Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 1 › Conversation 001-079

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on South Vietnam and Soviet-American relations

Tuesday, April 13, 1971 · 7:46 PM–7:52 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation001-079 on Tape 1 (tape position 02:35:00–02:40:08)StartTuesday, April 13, 1971 at 7:46 PMEndTuesday, April 13, 1971 at 7:52 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 001-079 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss ongoing South Vietnamese military operations and recent diplomatic back-channel communications with Soviet officials regarding Berlin and potential summit prospects. Kissinger reports on his briefing of Senator Mike Mansfield concerning the President's upcoming announcement regarding China policy. The pair finalize plans for Clark MacGregor to notify key congressional leaders, including Gerald Ford, Carl Albert, and George Aiken, about the impending policy shift.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello?
Dr. Kissinger calling you, Mr. President.
Yeah.
The President.
Hello.
Mr. President.
Yeah, Henry.
I just wanted to mention a number of relatively minor things to you.
Yeah.
One is that the South Vietnamese are launching another one of these raid-type operations tonight.
Good.
This time, it's a more sizable one.
There's a big sweep inside South Vietnam.
Good.
And then they're going to land some battalions in Base Area 611.
Mm-hmm.
And
And I think it's very useful to tie down the North Vietnamese.
Good.
Is it well-programmed and well-supported and well-planned?
Programmed and well-supported, Mr. President.
And I've called Moro to say that we don't want any significant American losses in helicopters.
Right, right.
Uh, secondly, I talked today to, uh, this fellow, Voronzo, from the Soviet embassy.
Right.
Uh, the reason was that there's a meeting between Russia and Abrasimov.
Yes.
On Berlin, and I just wanted to make sure that they didn't blow, that they understood which way the channels were going.
Yes.
And...
He understood that.
Oh yeah, he understood it, and he said that Dobrynin was coming back Sunday with new instructions.
and that we should take the freshman's speech very seriously, and he was slaughtering all over me.
Good.
And we'll see Sunday what he saw, don't you?
And then I did something which was a little unorthodox.
I told him that the green had given me his phone number in Moscow.
So he called me up an hour, and I'd lost it, so he called me an hour later and said it might be a nice thing if I called Dobrynin and congratulated him on his Central Committee membership.
Good, good.
So I, in fact, I did it.
And Dobrynin said, uh, uh, we'll have something on that exchange of letters when I come back.
He said that?
Yeah.
He didn't say what it was.
Yeah.
And he also said he was coming with no instructions.
But not indicating anything on the summit wing.
on an open telephone.
Oh, it's open telephone, okay.
Yeah, we don't have the secure dial.
We have the hotline, but I didn't want to use that.
Right.
This was a commercial phone.
Good.
And...
But he probably... How'd he sound?
Oh, he sounded...
They're doing...
They're going to do something, Mr. Fletcher.
And then finally, one other thing.
I called Mike Mansfield on the other day.
Just a second.
Hold it.
Just a second.
Glenn, I called Mike Mansfield.
and told him that you had asked me to tell him about what you are announcing tomorrow in strictest confidence.
Right.
And I thought that he would appreciate it.
He was beside himself, very statesmanlike.
Was he?
The president has his warm support and congratulations.
And he said now he sees what you were talking about when you were hinting at China policy.
Mm-hmm.
Of course, he raised again his going there.
Oh, yeah, we have it in mind.
And I thought, Mr. President, that tomorrow morning, if you agree, that perhaps McGregor might call Ford and Albert.
That gives McGregor a little status and gives him something dovish to do.
Yeah.
And let State notify the Foreign Relations Committee.
Well, let McGregor also call Mahon.
Mahon is a good man.
That's a good thing.
And, uh, let him hit, because he's the best man on that side.
Right.
And, uh, let's see, on our side, Scott.
Scott he should call.
Yeah, he might as well.
Maybe Griffin.
Yeah, Scott and Griffin, yeah.
And let's see, anybody else that, uh,
I think that's enough.
Let State inform the others.
Well, McGregor might call Aiken.
He's on the Foreign Relations Committee.
That's all right.
We'll probably take him.
That's right.
Let him call Aiken and let State handle the others.
Okay.
See?
Give Aiken a little brush.
That's a good idea.
Good, Mr. President.
I'll get that done.
Fine.
Okay, Henry.
Thank you.
All right.

NARA Description

On April 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:46 pm to 7:52 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 001-079 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 1-79

Date: April 13, 1971
Time: 7:46 pm - 7:52 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Henry A. Kissinger talked with the President.

     South Vietnamese military operations
          -Kissinger's call to Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
               -American casualties

     Henry A. Kissinger's meeting with Yuli M. Vorontsov
          -Berlin
                -[David] Kenneth Rush's meeting with Abrasimov
          -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
          -Leonid I. Brezhnev
          -Kissinger's conversation with Brezhnev

     Kissinger's conversation with Dobrynin
          -Dobrynin's instructions

     Kissinger's conversation with Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield

     [Pause]
           -President's forthcoming announcement, April 14, 1971
                 -People’s Republic of China [PRC]

     Instructions for Clark MacGregor
           -MacGregor's possible conversation
                -Gerald R. Ford and Carl B. Albert
                -George H. Mahon
                -Hugh Scott
                -Robert P. Griffin
                -George D. Aiken

Also recorded on April 14, 1971

  • 479-001 9:10 AM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:10 am to 9:45 am.
  • 479-002 9:50 AM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John C. Stennis, Margaret Chase Smith, David Packard, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, and Peter M. Flanigan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:50 am to 10:30 am.
  • 479-003 10:30 AM · 1 hr 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, William J. Casey, Sophia (Kurz) Casey, Bernadette Casey, Gustav Coffinas, Mrs. Thomas Langan, Mary Blen, Lillian Kurz, John M. Shaheen, Leonard W. Hall, Constance Kirk, Joseph Virdone, Raymond R. Dickey, John A. Wells, Ben Frank, Hugh F. Owens, Richard B. Smith, James J. Needham, Dolores A. (Habick) Needham, A[lbert] Sydney Herlong, Jr., Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker, Donald T. Regan, Charles F. Morin, Glenn E. Anderson, Albert H. Gordon, Gordon L. Calvert, Felix Rohatyn, Andrew J. Melton, Jr., Maurice H. Stans, Arthur F. Burns, John B. Connally, William L. Springer, Robert Carter, John C. Folger, John J. Sirica, Michale B. Ryan, Manolo Sanchez, and Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:30 am to 12:20 pm.
  • 479-004 12:21 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Arthur F. Burns, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:21 pm to 12:40 pm.
  • 479-005 12:40 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:05 pm.
  • 479-006 12:40 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:05 pm.
  • 479-007 12:40 PM · 1 hr 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 2:11 pm.
  • 042-036 2:13 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:13 pm and 3:05 pm.

All 34 conversations from April 14, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 001-079, April 14, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/001-079 (accessed October 12, 2026).