Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-040

Nixon, Kissinger & Dobrynin on Soviet Cosmonaut Program

Wednesday, June 30, 1971 · 9:23 AM–9:45 AM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsKissinger, Henry A.; Dobrynin, Anatoliy F.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation006-040 on Tape 6 (tape position 00:44:48–00:46:17)StartWednesday, June 30, 1971 at 9:23 AMEndWednesday, June 30, 1971 at 9:45 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-040 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, supported by Henry Kissinger, held a telephone conversation with Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin to express his personal condolences following the tragic deaths of Soviet cosmonauts. Nixon emphasized his genuine empathy by sharing a personal anecdote about receiving the news from his daughter, Julie, and drew parallels to the loss of American astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire. The call served to bolster diplomatic relations by conveying a heartfelt, non-routine message of solidarity between the two spacefaring nations.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Hello.
Hello, Anatole.
Yeah.
Come on, Henry.
How are you?
I'm sitting here with the president.
Yes.
And he wanted me to express to you personally his sorrow at what happened with the cosmonauts.
Well, thank you very much.
We will send over a formal message to your president.
Yes, sir.
But he wanted me to.
Thank you very much.
Make sure, in fact, the President wants to say a word to you himself.
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
I wanted you to know that this message is not just the usual one.
I dictated it myself and that, interestingly enough, my daughter Julie is in Athens, you know, and she called me on the phone, got me up at 7.30 this morning to say that she had just heard it.
So we just want you to know that wherever brave men are in the world, our deepest sympathy goes to them and
we know that uh that your program will continue as ours will you remember we had three that were lost to one time yes but we just want you to know that this is uh this is from the heart message to my government we will the thing that you can you can point out to your government that as i said that are my daughter called and these little personal things we won't put out
in our formal message, but I want you to know that.
And I really do appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Fine.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On June 30, 1971, Henry A. Kissinger, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:23 am and 9:45 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-040 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-40

Date: June 30, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:23 am and 9:45 am
Location: White House Telephone

Henry A. Kissinger talked with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin.

[See Conversation No. 532-6D]

     Henry A. Kissinger's location

     President's condolences for Cosmonauts' deaths
           -President's official note to Soviet President
           -Preparation

The President talked with Dobrynin.

     President’s role

     Call to President by Julie Nixon Eisenhower
           -Julie Eisenhower's trip to Athens, Greece

     Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] Cosmonaut Program
         -Loss of US astronauts in Apollo I fire

Also recorded on June 30, 1971

  • 532-004 9:05 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, Melih Esembel, Ronald L. Ziegler, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:05 am to 9:09 am.
  • 532-005 9:13 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:13 am.
  • 532-006 9:13 AM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, and F. Edward Hébert met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:13 am to 9:54 am.
  • 006-038 9:23 AM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:23 am and 9:45 am.
  • 006-039 9:23 AM · 8 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:23 am and 9:45 am.
  • 006-041 9:23 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:23 am and 9:45 am.
  • 006-042 9:45 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, F. Edward Hébert, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 9:45 am to 9:50 am.
  • 006-043 9:50 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:50 am and 9:59 am.

All 66 conversations from June 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-040, June 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/006-040 (accessed October 5, 2026).