Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-100

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Operation Linebacker

Sunday, December 26, 1971 · 11:45 AM–11:52 AM ET · White House Telephone · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation017-100 on Tape 17 (tape position 03:30:06–03:36:28)StartSunday, December 26, 1971 at 11:45 AMEndSunday, December 26, 1971 at 11:52 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-100 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191963 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the progress of recent U.S. bombing strikes against North Vietnam and the diplomatic strategy for a forthcoming peace plan. They reviewed the military objectives of the aerial campaign, specifically targeting transshipment points to demonstrate U.S. resolve. Additionally, they assessed the geopolitical situation in South Asia, expressing shared cynicism regarding India's occupation of Bangladesh and the perceived hypocrisy of international media coverage concerning the conflict.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 11:45 am to 11:52 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-100 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-100

Date: December 26, 1971
Time: 11:45 am - 11:52 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 310-24]

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under deed of gift 12/22/2017. Segment will remain
closed.]
[Privacy]
[017-100-w001]
[Duration: 17s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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     Henry Kissinger’s schedule
          -Children

     Weather in Florida
         -J. Edgar Hoover call
         -Kissinger's children
               -Walk to the lighthouse

     Vietnam
          -Bombing
          -Planes
                -Timing
                -North Vietnamese
          -Negotiations
          -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope

                   -Release of Prisoners of War [POWs]
             -Election
                   -Negotiations
                        -Paris
                              -Timing
             -October plan
             -Peace plan
             -Meetings
             -7 Points
             -Press
                   -Newspaper coverage
                        -Proposed action
             -Bombing

     India
             -Bangladesh

     Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
           -Pakistan
           -Nelson A. Rockefeller call to Kissinger
           -East Pakistan
           -Intellectuals
           -Religious sect

     Kissinger’s health

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.
Dr. Kissinger, sir.
Hello.
Merry Christmas, Mr. President.
Did you survive it?
Oh, yes.
Where are you, the big house?
I'm in, now I'm in one of the villas at the... Well, that'll be better.
You can get more service there.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Your children with you?
They're with me.
They love it.
They've never been here.
Tell me this.
It's raining down there, though, isn't it?
No.
Well, it stopped?
No.
It's perfect weather.
It's a little windy.
They stopped.
It rained yesterday because I called Edgar Hoover down there and it was raining.
Yes, but it stopped raining yesterday afternoon, I'm told.
It's perfect weather.
Yeah.
It's a little windy, but it's dying down by the hour.
Well, you tell your kids to walk to the lighthouse, will you?
Well, I think that's what they're planning to do.
Well, I always did that when I stayed at the Key Biscayne.
You know, they won't be bothered.
It's a mile and a half walk.
It's the best walk in the world.
They can, you know, pick up shells.
It's a great fun.
It's beautiful.
And they can do anything they want.
And if the swimming is bad there, they can go over to the other side.
They got a strike off last night, Mr. President.
Oh, they did.
That's why I was calling to see what kind of a one they get off.
They had good weather and they got everything into the air.
I haven't got the bomb damage assessment yet because they just stopped flying two hours ago.
Yeah.
Well, at least that's one day of it, huh?
That's right.
And they think they can get at least 48 hours and maybe as high as 72.
Uh-huh.
Well, I think it's a good time to do it, don't you?
Yeah, to do it, Mr. President.
But the other side violated it.
They are stepping up the infiltration.
Right.
Well, I think your analysis may be correct.
Who knows?
They may be trying to get to a bargaining position.
Well, Mr. President, they're seeing Bob Hope, for example.
You know, it's a cheap ploy, but it's what they usually do.
Yeah.
That's right.
And I don't think they'll let it get to the election without a negotiation.
We're going to be awful hard to negotiate with, though, at this point.
There's no reason to just go through that business of Paris again.
I think, Mr. President, as we discussed a few weeks ago,
towards the end of January.
You might have to go public with the October plan and put it before then if it were a new plan.
Say a little bit about what's gone before.
I wouldn't give a long story.
No, no, I agree.
No, they aren't interested in who did what to whom.
They're only interested in, well, you remember, now is the time to have the benefit of what we did in October of 69, 70.
Just put out a new peace plan, and then it'll get a big play, and then they'll not answer it, and that's that.
That's right, but it will get out a month or two.
That's right.
We can say a little bit about what went on during the summer.
I would simply, without going into details, I would simply say we have had...
10 or 15 private meetings on this and that, and they've presented this all to them, and this is our offer.
And it's a lie that they've been banned for the seven points.
That's right.
We've actually been negotiating it.
Correct.
But this is what we now put before the growth out of private and public meetings.
This strike will probably not be played then in the papers until tomorrow.
Well, not until... No, actually, with the papers the way they are, not until tomorrow.
That's right.
That's fine.
That's good.
Oh, that's good.
But this is the one that hits mainly in the Mejia Pass area and that sort of place?
Well, it hits the pass area.
No, it hits all the storage areas along the coast, too, and we're going to wind up with hitting Vinh.
Yeah.
We're going to take out all the airfields.
Well, the purpose for getting there, we figure you can get some planes, knock out some planes, as I understand it.
And also, the way they ship this stuff is to send it down by boat to Vinh and Tong Hoi.
And then they put it on trucks and they're hitting both of these transhipment ports.
Yeah.
And the major point is just to show them that there's still a sting lift.
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
Okay.
Nothing else in the world.
I noticed that, you know, our Indian friends are having trouble, aren't they?
They're now admitting that they've got to stay in.
in Bangladesh for a few months, right?
Oh, I think... And then also telling Bhutto that he can't claim it's part of Pakistan.
Well, my God, I'd think Bhutto had screamed in the housetops about that, wouldn't you?
That Bhutto can't do what?
He said that Bhutto cannot, now that, you know, Bhutto has released Mujib and so forth, that he cannot claim that this is part of Pakistan anymore.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
In other words, he's really... Bhutto just ought to raise hell.
I mean, is it part of India?
We will look on this one.
First of all, no one likes the Indians.
And secondly, I think they're going to look worse and worse as time goes on.
Well, don't you think a little of the fact that they've been terribly cruel and deceitful is beginning to get through?
I have no doubt about it.
Nelson called me yesterday and said about Christmas.
And he said he thought that the Indians
Indian situation is working in our favor basically with the public.
Well, you know, the main thing, though, Henry, look at what they're doing.
They're doing exactly what I certainly expected.
They're occupying East Pakistan, and I don't think they're ever going to get out.
Do you?
They're occupying East Pakistan.
There are more verified cases of atrocities under their rule than there were under the Pakistan rule.
There were never any pictures of them.
And, you know, now another lie comes out.
They had to back down on the charge that the Pakistan army had slaughtered those intellectuals.
It turns out to have been some religious sect.
You notice that?
Yeah, I notice that.
Yeah.
Anyway, fine.
I hope you feel better and just take it easy and look out the window.
Thank you.
Okay, bye.
Thank you for coming back.

Also recorded on December 26, 1971

  • 017-099 11:30 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 11:45 am.
  • 310-023 11:30 AM · 16 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 11:30 am and 11:45 am.
  • 310-024 11:45 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:45 am to 11:52 am.
  • 017-101 11:52 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-025 11:52 AM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-026 11:52 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo Monson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-027 11:52 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 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-028 11:52 AM · 11 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 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.

All 31 conversations from December 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-100, December 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191963). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-100 (accessed November 1, 2026).