REMARKS TO THE PRESS BY
THE HONORABLE HENRY A. KISSINGER, SECRETARY OF STATE,
SECRETARY OF STATE-DESIGNATE CYRUS VANCE, AND THE
SOVIET AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES
ANATOLIY F. DOBRYNIN
PRIOR TO A LUNCHEON MEETING
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, D.C.

January 4, 1977

**QUESTION:** Mr. Secretary, can you give us an idea of what you are going to be talking about today?

**SECRETARY KISSINGER:** Well, we will just review Soviet-American relations. Mr. Vance thought it would be helpful to him if we could do it together with Ambassador Dobrynin -- and have the dialogue in front of him.

**QUESTION:** Mr. Secretary, do you think it would be a good idea for President Carter to have a summit meeting with Mr. Brezhnev early?

**SECRETARY KISSINGER:** I do not think it is appropriate for me to give advice to the President-elect, but I find that the statements that he has made up to now -- statements on Soviet-American relations -- are statements that I could support.

**QUESTION:** Of the President-elect?

**SECRETARY KISSINGER:** Of the President-elect.

**QUESTION:** Mr. Ambassador, Ambassador Dobrynin, would General Secretary Brezhnev be willing to come to the United States for such a summit?

**AMBASSADOR DOBRYNIN:** If the situation permits and our relationship will move in that direction, yes.

**QUESTION:** Mr. Vance, what do you think about the idea of such a meeting?

**MR. VANCE:** I think that there should be a summit meeting. As for the exact timing of the meeting, I think we are going to have to see what kind of preparation is necessary beforehand.

- 2 -

**QUESTION:** In an interview the other day, President-elect Carter said before September. Is that generally the time-table you are thinking of?

**MR. VANCE:** Yes.

**QUESTION:** Sometime in the summer?

**QUESTION:** Mr. Vance, do you have any ideas yet about how the SALT negotiations will go forward? Will you be there personally or do you expect to appoint a negotiator?

**MR. VANCE:** I expect that we will appoint a negotiator. Of course, I will keep myself very much involved in them. But we will have negotiations.

**QUESTION:** Mr. Ambassador, would a visit here by Mr. Brezhnev be tied to a conclusion of the SALT agreement?

**AMBASSADOR DOBRYNIN:** This is a possibility. It depends on the schedule. Time and place have not been decided, yet. But we hope that the visit here or somewhere else, will be just to accomplish SALT II.

**QUESTION:** So, if it is not possible for the negotiators to work out an agreement, then you would not --

**AMBASSADOR DOBRYNIN:** It is premature to say that now.

**QUESTION:** Sir, it would not necessarily be tied to a SALT agreement?

**AMBASSADOR DOBRYNIN:** Well, as of now (inaudible) --

**QUESTION:** Mr. Vance, what are the other principle items that you would like to discuss with the Ambassador?

**MR. VANCE:** I think there are a lot of items we will probably want to discuss today -- trade will be one of the items.

**QUESTION:** Middle-East?

**MR. VANCE:** The Middle-East I would expect we will cover as well, yes.

**QUESTION:** What's going to be different do you think, Mr. Vance and Mr. Dobrynin, if I may excuse myself Mr. Secretary (laughter), about Soviet-American relations with the next Administration compared to the past Administration? What do you look for that will be different? What do you hope to achieve?

1/4/77

CABINET DINNER

January 5, 1977

Mr. President, I am greatly honored to represent your Cabinet tonight and to present this gift to you.

It is a symbol of our pride in the achievement of a great administration; of our gratitude to you for giving us this opportunity for public service; and, perhaps most important to those of us here in this room, it speaks of our personal admiration and affection for you.

Ours is a time marked by a new dimension of challenges, more pervasive and more complex, with perils at once more subtle and profound. A new world is emerging, a world in which the security, well-being, and moral fulfillment of all peoples are bound up together. Indeed, we are experiencing the birth-pangs of a new order -- the truly human community we must fashion if we are ever to live in lasting peace.

