{"conversationCode":"003-075","tapeNumber":3,"conversationNumber":75,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-003-075","startDateTime":"1971-05-19T23:55:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-05-19T23:56:00.000Z","startDate":"19-May-1971","startTime":"7:55 PM","endDate":"19-May-1971","endTime":"7:56 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On May 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:55 pm to 7:56 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-075 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 003-075\n\nDate: May 19, 1971\nTime: 7:55 pm - 7:56 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Henry A. Kissinger; background noise can be heard in the original\nrecording.\n\n     President's schedule\n          -A cocktail party, May 20, 1971\n                 -Gerard C. Smith and Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] delegation\n                 -William P. Rogers\n                 -Melvin R. Laird\n\n     Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]\n\n     President's schedule\n          -A cocktail party\n                 -Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] delegates and wives\n                 -Invitations\n                       -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n                       -Rogers\n                       -Laird\n                       -Adm. Thomas H. Moorer\n                 -Location\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542","filename":["003-075.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:37:41","tapeEnd":"01:39:05","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"003-074","nextCode":"003-076","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":9.78,"text":"Henry, I think you should go forward and invite Jerry Smith and the other members of the delegation to a cocktail at 6 o'clock tomorrow night."},{"start":9.8,"end":10.4,"text":"Okay."},{"start":10.42,"end":15.89,"text":"And, well, of course, I'll have Rogers and Laird there, too."},{"start":16.09,"end":17.73,"text":"Can you tell me if it's a good idea?"},{"start":17.75,"end":20.81,"text":"Well, I frankly... No, this is a private thing."},{"start":20.83,"end":27.98,"text":"No, but the only thing that worries me, Mr. President, is, and I'll tell you frankly what my concern is, these guys..."},{"start":28.45,"end":33.89,"text":"we've been sitting on them up to now and holding them on a very close range."},{"start":34.57,"end":43.64,"text":"Now suddenly the floodgates are open, and I'm afraid they're going to think they have license to run wild in the negotiations."},{"start":43.66,"end":46.2,"text":"But is it purely social and it's nothing?"},{"start":46.22,"end":47.23,"text":"No, no, it's purely social."},{"start":47.24,"end":56.73,"text":"We'll just have a drink and thank them all and their wives, invite their wives to, you know, just stand around and thank them all before they go back to Vienna for these very important negotiations."},{"start":57.32,"end":57.98,"text":"Okay."},{"start":58,"end":59.32,"text":"That's what I mean, on that basis."},{"start":59.7,"end":61.47,"text":"I think that's a good thing."},{"start":62.15,"end":69.92,"text":"And call Haldeman, have him ask Bill if he could come, and naturally Laird and Moore should come, too."},{"start":70,"end":71.82,"text":"We'll get those invitations."},{"start":71.84,"end":73.88,"text":"Where is it, in your office or in your residence?"},{"start":73.9,"end":75.08,"text":"Oh, we'll have it at the residence."},{"start":75.1,"end":78.28,"text":"We'll have it at the state dining room."},{"start":78.31,"end":79.35,"text":"Right."},{"start":79.37,"end":80.43,"text":"We'll get it done immediately."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon directed Henry Kissinger to organize an informal cocktail reception for Gerard C. Smith and the SALT delegation before their return to Vienna for further negotiations. While Kissinger initially expressed concern that the event might signal a loosening of oversight on the negotiators, Nixon clarified that the gathering was strictly social in nature. The President finalized plans to host the event in the State Dining Room, including the invitation of William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, and Admiral Thomas H. Moorer.","topics":["SALT","Strategic Arms Limitation Talks","Diplomacy","Gerard C. Smith","White House social events"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T21:27:27.694Z"},"topicSlugs":["salt","strategic-arms-limitation-talks","diplomacy","gerard-c-smith","white-house-social-events"],"audioDurationSec":82,"audioFiles":[{"file":"003-075.mp3","bytes":1430396,"durationSec":82.06,"bitrate":139453,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:20.570Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:33.600Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/003-075.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-075","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/3/conversation-003-075","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}