Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-140

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Henry Kissinger

Monday, May 10, 1971 · 7:08 PM–7:12 PM ET · White House Telephone

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation002-140 on Tape 2 (tape position 05:19:34–05:19:41)StartMonday, May 10, 1971 at 7:08 PMEndMonday, May 10, 1971 at 7:12 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-140 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon contacted the White House operator to initiate a telephone connection with National Security Advisor Henry A. Kissinger. This brief administrative interaction served as a logistical bridge to facilitate a high-level discussion on foreign policy matters. The exchange focused solely on the internal coordination required to reach the President's key diplomatic advisor.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 108.6 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 05:19:34 into the tape and ends around 05:19:41.

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

NARA Description

On May 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:08 pm and 7:12 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-140 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-140

Date: May 10, 1971
Time: Unknown between 7:08 pm and 7:12 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Call to Henry A. Kissinger

Also recorded on May 10, 1971

002-138 6:15 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:15 pm and 7:04 pm.
496-017 6:15 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:15 pm and 7:47 pm.
496-019 6:15 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 6:15 pm.
002-139 7:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 7:04 pm to 7:08 pm.
002-141 7:12 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:12 pm.
002-142 7:12 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:12 pm and 7:15 pm.
002-143 7:15 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone from 7:15 pm to 7:22 pm.
496-018 7:47 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:47 pm and 8:04 pm.

All 26 conversations from May 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-140, May 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-140 (accessed October 11, 2026).