Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-017

Nixon phone call with Oäó»Kinski on Vietnam War and Congressional relations

Tuesday, June 29, 1971 · 9:03 AM–9:06 AM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Oäó»Kinski, Alvin E.Conversation006-017 on Tape 6 (tape position 00:11:41–00:14:29)StartTuesday, June 29, 1971 at 9:03 AMEndTuesday, June 29, 1971 at 9:06 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls Congressman Alvin E. O'Konski to commend him for a recent floor speech supporting the administration’s Vietnam policy. O'Konski proposes a legislative compromise intended to resolve the Congressional impasse over Vietnam by aligning Congressional funding with the Nixon Doctrine, ceasefire objectives, and POW releases. Nixon expresses interest in this approach and directs the Congressman to send a written copy of the proposal to the National Security Council for review.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Congressman Okonski.
Hello.
Hello.
Al.
Yeah.
Several of your colleagues told me you made the best speech of the day yesterday.
Thank you.
And I just want to tell you that, by golly, just to see my old friend come to the back of the... Well, not just for me, but for the country, just made my heart feel good, and I want to thank you for it.
I told them that the score was... Three thousand.
Three hundred thousand, the senators minus zero.
That's great.
300,000 to minus zero.
That's great.
And who are we going to trust?
Right.
Well, I'll tell you.
Now, let me tell you that you can be sure, Al, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that the guys that stood with us look good.
And I think you're going to look good.
Just give us a few months, a couple months, you know, three or four months.
Yeah.
Mr. President, do you have one minute?
Sure.
We're going to be at an awful impasse in this conference.
Yeah.
Now...
I was going to come up with a substitute proposal.
My plea would be that on this basis, why can't the Congress and the President speak the same language to Hanoi and the world?
And I was thinking of a substitute along this line, that in keeping with the Nixon doctrine pronounced in Guam relative to Southeast Asia,
And in keeping with our policy of withdrawal from Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Nixon Doctrine, it is proposed, it is hoped, that sufficient funds will be used to work towards a ceasefire, release prisoners of war, and an adjustment of the withdrawal date on that basis.
In other words, for the first time in the world, the Congress and the President
and giving you proper credit for the doctrine, for the troop withdrawal that you've made, I'm afraid that unless we come to some kind of a situation, a compromise like that, we can't get the ambassador, we can't get Bogle over the house, Mr. President.
Right, right, I get your point.
Let me throw that into the mill down here with the boys.
I see what you mean, and they should, you've got to get some language.
After all, the Senate's passed something, and you've got to get some language.
I understand that.
Yeah.
I understand that.
But I just made some notes on this.
Have you got, do you have that written out, your suggestion?
Do you have it written out?
Yes, I have.
Send it by, could you send it, well, wait a week, send a messenger.
You got a messenger there?
No, we don't.
Well, I'll send a messenger up to get it from your office and bring it down to the NSC so our guys can look it over.
Good.
All right, fine.
Fine, bye.
Thanks a lot.

NARA Description

On June 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alvin E. O???Kinski talked on the telephone from 9:03 am to 9:06 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-17

Date: June 29, 1971
Time: 9:03 am - 9:06 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alvin E. O'Konski.

[See Conversation No. 530-3E]

     O'Konski's Congressional speech June 28, 1971
         -Vietnam
         -Impasse at Congressional conference on Vietnam
         -O'Konski's possible proposal
                -Nixon doctrine
                     -Guam meeting
                -Funding for ceasefire, Prisoners of war [POW] release
                -Withdrawal date
         -Written suggestions to the President

Also recorded on June 29, 1971

  • 006-012 8:32 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:32 am and 8:42 am.
  • 530-002 8:32 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:32 am and 8:42 am.
  • 006-013 8:42 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 8:42 am to 8:44 am.
  • 006-014 8:45 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:45 am.
  • 006-015 8:46 AM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 8:46 am to 8:47 am.
  • 006-016 8:47 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:47 am and 9:03 am.
  • 006-018 9:07 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:07 am.
  • 006-019 9:08 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 9:08 am to 9:09 am.

All 54 conversations from June 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-017, June 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/006-017 (accessed October 5, 2026).