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Only history can judge what we in these years have done
to help shape the better world we seek. As an historian, I am
convinced that the future will assess your term of office

Mr. President, as one in which many of the major foundation-
stones for the future were laid: to reduce the threat of nuclear
war; to help end bitter local conflicts; to bridge the gap between the rich
and poor of the world; to advance new solutions to new global
problems; and to stand side by side with those nations who
share our commitment to freedom and human dignity.

But whatever the judgement of historians, the verdict of

And that verdict is clear.
the people will count for more. / From that day when you began
your administration with "a little straight talk among friends",
the American people have known that they were represented by
one of their own; that the nation was in good hands. They have

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known that the country's great heritage of values and its
deepest aspirations for its children would be fostered and
furthered with the courage, the honesty, the directness,
and the optimism that for two centuries has set this nation
apart from others.

The people of this country in the generations to come will
honor and revere Gerald Ford. For when America was riven
by troubles as grave as any it has known: when war had brought
despair and division; when economic difficulties clouded hopes;
when the generations were at odds and racial and social
contentiousness threatened to etch themselves on the
national character -- and above all, when we were in the midst
of the gravest constitutional crisis of our history -- it was the
good fortune of this nation that Gerald Ford became President.

-4-

You knew, Mr. President, that the American people required a new time of peace, a new sense of purpose, a new pride of engagement in a common enterprise dedicated to the country's finest ideals. You gave yourself to those goals. As a result, this country can hear again the summons to leadership, to helping the world find its way from a time of despair to a time of hope.

Emerson once said of George Washington that his presence was "an almost Appalachian strength, as if it were truly the expression of the country -- with a gravity and depth as if he had absorbed all the serenity of America, and left none for his restless, rickety, hysterical countrymen."

-5-

Gerald Ford has that quality of strength too. But unlike Emerson's Washington he has not absorbed, but imparted, a new sense of serenity, confidence and purpose to his countrymen. They will always remember him for it.

Mr. President, please accept this gift as an expression of our fondness and our esteem -- and of our thanks for having been able to share these exciting years and this important work with you.

CABINET DINNER, JANUARY 5

I am delighted to be here with you-
all tonight.

Actually I find this talk about
"speaking southern" a little silly --
as though it were a novelty. I have
been speaking with a southern accent
for years. Of course, it is a southern
German accent.

As long as there are no press here,
I want to make one philosophical comment
about this group. I have observed

-2-

that members of this cabinet generally
like three things: tight budgets,
loose hiring practices, and a warm
place for "working vacations".

A few years ago President Kennedy,
hosting a dinner, said he was presiding
over the most talented group of
people since Jefferson dined alone
at the White House.

Now wait a minute -- that's not
what I had in mind.

I think you, Mr. President, can

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safely say that you are presiding,
right now, over the most job-hungry
group of people in Washington since
the Bonus March of the 20's.

But I have had some intriguing
suggestions as to my future career. I
have been made an honorary Harlem
Globetrotter, and given the Number One,
which has made Muhammad Ali furious.

And the New York Jets offered
to let me try out at quarterback. I
don't know whether I'll do that because

-4-

I don't know whether New York is
ready for another sex symbol at
quarterback.

But the reason I mention it here,
Mr. President, is that if I decide to do
it, I am going to need a good center.
And the Jets have assured me that they
will give us both helmets.

Actually, Mr. President, you've
taken an unfair amount of criticism
over such things as football helmets
and helicopter doors. Besides, I have

-5-

always suspected that Jim Schlesinger
had the tops of those helicopter doors
lowered just as you came into office.

Mr. President, we couldn't afford
to get you a new pair of skis. But
considering the trouble you've had
finding snow out west recently we
decided that a more useful gift would
be this mahogany skateboard.

I am greatly honored to represent
the Cabinet in presenting this gift
to you, Mr. President. It is a symbol

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of our gratitude and of our pride in
having had the privilege of serving in
your Administration. And I know I
speak for everyone here in telling
you that it is as well a token of the
personal affection and admiration which
each of us bears for you.

It is also a moment of an Administration
which will go down in history.

And it will not, as some suggest,
go down in history because you
succeeded the only President who has
ever resigned. I believe, as a sometime

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historian, that it will be remembered
for another reason.

