Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-043

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Henry Kissinger

Monday, October 11, 1971 · 5:43 PM ET · White House Telephone · 16 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation011-043 on Tape 11 (tape position 01:03:52–01:04:10)StartMonday, October 11, 1971 at 5:43 PMEndMonday, October 11, 1971 at 5:43 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-043 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon communicated with a White House operator regarding an attempt to reach National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. Upon being informed that Kissinger had disconnected, the President received confirmation that the call had been officially canceled. No further action was taken regarding the outreach.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Mr. President.
Yeah.
Dr. Kissinger, sir.
Yeah.
He's hung up.
Let me ring him.
Hello.
Hello.
Just a minute.
He's hung up.
Dr. Kissinger?
No.
No.
He said to cancel that call.
Okay.
Fine.
All right.
I'm sorry.

NARA Description

On October 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:43 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-043 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-043

 Date: October 11, 1971
 Time: 5:43 pm
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with the White House operator.

        Henry A. Kissinger
             -Cancellation of telephone call

Also recorded on October 11, 1971

  • 011-044 5:43 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-022 5:50 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-023 5:50 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-024 5:50 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 5:56 pm.
  • 011-045 5:55 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:55 pm to 5:56 pm.
  • 287-025 5:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:55 pm to 5:56 pm.
  • 011-046 5:56 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:56 pm and 9:26 pm.
  • 287-026 5:56 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:56 pm and 6:00 pm.

All 53 conversations from October 11, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-043, October 11, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-043 (accessed October 11, 2026).