Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 14 › Conversation 014-073

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on U.S.-Japan relations and John B. Connally

Thursday, November 11, 1971 · 7:46 PM–7:47 PM ET · White House Telephone · 43 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation014-073 on Tape 14 (tape position 02:23:25–02:24:10)StartThursday, November 11, 1971 at 7:46 PMEndThursday, November 11, 1971 at 7:47 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 014-073 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger coordinate the communication strategy regarding a forthcoming announcement involving Japan. Nixon directs Kissinger to inform the Japanese government of the news immediately rather than delaying. To handle this diplomatic notification, they agree to use a back-channel approach via Treasury Secretary John B. Connally, a move Nixon views as a strategic effort to bolster Connally’s standing.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Dr. Kissinger, Mr. President?
Yeah.
Mr. President.
Hello, Mr. President.
Hi, Henry.
There's only one issue that I wanted to check out with you.
Yeah.
I'm a little bit concerned about the announcement with the Japanese against, again, not knowing.
Good.
Tell them.
Of course, of course, of course.
Tell them.
The time frame is such.
Tell them now.
Oh, I understand.
Well, now, there are two ways of doing that.
One would be to do it back channel via Connelly.
The other would be to tell it through state.
Back channel through Connolly.
Good.
I'll do that.
Okay.
Good.
That's a good thing to build him up to.
Right.
That's what I thought.
That's good.
Great, Henry.
Fine.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On November 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:46 pm to 7:47 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 014-073 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 14-73

Date: November 11, 1971
Time: 7:46 pm - 7:47 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Henry A. Kissinger

Kissinger talked with the President.

     The President's forthcoming announcement
          -Japanese
               -John B. Connally
               -State Department

Also recorded on November 12, 1971

  • 014-068 7:15 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:15 pm to 7:19 pm.
  • 014-069 7:22 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:22 pm.
  • 014-070 7:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:24 pm to 7:26 pm.
  • 014-071 7:30 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 7:30 pm to 7:39 pm.
  • 014-072 7:40 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 7:40 pm to 7:45 pm.
  • 014-074 7:47 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:47 pm and 7:48 pm.
  • 014-075 7:48 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 7:48 pm to 7:51 pm.
  • 297-001 7:51 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:51 pm and 8:19 pm.

All 93 conversations from November 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 014-073, November 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/014-073 (accessed October 12, 2026).