It will be remembered, Mr. President,
because you made it clear from the
very beginning that although the watch
had changed, the ship was once again
in steady hands.

It will be remembered because it
began at the only time in the brief
history of the nuclear balance of terror
when the United States might have been
seen by others as losing our footing --
as being off balance. But you brought

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us past the danger. Your record, your
integrity, your courage and your purpose
were a clear signal to friend and foe
alike that America remained alert,
steady and true to her principles.

From that day when you began
your Administration with "a little
straight talk among friends", the
American people have known that they
were represented by one of their own;
that the nation was in good hands.
They have known that the country's

great heritage of values and its
deepest aspirations for its children
would be fostered and furthered
with the courage, the honesty, the
directness and the optimism that for
two centuries has set this nation apart
from others.

But whatever the judgment of
historians may be, the verdict of
the people will count for more. And
the people of this country in the generations
to come will honor and revere Gerald
Ford. For when America was riven by

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troubles as grave as any it has known:
when war had brought despair and
division; when economic difficulties
clouded hopes; when the generations
were at odds and racial and social
contentiousness threatened the national
character -- and above all, when we were
in the midst of the gravest constitutional
crisis of our history -- we were
fortunate that Gerald Ford became
President.

-11-

"an almost appalachian strength, as
if it were truly the expression of
the country -- with a gravity and
depth as if he had absorbed all the
serenity of America, and left none
for his restless, rickety, hysterical
countrymen".

Gerald Ford has that quality of
strength too. But unlike Emerson's
Washington he has not absorbed, but
imparted a new sense of serenity,
confidence and purpose to his countrymen.
They will always remember him for it.

-12-

By restoring America's image,
and maintaining America's strength, in
a hazardous world, you have made as
much of a contribution to peace and
to the greatness of this country in
two and one half years, Mr. President,
as any man could have done. The
country -- and the world -- are in your
debt.

CABINET DINNER

January 5, 1977

Mr. President, it is my honor, on behalf of my Cabinet colleagues, to present to you our gift, as a token of our esteem and affection.

President Kennedy once said, hosting a dinner for Nobel Prize winners, that he was presiding over the most talented gathering ever held at the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined alone. (Pause) Now, before you jump to any conclusions...

But this is indeed a distinguished Cabinet.

-- We have Bill Simon, who is just using Cabinet office as a stepping-stone. He's a little down now, having been shot out of the water by Shirley Temple Black. What he should do is turn over his gun collection to the Library of Congress; that's where all my bombshells are. I only hope he finds a good place to deposit Parsky.

-2-

-- We have Ed Levi, one of our nation's most distinguished
Attorneys General. His integrity and dedication are
reknowned. In fact, he has a subpoena for you,
Mr. President, after this dinner.

-- Bill Coleman, who has just decided on a compromise
plan to build I-66. All the trees along the route will
be cut down for an 18-month trial period.

-- Don Rumsfeld is working on a new draft of NSC
procedures. He's advising Harold Brown how to keep
an eye on Cy Vance.

I only regret I don't have time to cover every member of this
distinguished group. Not to mention past members. As long as
there are no press here, I can make one philosophical comment:

-3-

I have observed that members of this Cabinet generally like
three things: tight budgets, loose hiring practices, and
a warm place for "working vacations."

Right now, Mr. President, I think you are presiding
over the most job-hungry group of people in Washington since
the bonus march of the 20's.

I have had some intriguing suggestions for my future
career. The Harlem Globetrotters have offered me a position --
I think on the management side.

The New York Jets offered to let me try out as quarterback.
I don't think New York is ready for another sex symbol at
quarterback.

But the reason I mention it here, Mr. President, is that if
I decide to do it, I am going to need a good center. The Jets
have assured me they'll give us both helmets.

-4-

Actually, Mr. President, you have taken an unfair amount
of criticism over such things as football helmets and helicopter
doors. Besides, I have always suspected that Jim Schlesinger
had the tops of those helicopter doors lowered just as you came
into office.

REMARKS FOR FRENCH DINNER

I know you are going to believe that this is the product
of some joke writer's imagination, but it's not: there was a
story on one of the wire services yesterday that I had signed
a contract to narrate a recording of "Peter and the Wolf".

