Office of the Historian

45. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the Director of the United States Information Agency (Shakespeare)1

Washington, November 14, 1969

SUBJECT

  • Support in the United States for the Policies Set Forth in the Vietnam Speech

The President has again raised with me the importance of conveying to our missions abroad the support which he has received for his policies on Vietnam and his November 3d speech.2 The President has cited such particulars as the Gallup poll,3 the Chilton poll and the unprecedented letter and wire response, as well as the number of [Page 100] Congressmen and Senators who will eventually sign the letter to Lodge4 or the Joint Resolution supporting his policy.5 The President is also desirous of having our Armed Forces, especially those in Vietnam, advised of the support which his speech generated. I will discuss this with Mel Laird today.

Would you please provide the President with a report on what actions you have taken to insure maximum foreign coverage by USIA.6

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, USIA Historical Collection, Subject Files, 1953–2000, Entry A1–1066, Box 7, Relations With White House, 1968–1969. No classification marking. An attached USIA action slip indicates that the memorandum was sent to Weathersby for immediate action. In a November 13 memorandum to Nixon, Kissinger indicated that he had instructed Shakespeare “to undertake an immediate program with all of our missions abroad to exploit the manifestations of support of your policies for Vietnam which have developed in the wake of your November 3d speech.” Kissinger added that he had also asked Laird to prepare “a similar Game Plan designed to insure that our Armed Forces not only in Vietnam but elsewhere are apprised of the response we have received to your November 3d speech.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, Subject Files, FG 230, Box 1, EX FG 230 10/1/69–12/31/69)↩
  2. On November 3, the President addressed the nation at 9:32 p.m. from his office in the White House. Broadcast live on radio and television, the address became known as the “silent majority” speech, as the President appealed to the “great silent majority” of Americans to support U.S. policy in Vietnam. The address is printed in Public Papers: Nixon, 1969, pp. 901–909. In his diary entry for November 4, Haldeman recounted: “Reaction day, and a spectacular one! Wires pouring in all day as fast as machines could process them. Piled them all on P desk. He greatly enjoyed going through them all through the day as the pile steadily grew. Showed his favorites to all comers. Almost all favorable, and about 43 referred to ‘quiet majority.’” He continued: “P especially pleased at the reaction from the speech because he succeeded in moving people to action without demagoguing. His view is that you fire people up with a tough loud speech, but you win them over and change their minds only by calm reasoning.” (The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House, p. 105)↩
  3. On November 5, Washington Post reporter Chalmers M. Roberts wrote: “George Gallup made a quickie poll of 501 adults living in 286 localities just after the speech. He concluded that the President had won a vote of confidence from 77 per cent of those who listened (7 out of 10 contacted) with only 6 per cent expressing outright opposition. Another 17 per cent were undecided.” (“Nixon Says Speech Has Wide Support,” p. A1)↩
  4. On November 13, the President spoke in the House chamber at 12:53 p.m. and the Senate chamber at 2:37 p.m. For the text of these remarks, see Public Papers: Nixon, 1969, pp. 930–935. In his remarks before the Senate, he stated: “I am very grateful for the fact that a number of Members of the Senate—more than 60—have indicated by a letter to Ambassador Lodge their support of a just peace in Vietnam and their support of some of the proposals I made in my speech of November 3 on that subject.” (Ibid., p. 935) The text of the Senators’ letter is printed in Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1969, vol. 5, p. 1590. See also Robert B. Semple, Jr., “Nixon, in a Visit, Thanks Congress for War Support,” New York Times, November 14, 1969, p. 1.↩
  5. Reference is to H. Res. 613 (H–Rep 91–643), introduced by Wright and Hays on November 4 and reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on November 13. On November 12, a bipartisan congressional delegation met with the President at the White House and endorsed, in a telephone conversation with Lodge in Paris, their support, in the form of a resolution, for the administration’s positions at the Paris talks. (“Lawmakers Call Lodge to Voice Support of His Position in Paris,” New York Times, November 13, 1969, p. 32) Senator Allott and Representatives Wright, Hays, Adair, and Arends participated in a press conference following the meeting at 5:32 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room. The text of the press conference is printed in Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1969, vol. 5, no. 46, pp. 1589–1592. During the press conference, Wright stated: “The resolution has effected such spontaneous support from both sides of the aisle that today we have 300 cosponsors representing a broad ideological spectrum of the membership. I think perhaps every State is represented. The 300 Members consist of 181 Republican Members and 119 Democratic Members, who are official cosponsors.” (Ibid., p. 1589) See also Congress and the Nation, vol. III, 1969–1972, p. 903.↩
  6. For the USIA response; see Document 49.↩