Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 5 › Conversation 005-131

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Pentagon Papers and Vietnam War

Tuesday, June 22, 1971 · 10:31 PM–10:38 PM ET · White House Telephone · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation005-131 on Tape 5 (tape position 04:00:28–04:07:14)StartTuesday, June 22, 1971 at 10:31 PMEndTuesday, June 22, 1971 at 10:38 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 005-131 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 644218057 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed political strategies for managing the fallout from the Pentagon Papers leak and ongoing opposition to the Vietnam War. They analyzed the political vulnerabilities of Democratic figures like Ted Kennedy and agreed that the administration should adopt a combative public stance to discredit critics. Nixon suggested that Vice President Spiro Agnew deliver a forceful speech to rally support and coordinate this effort through Patrick Buchanan.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 10:31 pm to 10:38 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-131 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 5-131

Date: June 22, 1971
Time: 10:31 pm - 10:38 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Kissinger’s schedule
          -Preparation for forthcoming trip

     Vietnam War
          -President's possible conciliation
                -Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield
          -Pentagon Papers
          -Clark M. Clifford
          -McGovern-Hatfield Amendment
          -Opponents of President's foreign policy
          -Pentagon Papers
          -Administrations response
          -Effect on negotiations
          -Spiro T. Agnew's possible speech
          -Kissinger's possible conversation with Patrick J. Buchanan
          -Agnew's speech to Young Republicans
          -Opponent's of President's Vietnam policy
          -Pentagon Papers
                -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
                -John F. Kennedy
                -Lyndon B. Johnson
                      -Boston Globe
                      -Paul N. McCloskey, Jr.'s statement on the death of Ngo Dinh Diem
                            -Henry Cabot Lodge
          -Kissinger’s response
          -People’s Republic of China [PRC] initiative

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 59% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Mr. Kissinger, sir.
Are you all ready for your trip?
I'm getting ready.
I just got home.
I went to the office a little while ago.
I'm getting ready to go.
Well, I'll look in on you in the morning before I go away.
I won't be back until 10.30 this morning.
Well, I wouldn't be very conciliatory with Mansfield.
I'm not going to be a goddamn big conciliator.
You fool.
On this, I'm going to say it on my own.
You should know that...
I would say so.
Because what these people have done is unconscious.
One looked at the combination of Clifford...
Well, we played it the best way we could.
We had no choice.
I mean, we...
It doesn't tire us.
It's...
I'm beginning to wonder whether the basic strategy, at least from the way the foreign policy side looks to me, we had them on their knees last October.
And whatever it was that didn't get us all the votes was, I think it had more to do with the economy.
Oh, it did.
And then we let them off the hook.
Well, we'll have one.
We still have the big hole.
We'll have him on your knees again.
But we have to start hollering trees a little bit.
Yeah, I guess so.
Oh, I think so.
I think so.
When I say we, I really can't do it.
No, no, but Agnew could do it.
And some of our people could do it, and then they'd have to defend themselves.
I wonder if Agnew should say something about that.
I think it'd be a good occasion.
I think he should give a rip-snorter of a speech pointing out what happened this month.
Why don't you tell Buchanan what you think he ought to improve in respect to making a speech on Vietnam to the Republicans?
Just as good a place as any.
I think...
It doesn't make any difference.
I think... Just leave it out there.
I think that... Because they have a desire to lose.
They couldn't bear the thought that we bring this.
They're not so worried about our getting out.
They're worried about our getting out without Saigon going communist.
Yeah.
They're afraid.
They want us to get out and have a go at communism.
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
Mainly because they want us to go.
Because that means you had faith.
And they can say they would have done it faster.
Doing their best.
Well, except these papers are not helping us, Mr. Fitts.
I don't understand.
I don't know.
And in fact, our making such a tough fight helps us.
What?
Our public relations people don't like the fight we are making, but our making it makes it clear that we are not behind these revelations.
I mean, even Kennedy is getting cut now.
Yeah.
I mean, these were the great Kennedy people who did all of this.
I know.
in the chance administration, those were all Kennedy appointees.
Sure.
Yeah, as it goes along, they're going to get it pretty well smeared up in this.
Well, and it's coming out anyway, bit by bit, over our oppositions.
Yeah.
The Globe Papers, the Boston Globe Papers, now added to a static flap at Kennedy.
Yeah.
Flosky is now saying that last...
contributed to the assassination here on Kennedy's order.
McCloskey is?
Oh, yeah.
Well, that's nice.
So McCloskey is grieving with the one hand the Americans pretending to be his friend and the other they were killing him, which happens to be true.
Yeah.
Let him say it.
That's a good one to say.
And it's now coming out from the sort of, if we said it, they'd accuse us of smears.
But it's now coming out from the right people.
I'm trying to think of a way to keep the loose for a while.
And any event, one of those things, just a totally irresponsible thing.
Let me say, make your play.
It may still work.
Play it hard.
Yes, sir.
Now, what should we have and what should we have?
You know which we have, which we have, what we can say, what we can't say.
And then we've got another two months to play some Bruce Lee.
OK, Henry.
Bye.

Also recorded on June 22, 1971

  • 527-005 3:07 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 3:11 pm.
  • 527-008 3:11 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frank J. Shakespeare, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:11 pm and 3:41 pm.
  • 527-009 3:42 PM · 1 hr 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, Linwood Holton, Louie B. Nunn, Edwin L. Harper, Alexander P. Butterfield, Henry A. Kissinger, and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:42 pm to 5:06 pm.
  • 527-010 5:06 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:09 pm.
  • 527-012 5:09 PM · 1 hr 35 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:09 pm to 6:46 pm.
  • 527-017 6:46 PM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:46 pm and 10:43 pm.
  • 005-130 10:24 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 10:24 pm to 10:30 pm.
  • 005-171 10:30 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 10:30 pm to 10:31 pm.

All 17 conversations from June 22, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 005-131, June 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 644218057). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-131 (accessed November 2, 2026).