It's an intriguing idea. Except for the ending, I like the
idea of playing the wolf.

Of course, my accent would be a little different from that
of the other great entertainers who have done it, like Basil
Rathbone and Joan Kennedy.

It was very kind of you, Mr. Ambassador, to have such a
bunch of short-timers for dinner this evening.

Chuck Robinson, my Deputy there, is going to go back to
advising land-locked countries to build deepwater ports after
he leaves office.

- 2 -

Bill Coleman is wrestling with competing job offers
from the law firm that's trying to get the Concorde into
New York, and the Virginia Highway Authority.

Bill Rogers, our house Democrat these last few years,
has submitted his resignation -- in disappearing ink.

I can see Sonnenfeldt sitting there wondering "why didn't
I think of that?"

And Eagleburger is thinking about opening a chain of
fast-food restaurants, somewhat like McDonald's. Guess
what the name of the sandwich will be?

Joan Braden -- having been consumed by the State
Department bureaucracy -- is going to retire.

And, crushed with disappointment that the New York
Jets named someone else as head coach, Win Lord is going to
retreat to a mountain in the Rockies to contemplate.

My own sadness at leaving office is nothing compared
to what my old colleague Michel Jobert must feel. He will
now have to find a new cause to uphold, besides saving the
world from Henry Kissinger.

France's bicentennial gift to the nation was much
appreciated. It was a lot better than the original suggestion --
a statue of Michel Jobert to be placed in front of the State
Department.

I have recently been re-reading General de Gaulle's
memoirs. Aside from the fact that he seems to have spent
most of the war in battle against Britain and the U. S., it is
an inspiring story. I only hope that none of the publishers
who have been pursuing me use it as a model of comparison.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Washington, D.C. 20520

January 5, 1977

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY

Your French Toast

Attached is a redraft of your toast for the French dinner tomorrow night, done essentially by Warren Zimmerman of EUR with some editing at this end. You might wish to lead off by saying:

"Since this is a French toast, I won't waffle."

This would naturally lead to your saying to a gathering that may be apprehensive during this transition period:

"Are you feeling waffle? Syrup. Syrup. Batter days are coming."

Winston Lord

1/5/77

TOAST.
FRENCH EMBASSY DINNER

January 6, 1977

I had a great deal of admiration for General de Gaulle, as many of you know, probably because his concepts of grandeur and greatness struck a friendly chord with me. I particularly recollect his comment about the difficulty of governing a country which makes 485 kinds of cheese. Of course the General never had the opportunity of trying to govern a country which has 535 kinds of Congressmen and Senators.

I also admire the constitution with which General de Gaulle endowed the Fifth Republic -- especially the fact that it does not have any xenophobic clauses prohibiting the election of foreign-born citizens to the Presidency.

-1-

But I may get to be a President yet -- if you believe any of
the rumors about my friend Bill Paley's intentions.

It has long been the custom to celebrate memorable
events with a feast. This is especially true of the French
and Americans. I am told this was true even in the early
days of our bilateral relations. At the news of the French
Revolution, the usually puritanical citizens of Boston
consumed 1600 loaves of bread, two hogsheads of punch, and
a roast ox.

So this dinner tonight is part of a long tradition. I must
confess, though, to a certain wariness in trying to determine
exactly what it is that is being celebrated tonight. Is it my
eight years in public office? Or is it the fact that they are
finally ending?

-2-

Whatever the answer, I am grateful for the honor you
have given me. And since I do not subscribe to de Vigny's
notion that "silence alone is great; all else is weakness,"
I want to say a few words. I would like to ask you to
remember me in Moliere's words: "he is a wonderful talker"
and to forget that Moliere added: "who has the art of telling
you nothing in a great harangue."

We have been accustomed in this bicentennial year to
great harangues about our historic relations with some of our
oldest allies. Speeches about Franklin and Lafayette,
and reminiscences about America's two excursions to war-
torn Europe in this century, are durable subjects of oratory.

-3-

But those of you who have followed the course of relations
between France and the United States in postwar years will have
noticed that these historical themes are usually played most
strongly when our present relationship is in difficulty.

