Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-036

Nixon phone call with Rogers on East Pakistan and India

Tuesday, December 7, 1971 · 6:51 PM–6:55 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation016-036 on Tape 16 (tape position 01:06:51–01:11:28)StartTuesday, December 7, 1971 at 6:51 PMEndTuesday, December 7, 1971 at 6:55 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 016-036 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191321 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers coordinate their upcoming schedules and discuss the positive reception Rogers received from Senate leadership regarding U.S. policy in East Pakistan. Rogers reports that lawmakers, including Mike Mansfield and J. William Fulbright, supported the administration's firm stance toward India. The two also touch upon diplomatic relations in South America, strategies for NATO burden sharing, and preparations for an upcoming meeting with foreign ministers.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 6:51 pm to 6:55 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-036 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 16-36

Date: December 7, 1971
Time: 6:51 pm - 6:55 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See Conversation No. 631-11C]

     State dinner
           -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
           -Rogers’ schedule
                -Trip
           -Entertainment
                -Violinist [Itzhak Perlman]
                -Pianist [Rita Reichman]
           Rogers’ schedule

     Rogers’ meeting with Senators, December 6, 1971
         -Edward M. Kennedy
         -Edmund S. Muskie
         -East Pakistan

              -US policy
              -Kennedy
                   -Conversation with Rogers
        -Michael J. Mansfield
        -J. William Fulbright
        -Margaret Chase Smith
        -George D. Aiken
        -Norris Cotton
        -Robert P. Griffin
        -India
              -US policy
                   -Withdrawal
                   -Economic assistance
        -Kennedy
        -Frank Church
        -Haldeman

Emilio G. Medici
     -Lunch with Rogers
     -Bolivia
     -Uruguay
     -Argentina
          -Politics
          -US Ambassador

North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
     -Rogers’ forthcoming meeting
          -President’s regards to foreign ministers
          -President’s instructions
     -Burden sharing
          -John B. Connally
          -Concessions
                -West Germany
     -Rogers’ schedule

President’s schedule
      -Azores

Press
        -Mary McGrory column
             -Democrats

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Hello, Mr. President.
Bob tells me you moved your trip up so you could avoid the dinner tonight.
No, I'm coming to the dinner, but I'm just going to... You're going to come to the dinner?
Yeah, I miss the entertainment.
Oh, you're a lucky fellow.
I mean, we've got a violinist and a pianist both.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, I didn't know you were coming.
Oh, then I'll see you then.
Well, everything is all set.
You're leaving at 11 o'clock, Bob.
Yes.
I hope he didn't change my seating.
Oh, hell no.
No, I just didn't know.
When he told me, I haven't even looked at the list.
Well, I'm glad you called.
I just wanted to say quickly that the meeting with the senators yesterday was a great success.
I was glad that you made that suggestion.
I think it's particularly good in view of the fact that Teddy is, predictably, and Muskie has sort of taken off at the thing.
I guess Teddy more so.
You know, how the hell do they get away with this thing that we don't have any sympathy for
directive for for east pakistan bill how the christ can they say no you talked to teddy didn't you when he came back oh sure did you tell him that oh he knows that he knows that you told him what we were doing he was down i know that everybody told him we were working on it in fact i asked him if he had any suggestions that was right that's right i remember and he said no
Matter of fact, yesterday, the whole leadership was there.
They thought we were doing the right thing.
Well, they spoke up.
I was there about an hour, and I gave them the whole story.
Mike Mansfield said, I think you're doing just the right thing.
Bill Fulbright said, I agree with everything you're doing and have done, and I agree with your plans.
Margaret Chase Smith was there, Aiken, Norris Cotton.
Bob Griffin.
None of them raised any question about the fact that we were ending up, in effect, asking India to withdraw, because, you know, that's the key point.
Not at all.
We all thought we should.
And also stopping the economic assistance unless and until they did.
Absolutely.
Agreed with all that.
Everybody.
And as I say, I never saw a more enthusiastic reaction to something.
I thought you should know it, because they're going to have trouble if Teddy and Frank Church try to start trouble.
They're going to have
They wouldn't get much support.
Well, that's what Bob thought.
That was his reaction.
I haven't had a chance to talk to him.
I've been busy with these.
Yeah.
I think this metaseed thing is a good idea.
I had a very good time with him at lunch.
He's quite a fellow, isn't he?
He is.
God, I'm glad he's on our side.
Strong and, you know, I wish he were running the whole continent.
I do, too.
We've got to help Bolivia.
He's concerned about that, and we've got to be sure to keep him.
The Uruguayan thing, apparently he helped a bit there.
And another thing he did express concern about, which I think we've got to look into when you get back, is
He says Argentina's in a hell of a mess.
They are.
And we need to, of course, we need an ambassador there.
For one thing, I don't know whether that'll help too much, but second, they need a new president, apparently.
Yeah.
We ought to think about a new ambassador there.
I know.
Well, I'm going to convey our best regards to all the NATO foreign ministers.
By all means.
And also the idea that you can tell them that I've asked you, if you would,
if you might get them all aside for a private meeting, if you can, and say that, particularly in smaller countries, that I would have liked to have met with every leader before we left, but we couldn't, but that you have asked you to do it, and we want to have, you know, could you give them a little of that?
I'll show you that.
And if you want to give them a total, you know, just give them the...
all the stuff that we have, you know, and we're not making any conditions, and we aren't going to sell them down the river, and we're talking to our friends and, you know, all that sort of thing.
I had a good talk with John Connolly about burden sharing, and I think we're in complete agreement on it.
And I'm not going to press too hard, but we can get some concessions this time.
We certainly can.
How long will you be there?
Just a couple of days.
I'll be back.
I'll come back for
Friday night, and then we go to the Azores.
It's going to be a very interesting Christmas season.
I hope you had a chance to look at that Mary McGurry column.
Oh, yes, you told me to.
I'll read it probably one day.
Well, I tell you, it's the funniest damn thing I ever saw, because, you know, when she says things about you tonight, and she was...
She couldn't have, but she was totally complimentary.
She said that she thought the Democrats were practicing how to hang themselves.
Is that right?
Isn't that something?
Well, see you at the dinner.
They have numbers, that's about all.
Okay.

Also recorded on December 7, 1971

  • 631-005 4:29 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Harold H. Saunders met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 4:33 pm.
  • 631-006 4:29 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 4:33 pm.
  • 631-007 4:33 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:33 pm to 5:05 pm.
  • 631-008 5:05 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Daniel P. Moynihan, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:05 pm to 6:16 pm.
  • 631-009 6:10 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 6:28 pm.
  • 631-010 6:10 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 6:28 pm.
  • 631-011 6:28 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), White House operator, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:28 pm to 7:04 pm.
  • 631-012 7:04 PM · 19 sec — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:04 pm and 7:07 pm.

All 18 conversations from December 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 016-036, December 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191321). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-036 (accessed November 12, 2026).