News stories from Friday August 20, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A U.S. Army commander said that Lt. William Calley's life sentence is too harsh. General Albert Connor approved the guilty verdict but revised the sentence 20-year confinement. The trial record now goes to the court of military review in Washington, DC, as Calley continues under house arrest at Fort Benning, Georgia.
President Nixon declined comment on the reduction of Calley's sentence; Calley's lawyer hopes that his client will be freed by the appeal process.
[CBS] - General Duong Van Minh withdrew from the South Vietnamese presidential race, leaving President Nguyen Van Thieu unopposed; Minh charged that the race is rigged. The South Vietnamese Supreme Court has postponed its final decision on allowing Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky to run until tomorrow; pressure from U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker may cause Thieu to influence the Supreme Court to allow Ky's candidacy. U.S. State Department officials are disappointed that Bunker was unable to persuade Minh to remain as a candidate; following Minh's withdrawal, Bunker informed President Thieu of the possibility of a 10% reduction in American economic aid, but officials believe that the U.S. can realistically do little to influence Thieu.
Vice President Ky participated in a funeral procession for the veteran who burned himself in protest of President Thieu's maneuvering to keep Ky off the ballot.
[CBS] - The Cost of Living Council asked the Justice Department to take necessary steps to force Texas Governor Preston Smith to comply with the wage freeze, and the Nixon administration warned that contracts will be withheld from firms failing to comply with the freeze. Former President Johnson's economic aide Charles Schultz called for a 90-day freeze on rhetoric; Schultz's proposal was endorsed by Senator Mike Mansfield.
Ralph Nader claims that General Motors had advance warning of the freeze.
[CBS] - The cost of living was up 0.2% for July. [CBS]
- The administration denied that President Nixon's speech in support of Catholic parochial schools was just rhetoric. Catholic education sources charge that administration action has been slow on specific proposals, and they don't think that the steps being taken are adequate to save parochial schools in view of the Supreme Court's decision against public aid to parochial schools. [CBS]
- Rep. Morris Udall said that the $250 million Postal Service bond issue should be postponed and that an investigation should be made into the choice of President Nixon's old law firm to handle the first issue. [CBS]
- The U.S. Parole Board turned down the parole request of former Teamsters union president James Hoffa. [CBS]
- North and South Korea representatives got together for talks; the meeting could lead to talks on reuniting the two countries. [CBS]
- Leaders from Libya, Egypt and Syria signed a pact creating the Federation of Arab Republics. [CBS]
- Right-wing army officers declared Col. Hugo Banzer the new president of Bolivia; leftist President Juan Torres vowed to put down the revolt. [CBS]
- Britain's Prince Charles received his wings from the RAF. [CBS]
- Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium was damaged by fire. [CBS]
- There is speculation that Treasury Secretary John Connally may replace Vice President Spiro Agnew as President Nixon's 1972 running mate. Connally has been a good salesman for the administration's new economic policy. Connally says that he has no ambition to be Vice President and is not trying to create publicity through his actions as Treasury Secretary. [CBS]
- A Swiss couple asked their waiter in a Hong Kong restaurant to give their pet poodle something to eat; the waiter returned with a cooked poodle garnished with pepper sauce and bamboo shoots. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 880.91 (+0.14, +0.02%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| August 19, 1971 | 880.77 | 98.16 | 14.19 |
| August 18, 1971 | 886.17 | 98.60 | 20.68 |
| August 17, 1971 | 899.90 | 99.99 | 26.79 |
| August 16, 1971 | 888.95 | 98.76 | 31.72 |
| August 13, 1971 | 856.02 | 95.69 | 9.96 |
| August 12, 1971 | 859.01 | 96.00 | 15.91 |
| August 11, 1971 | 846.38 | 94.66 | 11.37 |
| August 10, 1971 | 839.59 | 93.54 | 9.46 |
| August 9, 1971 | 842.65 | 93.53 | 8.11 |
| August 6, 1971 | 850.61 | 94.25 | 9.49 |