So I was delighted to note that when President Giscard
visited these shores a few months ago much more was spoken
of the bright future for Franco-American cooperation than of
the past. There is more than passing significance to this --
it means I think that we have achieved a certain maturity and balance,
in which we recognize that we both have common and unchanging
interests in the world. It means too, I think, that we have come
to see each other as independent and sovereign nations, and as
allies and friends.

-4-

We have, if you think back eight years, come a long way
to reach this state of affairs. We have put aside the suspicion
and mistrust that were the inevitable product of years of war,
reconstruction, and the end of the colonial era. We have in fact
in eight years thoroughly rebuilt, restructured, and strengthened
our relationship -- and rather than engaging in the sometimes
theological quarrels of the past, we have found that today's
world demands that we and our fellow industrial democracies
all work together toward common goals.

Cooperation among the nations of the West is a moral, and
not merely a practical necessity. The ties of intellectual
civilization, democratic tradition, historical association and
decades of common effort and concern bind us irrevocably.

-5-

It is the western democracies that originated the vision
of political freedom, social justice, and widening economic
opportunity. Our task today is to act with identity and purpose;
to be worthy of the trust of our peoples; to successfully confront
the complexities of a pluralistic world. And to demonstrate
that the democracies are not only capable of meeting the
challenges of our time, but indispensable if those challenges
are to be mastered in ways that foster the greatest aspirations
of the human spirit.

France and America have a special place in this effort. Some
two centuries ago, the world was transformed by our revolutions.
Today, our longstanding and close relationship has never been more
important. This is not only because close cooperation is

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crucial in dealing with the formidable economic, security and
political challenges facing us both -- it is because the way
in which we work together can be a model for a free community
of nations. Each of us has our own sense of pride and
nationhood. Each of us has our own distinctive vision and
style. Each of us has our own interests and special goals.

We have -- and we will -- elect to take different paths
on many occasions. But on the crucial and the fundamental issues
we have -- and we will -- stand together.

When we have differed -- and I do not pretend
that we have not had serious differences in the past eight years --
our differences have had a special character. For both France
and the United States have been determined to conduct a

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serious foreign policy based upon a responsible and global vision of national interest. It is not surprising that our visions and concepts have not always been the same, though they have almost always been parallel. But even our clashes have been worth-while, because they have caused each of us to re-examine, to re-define, and -- I believe -- to learn. And in the end, on all the important issues our two countries have been together.

The United States and France have also shared a determination to do our best to master the future. In proposing the Rambouillet summit meeting, President Giscard understood that the problems the industrial democracies face are not at base technical problems, though many of them are of a bewildering technical complexity. He understood that they are problems of resolve.

-8-

And in this period of anxiety, introspection, and pessimism,
we will need vision as well as power, and will as well as
resources, if we are to solve them.

I have often been called a pessimist. But most of you in
this room know me better than that. I am an optimist, because
I believe that the capacity for meeting the challenges which
face the Western nations -- the security challenge, the economic
challenge, the challenge to our democratic systems -- lies
within ourselves. We can be as successful as we resolve to be.
I have no doubt that our two great nations -- born in the same
concept of freedom, allies for two centuries -- can summon
that resolve.

-9-

In the world ahead, the French-American relationship --
now entered on its third century -- stands out as an enduring
symbol of common dedication to freedom, to the rights of man,
and to the increased well-being of our, and all, peoples in a
more peaceful and prosperous human community.

REMARKS BY HENRY A. KISSINGER

SECRETARY OF STATE
AT A RECEPTION HONORING

WILLIAM SIMON
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

JANUARY 6, 1977

Secretary Simon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure that the members of the State Department who are present at this occasion will be astonished to hear of the phenomenon of a Cabinet member who could be terrifying and difficult to work with. (Laughter)

I want you to know, first of all, why I appear, dressed as I do. There are two reasons. One, we wanted to show the Treasury crowd what class is really like. (Laughter) But the real reason is that as I tried to come in here, somebody wanted to collect $15. (Laughter) And when my Secret Service agents -- when I appealed to my Secret Service agents, I found out that they were working for Bill Simon. (Laughter) So I put on these clothes and went into the kitchen and came in with a tray. (Laughter)

