Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 17 › Conversation 017-134

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Prisoners of War and Vietnam War

Saturday, January 1, 1972 · 3:56 PM–4:03 PM ET · White House Telephone ·6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation017-134 onTape 17 (tape position 04:53:17–04:58:49)StartSaturday, January 1, 1972 at 3:56 PMEndSaturday, January 1, 1972 at 4:03 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-134 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger strategized on how to address public and press inquiries regarding American prisoners of war (POWs) ahead of an upcoming televised interview with Dan Rather. They agreed to emphasize the administration's ongoing, confidential efforts to secure releases, while countering the political push for a specific withdrawal deadline by noting that the North Vietnamese had not indicated a willingness to trade prisoners for such a concession. Additionally, Kissinger updated the President on his progress regarding the cessation of the draft, with Nixon explicitly warning against any leaks regarding the initiative.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Dr. Kissinger, sir.
Henry, I wondered if you could give some thought as to some way we could get a brief answer on the POW thing, which would take it a little bit out of the, you know, sort of the routine thing we said before.
I think that's the one that we're going to see considerable activity on.
I realize we're going to handle it in our peace offer, of course.
Well, one thing you might...
The only thing we're saying here is the same thing, that as long as they've got that they are being cruel and barbaric, that they are using... One thing you might consider saying is that... Go ahead.
...is to mention the two people released by the Chinese and say that it's in the nature of these things one just can't talk about it while discussions are going forward.
That you'd like to call attention to the fact that our initiative... That we are working on it all the time.
That we are working on it all the time, and that the Chinese government released two people that we knew about beforehand, and that we...
But, you know, just to give the impression that something is going on.
Yeah.
Well, all we can say, I guess, is that we are...
Exploring it.
The thing, of course, the way it's going to be put is the old question about the prisoners for withdrawal and so forth.
Of course, we're coming to the point where we're going to be able to do that, but we don't want to say it now.
Is there any way you can handle that?
Well, I would say, I think, Mr. President, the average viewer tomorrow night will not understand all the ins and outs of all of these proposals.
Yeah.
And I have always found, when I talk around the country, if I simply said flatly, I want you to know that there is no initiative that the president has not taken.
No offer we haven't made.
That I can assure the American people that nothing has been left undone, and there are many things being done that we can talk about.
And then you can, if you've mentioned those two other things,
I really think that the audience tomorrow is going to be more apt to judge you by how you say it than by the content of what you say on the prisoners.
Because they don't know the difference of deadlines and so forth.
That's all esoteric stuff to them.
And if they say, well, some people say if you set a deadline, and if you say, Mr. Rather, I want to tell you that no initiative,
has been left unexplored, but I won't go any further than that.
And we'll stand before the public on our record.
I want also to point out that two people have just been released in China, where we said nothing until it was done, or something like that.
You can see that our record will stand.
We'll...
That's right.
That's been my experience in talking to other than, this wouldn't help you at a press conference.
There you'd have to have a more substantive answer.
Well, I think their line is going to be
I'm inclined to think he'll press rather very hard on that question from what I've heard, but nevertheless, I mean, due to the fact that he knows what our Democratic friends are going to be pressing for, the POW for deadline and all that sort of thing.
Of course, the difficulty is we've offered a deadline, as we all know.
That's right.
What I would say on the deadline, Mr. President, without saying yes or no, I would just say, Mr. Rother, the deadline is not the issue and the other side knows it.
How do you say that's a moot question as far as they're concerned?
They've said so, haven't they?
They have never indicated, as a matter of fact, that they would return the prisoners for a deadline, have they?
Oh, absolutely not.
Absolutely not, Mr. President.
Maybe that's the way to get at it.
On the contrary, they have specifically said that it is not their policy.
Okay, maybe we'll just leave it there.
All right, fine, Henry, thank you.
Right, Mr. President.
I've started looking into the no-draft D prisoners.
What's that?
I've looked.
I've started looking into no drafting and I think we may be able to swing it this time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I will try.
Okay.
Right.
Don't let it leak out, though, for crying out loud.
Let's let us do this one.
That's right.
Right.
Okay.

NARA Description

On January 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 3:56 pm to 4:03 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-134 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-134

Date: January 1, 1972
Time: 3:56 pm - 4:03 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 311-26]

     Prisoners of War [POW's]
          -Statement
                -US peace offer
                -2 people released by People’s Republic of China [PRC]
                -US working on release
                      -Working continuously
                -Prisoners released for US withdrawal
                -Kissinger's talks around the US
                      -Assurances
                -Audience reaction to President's interview with Dan Rather
                      -Style compared to substance of President's remarks

                            -Lack of understanding from American public
                            -Possible remarks from the President
                      -Press conference
                            -Need for a substantive answer
          -President's interview with Rather
                -Toughness of Rather's questions on POWs
                      -Democrats
                -Deadline for POWs' release
                -North Vietnamese
                      -US POWs
                      -Deadline for US withdrawal

     Draftees
          -Announcement on
              -Kissinger researching
              -Leaks

Also recorded on January 1, 1972

  • 017-131 2:43 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:43 pm and 3:56 pm.
  • 311-026 3:56 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:56 pm to 4:03 pm.
  • 017-135 4:05 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 4:05 pm to 4:07 pm.
  • 311-027 4:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:05 pm to 4:07 pm.
  • 311-028 4:07 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 6:12 pm.
  • 311-029 4:07 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 6:12 pm.
  • 311-030 4:07 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 6:12 pm.
  • 311-031 4:07 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 6:12 pm.

All 58 conversations from January 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-134, January 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-134 (accessed September 18, 2026).