Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-052

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Mansfield Amendment

Friday, May 14, 1971 · 1:45 PM–1:48 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation003-052 on Tape 3 (tape position 00:59:49–01:03:03)StartFriday, May 14, 1971 at 1:45 PMEndFriday, May 14, 1971 at 1:48 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-052 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers discuss the administration's strategy for countering the Mansfield Amendment ahead of an upcoming Senate vote. Rogers advises the President to avoid personal attacks on Senator Mike Mansfield, noting that Dean Acheson’s disparaging public comments about the Senator have generated sympathy for him among other lawmakers. Rogers also provides an update on his recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding war powers and foreign policy, emphasizing the ongoing legislative tension over the Senate's role in executive decision-making.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Hello?
Yeah.
Mr. President?
Yeah.
Can you talk to Secretary Rogers?
Yeah.
Fine.
Hello.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
Hi.
Hi.
Are you going to leave this afternoon?
Yeah, as a matter of fact, I just hear the helicopter now.
I'm just going to go out and see.
It's a pretty nice day to be leaving Washington, isn't it?
Isn't it nice?
Just going down for Saturday and Sunday.
Good.
I was just going to make this suggestion.
I just came back from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
I've been testifying on public television.
I don't know if it's going to come out, but we had a lot of wrangles.
But the one thing I did want to suggest, and I think you might pass the word around, I think we've got to be careful on how we handle Mike Mansfield because there's beginning to be some sympathy developing for him.
I was questioned in public about Dean Acheson's comment that it was asinine.
And I could sense that even some of the ones who were with us were offended by that.
I disassociated myself from it.
But I think we've got to be careful.
Dean is such a crotchety old fellow.
He's a sharp tongue.
And Mike Mansfield is such a nice fellow.
Everybody's popular.
He's popular.
That's right.
So I think we've got to be sure that we don't sound as if we're attacking him personally.
Yeah, I get your point.
And if you could just tell your... Oh, yeah, sure, sure, sure.
Well, we always try to treat him nice.
Dennis is...
Well, we're really just talking about votes now.
That's all that matters.
All that matters.
I had a long talk with Stennis last night.
He called me at home, and I think we're making some progress.
We just don't get people sympathizing with me.
Yeah, yeah.
When is the vote?
Wednesday.
Definite Wednesday.
So I think we're... And I'm going to meet with quite a few senators this afternoon.
Boy, that's like having a boxing match going up there.
Must be just unbelievable.
Yeah, from every angle.
Case and all those people.
Everybody's got their own pet projects.
What kind of things did you go into?
I went up to talk about war powers.
Oh, the war powers thing, yeah.
And I had a long, prepared statement.
But then we talked about everything.
Thank God they talked about the Mansfield thing, and all talks, and Vietnam, and Laos, and over Cambodia.
Oh, God.
You know, it's an obsession with them.
Well, it's sort of an obsession because they feel they should be consulted.
Is that it?
Running it?
Yeah, they really think they should be running it.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not sure, but...
It's always been the case.
The Senate has always had that feeling.
It was true in the Civil War and World War I, World War II, you know.
It's one of those things.
It just won't work.
That's the problem.
It just won't work.
That's right.
All right, have a good time.
Well, anyway, we'll try to see that...
I don't think...
I don't think anybody is taking him on at Mansfield, but I think the Atchison segment would have him.
I got the point.
Yeah, there was criticism of having, you know, that old gang down there, the old Cold Warriors, and attacking poor Mike, who's such a gentleman.
Why the hell did you do that?
And that sort of thing.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Thanks, Mr. Benson.

NARA Description

On May 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 1:45 pm to 1:48 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-052 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 003-052

Date: May 14, 1971
Time: 1:45 pm - 1:48 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See Conversation No. 499-024A]

     President's schedule
          -Departure
          -Length of stay

     Mansfield Amendment
         -Rogers’ testimony in Senate Foreign Relations Committee
               -Coverage
         -Administration handling
               -Dean G. Acheson's comment
                    -Rogers’ response
                    -Acheson
                          -Compared with Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
         -John C. Stennis
         -Upcoming vote
         -Stennis
               -Talk with Rogers
         -Upcoming vote
               -Rogers’ meeting with senators

     Rogers’ testimony

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

            -Clifford P. Case
            -Mideast, War Powers Act, Mansfield Amendment, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
            [SALT], Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
                  -Senators position on Senate role
                        -Civil War, World War I, World War II

     President's schedule

     Mansfield Amendment
         -Administration handling
               -Acheson's statements
               -President's May 13, 1971 meeting
                     -Attendees

Also recorded on May 14, 1971

  • 499-017 11:50 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:50 am.
  • 499-018 11:50 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Max M. Fisher, Paul W. McCracken, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:50 am to 12:03 pm.
  • 499-019 12:03 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:05 pm.
  • 499-020 12:05 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald H. Rumsfeld met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:05 pm to 12:06 pm.
  • 499-021 12:42 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, M. Jean Robb, Jon M. Huntsman, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:44 pm.
  • 499-022 12:44 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Landrum Bolling, D. Elton Trueblood, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 12:53 pm.
  • 499-023 12:53 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 499-024 12:56 PM · 1 hr 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Edward W. Brooke, Manolo Sanchez, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 2:00 pm.

All 26 conversations from May 14, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-052, May 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/003-052 (accessed September 28, 2026).