As you all know, Bill and I have been close associates. It is true, as Gerry pointed out. he has sometimes raised good problems in diplomacy. It was eloquent enough when he called the Shah a nut. But his explanation raised even more problems. (Laughter) As I remember it, my distinguished colleague said he had been quoted out of context. Ever since then the Iranian ambassador has been trying to find out in what context it might be appropriate to call the Shah a nut. (Laughter)

I was very impressed by the profligacy with which Gerryy Parsky dispensed of jokes. You're looking at a man who has eleven farewell dinners yet to do, with overlapping membership. And I'm husbanding my remarks with the greatest care.

But I must say that when I heard that Bill Simon was being launched for President, it did something for me. (Laughter) Because you all know that one of the great statesmen of our era is Representative Bingham, who has sponsored a constitutional amendment to make the foreign born eligible for the Presidency. (Laughter) That amendment now has four signatures, so at this rate I think about the year 2000 I will be eligible. But maybe we can make Bavaria the fifty-first state of the Union (laughter) and make me native-born. But if I can't have it, I don't see why Bill should have it. (Laughter) And therefore, I thought it would ruin him with all his right-wing frineds here if I pointed out that contrary to what he's been whispering behind the pillars of the various clubs that he belongs to, he and I really have a great relationship.

-2-

foreign economic policy is going to be one of the chief elements of our foreign policy. And therefore, it probably has be be moved from the Treasury to the State Department. (Laughter) But until this natural evolution is accomplished, we diplomats have reluctantly to co-exist with the Treasury Department. And I have to tell you ladies and gentlemen that tremendous progress has been made in recent years. The reform of the whoe approach to the dialogue between North and South has been accomplished in the closest cooperation and friendship between State and Treasury -- Gerry Parsky excepted. (Laughter)

Of course, I'm a realist. It took me only two years to figure out that Bill Simon gave me all the theories while he monopolized all the practice. And he let me say anything I wanted as long as he didn't have to implement it. And on that basis we had a great relationship.

But I am honored to be able to be here. Bill is a great human being, a great Secretary of the Treasury, a great friend. He's had a little trouble with the Protocol Department at the Department of State. And that will teach him -- you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer. (Laughter) But the Lord taketh away and the Lord giveth (laughter) and it is my great honor to present to Bill (Mr. Simon: "Is it loaded?") a replica of the shotgun together with a gift certificate with which you can get the real one. (Laughter)

I would like to say once again what an honor it is for me to pay tribute to my good friend Bill Simon.

*****************

REMARKS OF SECRETARY KISSINGER
ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1977 AT
A DINNER FOR THE TRAVELING PRESS

SECRETARY KISSINGER: I first of all want to tell you that you are looking at a desperate man. I have to do eleven toasts to an overlapping audience over the next few weeks. My staff is suffering from transition fever, which came to expression yesterday when I had to give a toast at the French Embassy and I asked my associates to produce some quotes from the French that might be appropriate for that occasion. Somebody came up with the quote that said "Only silence is great. All the rest is weakness." Since you are such great authors you try to work that into a toast at the French Embassy or at any other Embassy for that matter.

We have invited here those of you who have been on most of the trips with me. We have shared many experiences. I must give some tips to your wives because as I understand it Vance isn't going to do much traveling so when your husbands are at a loss I would recommend you let them come into the kitchen, say something to them

2

off the record, which will immediately send them scurrying
out looking for somebody else to attribute that remark
to, and when they put their laundry or their suitcases
outside their door at 4:00 o'clock in the morning, just
pick them up quietly and gradually the fever will subside.

We didn't really know how to commemorate
this occasion. Because my successor isn't going to do
much traveling, we thought perhaps we could retire the
plane and have a wax museum out at Andrews in which
all of you are in your appropriate seats. We will have
O'Leary next to Marilyn and we will have a liar's poker
game going on and we will serve the wine produced by
the Air Force in its own vineyards at Andrews Air
Force Base to recall those occasions.

