Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-109

Nixon phone call with Haig on United Nations and People's Republic of China

Monday, October 25, 1971 · 12:15 PM–12:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation012-109 on Tape 12 (tape position 04:25:24–04:27:21)StartMonday, October 25, 1971 at 12:15 PMEndMonday, October 25, 1971 at 12:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 012-109 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191719 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discussed the status of a critical United Nations vote regarding the representation of the People’s Republic of China, specifically noting wavering support from Belgium and Luxembourg. While Secretary of State William Rogers expressed pessimism about the outcome, the President rejected the idea of calling these nations himself, opting to maintain presidential prestige if a loss appeared inevitable. Additionally, Haig provided a brief status update on Henry Kissinger’s ongoing trip and confirmed that there were no immediate crises concerning India or Pakistan.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 12:15 pm to 12:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-109 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 12-109

Date: October 25, 1971
Time: 12:15 pm- 12:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 601-28]

     The President's schedule
          -Telephone call from William P. Rogers
                -Possible topic
                -United Nations [UN]
          -India-Pakistan
                                               71

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

          -UN vote on Chinese representation
              -Portugal
              -Belgium
              -Luxemburg

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 19s ]

     PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA [PRC]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

******************************************************************************

The President conferred with an unknown person at an unknown time before 12:17 pm.

     [Unintelligible]

[End of Conferral]

     Henry A. Kissinger
         -Schedule
                                               72

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

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).

Yes, sir.
Yeah, I noted that I just got back that Rogers had a call for me.
Do you know what it's about?
I think he wanted to give you an update on the UN.
I just talked to him.
I just want to know if there wasn't anything new on India, Pakistan or anything like that.
No, there are no crises.
He's concerned about the vote.
We've gotten the Portuguese, but the Belgians are now wavering.
Yeah.
And that's, of course, essential to us because we could lose Luxembourg, too.
He doesn't want me to call them, does he?
No, no, he does not, sir.
And I just really think if we're going to lose, then the best thing to do is to back your prestige out of it, especially with those more important European powers.
I'm not sure that that is going to happen, but he's a little more pessimistic than he was yesterday.
Mm-hmm.
Well, they're doing everything they can.
We're doing everything... And they can't...
This ridiculous claim that we're not behind them is...
Certainly, they may claim that, but I don't see how they can.
No, it's sheer nonsense.
And anyone that uses it knows it.
Yeah.
Get them anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, go ahead.
Now, Henry just sent another message.
He is staying there another 24 hours, and we'll leave at the same time.
Right.
Okay.
One time.
Everything else is all right, sir.
Right.
Okay.
Thank you.
Bye, Mr. President.

Also recorded on October 25, 1971

  • 012-108 12:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-024 12:10 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-025 12:10 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-026 12:10 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-028 12:15 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:17 pm.
  • 012-110 12:17 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 601-029 12:17 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 012-111 12:20 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 12:20 pm to 12:31 pm.

All 50 conversations from October 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 012-109, October 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191719). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-109 (accessed November 2, 2026).