Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-053

Kissinger & Meany on Foreign Policy and Soviet-American Relations

Tuesday, October 12, 1971 · 9:20 AM–9:58 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsKissinger, Henry A.; Meany, GeorgeConversation011-053 on Tape 11 (tape position 01:19:50–01:21:58)StartTuesday, October 12, 1971 at 9:20 AMEndTuesday, October 12, 1971 at 9:58 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-053 ↗

AI Summary

Henry Kissinger contacted George Meany to provide advance notice of President Nixon's upcoming public announcement regarding a scheduled 1972 summit meeting in Moscow. Kissinger explained that the strategic goal of the summit is to balance Soviet and Chinese interests while advancing negotiations concerning Vietnam and the Middle East. He concluded the call by promising to meet with Meany in the following days to provide a more detailed briefing on the administration's foreign policy strategy.

Audio

Download MP3 · 3.9 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello?
I have Mr. Meany.
Hello?
Hello?
Mr. Meany?
Yes.
Henry Kissinger.
How are you?
Fine.
Okay.
I wanted to call you because at noon today, the president is going to make an announcement on foreign policy, which...
The what?
The president is going to make an announcement at noon today on foreign policy, which we wanted to give you some advance warning of.
It is that after the meeting in Peking, towards the end of May, there will be a summit meeting with the Soviet leaders in Moscow.
And the purpose of this is, I know you are very busy today, but perhaps in the next few days I could come by and give you some sense of the strategy, which is to keep those two in some sort of a balance with each other.
and to try to get a negotiation going that might affect the Middle East and Vietnam and other parts.
Is he setting a date today?
No, he's just announcing that it will be, let me read you the announcement, may I?
Yeah.
Says the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union in their exchanges during the past year have agreed that a meeting between them would be desirable once sufficient progress has been made in negotiations at a lower level.
In light of the recent advances in bilateral and multilateral negotiations involving the two countries, it has been agreed that such a meeting will take place in Moscow in the latter part of May 1972.
Oh, I see.
It's in 72.
Yes, I understand.
President Nixon and the Soviet leaders will review all major issues with a view towards further improving their bilateral relations and enhancing the prospects for world peace.
And...
This is being, of course, embargoed till noon when we wanted you to have some advance word of it.
Okay.
Good, Mr. Meany.
I'll call you in the next few days and talk to you further about it.
Okay, thank you.
Good.
Goodbye.

NARA Description

On October 12, 1971, Henry A. Kissinger and George Meany talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:58 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-053 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-053

 Date: October 12, 1971
 Time: Unknown between 9:20 am and 9:58 am
 Location: White House Telephone

 Henry A. Kissinger talked with George Meany.

 [See Conversation No. 288-11B]

        Introductions

        The President's announcement October 12, 1971
             -The President's meeting with Soviet leaders in Moscow
                   -Objectives
                         -Balance
                         -Middle East
                         -Vietnam
             -Text
                   -Moscow, 1972

Also recorded on October 12, 1971

  • 011-050 8:46 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:46 am and 9:19 am.
  • 288-008 8:46 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:46 am and 9:19 am.
  • 288-009 8:46 AM · 10 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 8:46 am and 9:19 am.
  • 011-051 9:19 AM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 9:19 am to 9:20 am.
  • 288-010 9:19 AM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:19 am to 9:20 am.
  • 011-052 9:20 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:58 am.
  • 011-054 9:20 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:58 am.
  • 288-011 9:20 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Patrick J. Buchanan, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, George Meany, Stephen B. Bull, and George P. Shultz met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 10:04 am.

All 71 conversations from October 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-053, October 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-053 (accessed October 12, 2026).