WHO, Unk |
mp3
(2.1m) |
WHT 017-024 |
12/24/1971 |
4:41 - 4:55 pm |
P, DHR |
mp3
(12.8m) |
|