News stories from Saturday May 15, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Today in Key Biscayne, Florida, President Nixon spoke against Senator Mansfield's amendment to reduce U.S. troop strength in Europe by 50%. The President said that the amendment is a mistake of historic proportions; former President Johnson and others backed Nixon's statement.
Former Undersecretary of State George Ball said that it's cheaper to maintain troops in Europe than in the United States. Averell Harriman stated that we should reduce European troop strength only through negotiations with Russia; he called Mansfield's amendment "untimely".
[CBS] - People demonstrated in support of President Sadat after a coup plot was thwarted in Egypt. The plot was due to politicians' lack of confidence in Sadat.
Former Israel intelligence chief Chaim Herzog said that if Sadat remains in power, chances are good for negotiations.
[CBS] - U.S. B-52's bombed enemy supply lines in Laos and Cambodia. [CBS]
- The American Baptist Convention called for the withdrawal of all U.S. personnel from Indochina. [CBS]
- Postage rates increase at midnight tonight. [CBS]
- Republican Senator Lowell Weicker sated that he opposes the administration's proposal to guarantee the $250,000 loan to Lockheed Aircraft. [CBS]
- Vice President Agnew said that Senator William Fulbright "lies in his teeth" by accusing Agnew of questioning the patriotism of antiwar congressmen. [CBS]
- Today is Armed Forces Day; antiwar protesters rallied outside of Fort Dix, New Jersey. [CBS]
- Today is the 167th anniversary of the start of Lewis and Clark's expedition; a ceremony was held in St. Louis. [CBS]
- Interior Secretary Rogers Morton reassured the oil industry that it is ultimately more important than ecology. [CBS]