{"conversationCode":"005-124","tapeNumber":5,"conversationNumber":124,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-005-124","startDateTime":"1971-06-18T00:46:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-06-18T00:48:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Jun-1971","startTime":"8:46 PM","endDate":"17-Jun-1971","endTime":"8:48 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On June 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 8:46 pm to 8:48 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-124 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. 5-124\n\nDate: June 17, 1971\nTime: 8:46 pm - 8:48 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nHenry A. Kissinger talked with the President.\n\n     Pentagon Papers\n          -Kissinger's conversation with Walt W. Rostow\n          -Lyndon B. Johnson's possible statement\n          -William J. Jordan\n          -Kissinger's conversations with Bryce N. Harlow and Charles W. Colson\n          -Possible Johnson public statement\n          -Effect\n          -White House Telephone staff discussion June 18, 1971","filename":["005-124.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:46:30","tapeEnd":"03:47:47","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"005-123","nextCode":"005-125","transcript":[{"start":2.33,"end":2.67,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":2.81,"end":4.17,"text":"Dr. Kissinger calling you, sir."},{"start":4.19,"end":5.23,"text":"There you are."},{"start":5.99,"end":6.19,"text":"Hello."},{"start":6.21,"end":6.79,"text":"Mr. President?"},{"start":6.81,"end":7.39,"text":"Yeah, hi."},{"start":7.77,"end":9.44,"text":"I've just reached Rostow."},{"start":9.76,"end":10.52,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":10.54,"end":13.94,"text":"And he's now willing to support his statement."},{"start":15.56,"end":15.66,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":15.69,"end":18.85,"text":"And we talked in general about what it might contain."},{"start":19.29,"end":20.25,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":20.27,"end":22.43,"text":"And he and Jordan are going to draft it tonight."},{"start":23.56,"end":23.88,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":23.9,"end":28.9,"text":"I have also talked to Harlow and... Colson, yeah."},{"start":28.92,"end":29.46,"text":"Colson."},{"start":30.22,"end":42.51,"text":"And I have my doubts about a presidential statement by chance because you might be better off fighting this one alone without having him as an ally."},{"start":43.39,"end":49.94,"text":"But what I thought, Mr. President, if you agree, is that we might talk it over at our staff meeting tomorrow."},{"start":50.18,"end":50.96,"text":"All right, fine."},{"start":50.98,"end":53.26,"text":"And then make a recommendation to you in the meantime."},{"start":53.28,"end":57.53,"text":"They are drafting the LBJ statement anyway, so nothing is being held up."},{"start":57.85,"end":58.49,"text":"All right, fine."},{"start":59.45,"end":62.15,"text":"Yeah, they can't reach him tonight, I understand, so that's fine."},{"start":62.29,"end":70.95,"text":"But they will have a draft statement for him in the morning, and we will then be able also to make a recommendation to you, and if you want it, they'll make it."},{"start":71.39,"end":72.09,"text":"All right, fine."},{"start":72.46,"end":72.88,"text":"That's fine."},{"start":72.92,"end":73.74,"text":"Let me know in the morning."},{"start":73.8,"end":75.58,"text":"Okay, Henry, thank you."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed strategies regarding the fallout of the Pentagon Papers, specifically focusing on the potential for a public statement from former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Kissinger confirmed that Walt W. Rostow and William J. Jordan were drafting a statement for Johnson, though he expressed reservations about Nixon aligning himself too closely with the former administration on this issue. They agreed to defer a final decision until the next day’s staff meeting, where they would review the draft and provide a formal recommendation to the President.","topics":["Pentagon Papers","Lyndon B. Johnson","Public relations","Walt W. Rostow","Henry Kissinger","White House strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T22:01:24.624Z"},"topicSlugs":["pentagon-papers","lyndon-b-johnson","public-relations","walt-w-rostow","henry-kissinger","white-house-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":78,"audioFiles":[{"file":"005-124.mp3","bytes":900830,"durationSec":77.56,"bitrate":92921,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:21.078Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/005-124.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-124","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/5/conversation-005-124","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}