News stories from Wednesday August 16, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon vetoed the appropriations bill for the departments of Labor and HEW, calling it reckless spending that would result in more taxes or inflation. Democrats in Congress added $1.8 billion to what the President originally requested. Senator Warren Magnuson called the veto "disgraceful". [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger arrived in Saigon, where palace adviser Nguyen Phu Doc met him at the airport. White House press secretary Ron Ziegler said that very few people know why Kissinger was sent to South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese negotiator left Paris, where he met with Kissinger two days ago, for Hanoi. He called his trip "routine". [CBS]
- Pierre Salinger is said to have delivered a message from George McGovern to the North Vietnamese negotiators in Paris, urging them to press ahead toward a settlement without regard to the U.S. presidential campaign. McGovern denied sending Salinger as his emissary, but Salinger, arriving in New York City from Paris, said that McGovern asked him to talk with North Vietnamese negotiators. Salinger stated that McGovern wants peace in Vietnam as soon as possible. McGovern later revised his statement, saying that he did not send Salinger, but when he found out that Salinger was going to Paris he sent a message of peace via Salinger. [CBS]
- Republican platform, rules and credentials committees met in Miami Beach. The only conflict is between conservatives and liberals over rules changes for the future. The successor to President Nixon as the Republican candidate in 1976 is also in question. A conservative plan for apportioning delegates to the 1976 convention was adopted. The plan enlarges or protects delegations from smaller states, and provides bonuses for states which vote Republican in the presidential election. The plan also helps Vice President Agnew's chances for the presidential nomination in 1976. A debate on the issue will be heard before the full convention. [CBS]
- Senator Jacob Javits called for platform planks on ending the Vietnam war, allowing busing, and legalizing marijuana. Rep. Paul McCloskey also voiced his dissent regarding the party platform. McCloskey wants to have the one delegate he won in the New Mexico primary place McCloskey's name in nomination. McCloskey could then air his grievances about the Vietnam war before the full convention. But the New Mexico delegation named a Nixon supporter to cast the McCloskey vote. Republican party chairman Robert Dole denied that the convention aims to stifle dissent. The rules committee passed a rule requiring that a majority of delegates in at least three states back any attempt to make a nomination from the floor. McCloskey will appeal that decision to the full credentials committee.
McCloskey's would-be delegate is college professor Thomas Mayer of Santa Fe. He says that the decision to reject McCloskey's request for his own delegate at the convention is unfair and they will follow every avenue of protest available to get onto the convention floor.
[CBS] - The National Women's Political Caucus urged Republicans to adopt a platform including legalized abortion, federal aid for day care centers and an end to economic discrimination against women.
Gerridee Wheeler is a pillar of her community. She has been a mental health volunteer for 12 years and is a member of the Republican national committee from North Dakota. Married to a lawyer, she is the mother of eight (three adopted) and a grandmother of one. A delegate to the national convention, Wheeler serves on the platform committee which the National Women's Political Caucus is lobbying for changes.
Caucus member Betsy Deardorff says that resistance comes from those with power who don't want to give it up, and some of those are women. Mrs. Wheeler got involved and hosted a meeting between the caucus and female Republican delegates. But delegate Anna Chennault said that women still have a long way to go, and delegate Patricia Lindh said she doesn't think that women will obtain many concessions at this convention.
[CBS] - Former President Lyndon Johnson endorsed the Democratic ticket, saying that he plans to vote for McGovern-Shriver despite holding differing opinions on many matters. [CBS]
- George McGovern's meeting with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has been postponed. McGovern visited an Illinois farm and stated that a farmer gets only 2¢ from a 30¢ box of Corn Flakes.
A McGovern statement which was reported in Time magazine is said to have angered Daley. But McGovern was well received at the Illinois State Fair, if not by Daley. The McGovern-Daley meeting is scheduled for next week.
[CBS] - Doctors at the University of Alabama in Birmingham operated on George Wallace to drain an abdominal abscess; Wallace's condition is reported as good. [CBS]
- Officers from the Moroccan air force attempted to assassinate King Hassan II, who was returning from a trip to France. Moroccan air force jets strafed the royal plane and later attacked an airport and the royal palace. The King was uninjured. [CBS]
- American jets destroyed a railroad bridge, and a power plant near Hanoi. An enemy MiG fighter was shot down. One U.S. jet and two helicopters were downed over the DMZ. [CBS]
- Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark testified about his visit to North Vietnam before a Senate committee. Clark showed fragments of anti-personnel bombs and denounced their use. Senator Hiram Fong asked if the POW's Clark interviewed are the same ones who have been paraded by the North Vietnamese many times; Clark replied that those POW's are good, strong Americans. He said that he hopes that the U.S. bombings of North Vietnamese dikes were not deliberate, but he believes that they have been. Senator Edward Kennedy hopes to get officials from the State and Defense Departments to answer Clark's charges. [CBS]
- The British dock strike has apparently come to an end. In London, longshoremen leader Jack Jones announced the agreement to go back to work. But rank and file members then physically attacked him, and union delegates who voted to end the strike were also abused. Additional confrontations may follow. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 964.25 (-5.72, -0.59%)
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 15, 1972 | 969.97 | 112.06 | 16.67 |
| August 14, 1972 | 973.51 | 112.55 | 18.87 |
| August 11, 1972 | 964.18 | 111.95 | 16.57 |
| August 10, 1972 | 952.89 | 111.05 | 15.26 |
| August 9, 1972 | 951.16 | 110.86 | 15.73 |
| August 8, 1972 | 952.44 | 110.69 | 14.55 |
| August 7, 1972 | 953.12 | 110.61 | 13.22 |
| August 4, 1972 | 951.76 | 110.43 | 15.70 |
| August 3, 1972 | 947.70 | 110.14 | 19.97 |
| August 2, 1972 | 941.15 | 109.29 | 17.92 |