The trips which we have taken together were
a complicated experience. I believe that one of the
difficulties in contemporary analysis, either intelligence
analysis or journalistic analysis, is the conviction of
both the intelligence community and of the journalistic
community that the subjects that they deal with are
entirely rational and they, therefore, would assume
that there is a profound plan in their carefully thought-

3

out strategy behind every move that occurs. And, therefore, when I explained, as I have tried to repeatedly, that there were some differences between appearances and reality, they had a tendency to be treated with incredulity. But when we started on our first shuttle, I didn't know I was going on a shuttle. All I wanted to do on that occasion was to deliver, to obtain, a plan from the Israelis on a Sinai disengagement -- and that I was fairly sure I could get because they had already given me the outlines several weeks previously. I was then going to take that plan to Sadat, and I expected that it would be negotiated in detail in Geneva. And the next thing that happened was that Sadat said, "Why don't you finish it as long as you are out here"? And this is really how shuttle diplomacy was born.

The problem that we have had to deal with in my period in Washington, that I know my successors will have to deal with, has been how to adjust American foreign policy to a better relationship between capabilities and objectives; how to get a more permanent conception of the relationship between American values and American interests and to do this under conditions which really didn't fit any

4

of our traditional expectations. Neither the idealistic school nor the pragmatic school nor the international law school of American diplomacy really suited the conditions of a great power involvement in which we were strong but not predominant, and in which we had to establish priorities among objectives not all of which we could reach simultaneously and many of which we might not reach at all.

This had to be done in a period of rapidly declining executive authority and under conditions of occasionally dramatic disintegrations of local situations. We will have to leave it to historians to judge whether the method of diplomacy was suitable to the task and whether the task met the necessities of the moment.

I won't know whether this is the case until Murrey Marder writes another definitive analysis.

But I don't think that really is why we are here tonight. Those of us who were on the plane together shared a unique experience. It was my responsibility to try to achieve the objectives that we had set, whatever they might have been, usually to achieve some settlement. It was your responsibility to report it.

5

[y]

Obviously we were both using each other, but equally
obviously we were working together for a similar objective.

Tough, cynical, skeptical as you all are -- and
you will all be given tie clasps in the shape of piranha
fish at the end of the evening -- [laughter] -- I, never-
theless, detected here and there a commitment to the task
we had set ourselves, and indeed a faith in the task we
had set ourselves that, at least in the latter category
on one or two occasions, was stronger than my own.

On a number of occasions, especially during the
Syrian shuttle, I was convinced that it was going to fail --
genuinely convinced it was going to fail -- but my credi-
bility gap was very helpful. None of you believed it.
Some of you took me aside and spoke to me of the dire
consequences if I failed you, and therefore how could we
do anything except to proceed?

It is an experience which -- now that I am at
the end of my term and you won't have to put up with me
until 1981 -- it is an experience that I can tell you
has meant a great deal to me. Humanly and substantively
I think we have understood each other much better. I must
say, when I think back to some of the conferences on the

6

plane or on the ground, I cannot understand a story that I saw today that many of the newspapers are shifting their reporters around on the ground that they had become too friendly to the subjects that they were covering. But maybe there is something to it.

Nancy and I, for a long time, have been wanting to get all of you who shared so much with us together and to tell you that, whatever may occur in the natural adversary relationship between officials and the press, that we feel that we have shared an experience which has meant a lot to us. And we have all participated in an enterprise that we hope has made at least some difference. And all anybody who comes to Washington can really hope for himself is to have done something that has made somewhat of a difference.

Now I know that Dick has prepared an absolutely devastating comment, and he is getting extremely restless, so let me propose a toast to peace, which is an effort that we have all shared, an aspiration which we have all shared.

[Applause.]

MR. VALERIANI: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, Nancy, --

7

don't worry, Nancy, I am not going to start out by saying
"three seven's." Scott Sullivan wanted me to organize a
game, but the Commissioner, Calvin Johnston, vetoed it.

Friends, colleagues, Mr. Secretary, during your
tenure in office, you have always displayed a great deal
of style and a great deal of class, and you have put together
some remarkable assemblages in this building, and I think
I would not be contradicted tonight if I were to say that
this is perhaps the most remarkable group you have ever
assembled in this building. [Laughter.] But I compliment
you on that.

