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Conversation 003-071

TapeTape 3StartWednesday, May 19, 1971 at 7:44 PMEndWednesday, May 19, 1971 at 7:44 PMTape start time01:31:07Tape end time01:34:53ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operator;  Kissinger, Henry A.Recording deviceWhite House Telephone
AudioNARA Description

On May 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at 7:44 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-071 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 003-071

Date: May 19, 1971
Time: 7:44 pm

Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President.

     Call from Henry A. Kissinger

The President talked with Kissinger between 7:44 pm and 7:47 pm.; background noise appears in
the original recording.

     Mathias resolution
         -Vote
                -John Sherman Cooper
                      -Phone call
                -Effect
                      -Peter H. Dominick's amendment
                      -Troop level

     William P. Rogers
          -Kissinger's call
                -U. Alexis Johnson
          -International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium [INTELSAT] ceremony

     Mathias resolution
         -Elliot L. Richardson's call to Kissinger
         -Clark MacGregor
         -Rogers’ response
         -Effect

     Rogers
         -Tenure in office
         -Perspective on Nixon administration foreign policy

     Mathias Resolution

            -Vote
            -Mathias
                 -Talk with Kissinger
            -Vote
                 -Administration campaign
                      -President's meeting with Congressional leaders
                            -Robert P. Griffin
                      -Position of former Presidents
                 -Cooper
                      -Forthcoming call from President
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Hello?
Yes?
Hello, did you call?
Um, Dr. Kissinger asked for you.
All right, fine.
Do you want to talk with him?
Yeah.
All right.
There you go.
Mr. President?
Yeah?
Uh, you know about the Messiah's post?
No.
73 to 24 in our favor.
My God.
Cooper's with, and that's, they all went with him.
So that phone call did pay off.
Right.
I think I should call him.
That would be nice.
23 to 24.
Well, good God.
23 to 24.
Now that finishes it, doesn't it?
Oh, yeah.
Dominic withdrew his amendment.
Yeah.
And now they only got crackless.
You know, 20,000 people who say let's withdraw 20,000, but we can handle that easily.
Right.
That's great news.
Great news.
Yeah.
I've also talked to Rogers, and I think that's all fine now.
You do, huh?
Did you tell him that we went, we're going with him, and tell us that?
Well, that's what I made the excuse for calling him.
Yeah.
And I said, I just want you to know, Bill, this is something that wasn't common effort, and there won't be a word in which anyone except the president will get personal credit.
And why doesn't Alex come to the big briefing as well?
Right, right.
The whole presidency.
Right.
Good.
And he's delighted.
Good, good.
And I think we've come out of this.
Elliot Richardson called again and he said, I just hope you know that this is tremendous.
I talked to Clark McGregor and he...
He's now beginning to realize what it is.
This is tremendous.
And I think...
It has turned into a good week.
Bill seemed to be in a relatively good mood, huh?
Oh, yeah.
Well, he's got to relax.
What the hell?
He's now at a time, Henry, when we're going to be winning a few.
He ought to stick around.
It's going to be the administration.
Who the hell wants to be Secretary of State in a losing administration?
That's right.
And who's going to say, well, because I wasn't consulted, I'm going to get out?
The only time you get out when you're not consulted is when you lose.
Five years from now, the only thing people will remember is that he was Secretary of State and what may have turned into one of the most successful foreign policy administrations.
Yeah, and we can handle that.
Yeah, right.
History books will remember who that was.
Right, right.
Yeah, we can put that also.
Oh, we will.
So good about Matthias.
The son of a bitch deserved it.
24.
You know, it's amazing to me that our votes are so big.
We're beating these guys four or five to one.
Well, yeah, legislative leaders meeting was a disaster.
I mean, I
You heard him whining and remember Griffin and all the rest saying, I'm sorry to tell you somebody's going to vote for something.
I said, nope, we ain't going to do it.
If you had shown any uncertainty, Mr. President, that's exactly what would have happened.
But because you didn't stand, what the hell were they going to do?
Go against three presidents?
Now, do you know that Cooper did vote for us?
Oh, yeah.
That's when they turned.
Good.
I'll call it.
Fine.
Good job.
Great.
Right.
Thank you.
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