Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 13 › Conversation 013-073

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Vietnam War and Troop withdrawals

Tuesday, November 2, 1971 · 1:30 PM–1:31 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation013-073 on Tape 13 (tape position 02:37:51–02:39:06)StartTuesday, November 2, 1971 at 1:30 PMEndTuesday, November 2, 1971 at 1:31 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 013-073 ↗

AI Summary

Secretary of State William P. Rogers briefed President Nixon on his recent discussion with Australian Prime Minister William McMahon regarding confidential plans for future U.S. troop withdrawals in Vietnam. Rogers emphasized that he shared these sensitive details under the condition of strict secrecy, ensuring the President could reference this information during his own upcoming engagement with the Prime Minister. Furthermore, the two discussed positive reactions from press secretary Ronald Ziegler and correspondent John Scali regarding a recent public statement made by Rogers.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Hello.
Secretary Rogers, sir.
There you are.
Well, I might interrupt your lunch, but I wanted to tell you that I told the Prime Minister, without giving him the numbers, what our plans were with regard to the next troop announcement and the January deal and so forth, and filled him in a little.
I told him that he was not to...
naturally could not say anything about it now, and he said, of course, that only you and I and Henry knew about it.
But I thought it was good to tell him something that, you know, because he's trustworthy, I understand.
So I want you to know that so that in your conversation you could allude to that sort of tendency.
See what I mean?
Yes, I do.
That's very helpful.
I think my little statement went all right.
Oh, it went excellent.
I tell you, Ziegler was just elated with it.
He came in, he sort of just
And Scali, too, thinks it'll get a hell of a good ride.
Hell of a good ride.
Fine.
But this is fine.
We had a good talk about everything in general.
The man is quite a fellow, isn't he?
I like him.
Oh, he's a fightsy guy.
And very intelligent.
Very intelligent.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On November 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 1:30 pm to 1:31 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 013-073 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 013-073

Date: November 2, 1971
Time: 1:30 pm - 1:31 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See Conversation No. 300-03]

     President's conversation with William McMahon
           -Vietnam
                 -Rogers
                 -Henry A. Kissinger

     Rogers’ statement
         -Views of John A. Scali and Ronald L. Ziegler

     McMahon

Also recorded on November 2, 1971

  • 611-022 1:13 PM · 10 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:13 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 611-023 1:13 PM · 34 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:13 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 013-072 1:15 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:15 pm and 1:30 pm.
  • 300-001 1:15 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:15 pm and 1:30 pm.
  • 300-002 1:15 PM · 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 1:15 pm and 1:30 pm.
  • 300-003 1:30 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:30 pm to 1:31 pm.
  • 300-004 1:31 PM · 13 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 1:31 pm and 2:26 pm.
  • 300-005 1:31 PM · 5 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 1:31 pm and 2:26 pm.

All 58 conversations from November 2, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 013-073, November 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/013-073 (accessed September 30, 2026).