Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 14 › Conversation 014-115

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on People's Republic of China

Monday, November 15, 1971 · 7:23 PM–7:26 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation014-115 on Tape 14 (tape position 03:49:21–03:52:41)StartMonday, November 15, 1971 at 7:23 PMEndMonday, November 15, 1971 at 7:26 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 014-115 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the People's Republic of China’s inaugural speech at the United Nations and the State Department's recommendation for an immediate, aggressive rebuttal. Both men agreed that a hasty response would be counterproductive, with Nixon specifically expressing suspicion that the State Department was attempting to sabotage his upcoming trip to China. Consequently, they decided to ignore the immediate pressure to respond and instead planned to study the speech carefully before issuing a measured, dignified statement later in the week.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Mr. President, Dr. Kissinger is calling you, sir.
Yeah, bye.
Here you are.
Hello?
Hi, Henry.
Mr. President, I just wanted to call you to tell you that the Chinese, having presented their credentials, made a speech at the UN today.
And from fragmentary news reports, it was a rather rough one, that they stated, faked out their program.
Now, Rod has called and immediately wanted to hit back tonight.
I think we shouldn't hit back tonight.
We should study the scene.
And I think our position ought to be, we haven't even got the text of the game.
Yeah.
Time enough is tomorrow, every three things, three, four days after.
Mm-hmm.
That makes sense.
Well, certainly, certainly I wouldn't say anything tonight.
In fact, if we can get through tomorrow without saying something, which is just as well, then we could make a dignified but strong statement on Wednesday, which we can then consider.
So there's a certain amount of glee that's been said about this, and I think we should tell everyone else to do so.
A glee, you say?
Why?
Well, it takes an oddly way to get it to stray, and that it's not being typical before.
No, that's right.
Are you surprised at the speech?
No, I think it's good.
I think they'll behave moderately.
Yeah.
Every time I've been there, I've heard Henry Hillbottom speak.
That's about what I expected.
God damn it, they've got to be the leaders of the communist world in any event.
That's their point.
So I think that there's going to be that.
The main thing is to get our announcement off at the proper time, and that's that.
But it would be ridiculous to respond to them immediately.
Who wants to do that?
Roger.
Roger wanted Bush to reply tonight.
I think we should say nothing tonight and probably not tomorrow.
I wouldn't say anything tomorrow.
Tom, I want to study it tomorrow.
Right.
Sure, I'll take some time to study it tomorrow.
Well, we can play it, you know.
We can see whether we have to, but...
like responding tonight is the most ridiculous.
Why?
What is the line they take that needs to be responded to?
Oh, that they will support the enslaved people.
It wouldn't get so much as no deal about the Arabs behind their backs.
They will support Vietnam.
All of this, they've said.
They've said this to me, too.
Oh, for Christ's sakes.
What's that?
You know what?
It almost seems, though, that in this case, the state may be wanting to blow the China trip.
That's what I think.
Don't you think so?
Well, neither does the Russian one, but nevertheless.
Okay.
Just cold turkey.
Fine.
It'll work out, too.
How are you going to run with Cromer?
Well, this is pretty much as those would say.
All right.
Good.
Fine.
Okay.
All right.
Don't worry about it.
Bye.

NARA Description

On November 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:23 pm to 7:26 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 014-115 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 14-115

Date: November 15, 1971
Time: 7:23 pm - 7:26 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Henry A. Kissinger

Kissinger talked with the President.

     United Nations [UN]
          -People's Republic of China [PRC] delegate's speech
               -William P. Rogers’ views
               -Possible response
                     -Timing
               -Content
               -State Department's response
                     -Motivation

     Kissinger's meeting with the Earl of Cromer [George R.S. Baring]

Also recorded on November 16, 1971

  • 014-114 7:03 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 7:03 pm to 7:20 pm.
  • 014-116 7:26 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:26 pm and 7:42 pm.
  • 014-117 7:26 PM · 4 sec — unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:26 pm and 7:42 pm.
  • 014-118 7:42 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 7:42 pm to 7:45 pm.
  • 014-119 7:50 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:50 pm.
  • 014-120 7:50 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:50 pm and 7:54 pm.
  • 014-121 7:54 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:54 pm.
  • 014-122 7:54 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:54 pm and 8:01 pm.

All 90 conversations from November 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 014-115, November 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/014-115 (accessed October 12, 2026).