Now, I can't presume to speak for this remarkable
group of individuals -- perhaps "individualists" is a
better word -- and perhaps I won't speak for a group of
individuals -- but I would like to say thank you for inviting
us. And I guess I should say that we are grateful for your
words, because we learned this past week, on a new show,
on another network, that two weeks from now, it will probably
cost us $10,000 bucks a shot for the privilege of listening
to you speak, provided, of course, you don't become
President of CBS.

Now, as an employee of NBC, that is something

8

I am going to leave to the Kalbs and Don Hewitt to worry
about. But I do feel compelled, considering our associa-
tion, to draw your attention to the parallel between William

Paley and Mao Tse-tung, which is that, like Mao,
every time that Paley has anointed a successor, he has
gone on to destroy him.

Mr. Secretary, it is probably too early to become
nostalgic or sentimental, because we have a whole week of
Kissinger farewells to look forward to. But I would like
to say sincerely, perhaps this is an appropriate time
to acknowledge publicly and to maybe even pay tribute
publicly to the quality -- I am sincere now -- to the
quality of the people with whom you have surrounded
yourself, your aides, that are a group of talented, witty,
bright people that did so much to ease the hardship of
travel for us.

You shouldn't think that Larry Eagleburger
put me up to saying that. It was Winston Lord who did
it.

But this has been a remarkable period in
American diplomacy. You have accomplished peace between
Jerry O'Leary and Marilyn Berger. But apart from that,

9

it has been a remarkable period, and the relationship
that has developed between you and those of us who have
travelled with you has been complex, as you pointed out,
and rewarding, at least for us, and the events of the
past few years—the atmosphere, the times that we live
in, perhaps—have made that relationship more difficult
than it had to be. But I think that we have all survived
it with our integrity and our mutual respect intact.

On one of the shuttles you said that you knew
that all of us in the back of the plane were rooting for
you to succeed. And you were told then, perhaps too bluntly,
that as American citizens we may have been sitting in the
back of your plane rooting for you to succeed, but that
as professional journalists we didn't care whether you
succeeded or failed. And you said at that time that we
couldn't be that objective.

We always tried -- I think I can speak for all
of us -- we always tried to be that objective, and we
always tried to be fair. And I know that you didn't always
think that we succeeded in that goal, but I can assure you
that the intention was always there.

Since you have spoken first tonight, Mr. Secretary,

10

I am in the unfortunate position of not being able to
steal your lines. So, instead, I would like to steal a
line from Bernie Kalb.

Bernie Kalb said recently that he was all in
favor of women's lib, but he wondered why the hell did
it have to happen on his shift.

Again, I think I can speak for most of us, if
not all of us, when I say that I am glad, we are glad,
that you happened on our shift. And I will drink to
that.

[Toast]

[Applause.]

MR. KALB: I have been listening to this
massage for the last fifteen minutes or so, and I think it
is time to say a few things that may not be appropriate
tonight, but nevertheless should be said.

CBS, like any self-respecting organization,
leaks, and I have had access the last few days to the
secret conversations between Secretary Kissinger and
William Paley.

We have all been reading lately about what
has been described as Kissinger switching from the airplanes

11

to the air waves. Let me tell you the way the negotiations
have been conducted. This is all off-the-record, it cannot
be used.

Kissinger arrives at Black Rock to see Paley --
51st, 52nd, and 6th Avenue. He walks past miles of
Renoir's, Modigliani's, Van Gogh's, and so forth. He
finally arrives at Paley's desk. Most of us have a
plastic under the chair. Paley has a Jackson Pollack.
[Laughter.]

"Henry," he says, "What do you make at the
State Department?"

Kissinger says, "National security, I can't
reveal that."

Paley says, "Are you familiar with Barbara
Walters' salary? Five million spread over five years?"

Kissinger says, "You know, I am against the
step-by-step approach." [Laughter.] "I want a compre-
hensive settlement. Five million, one year."

They talked for a while in technical terms
and ultimately switched around in terms of substance.

Paley: "What do you see happening in the way
of news as we look ahead?"