Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-050

Nixon phone call with Klein on India and Henry Kissinger

Monday, January 10, 1972 · 5:16 PM–5:21 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Klein, Herbert G.Conversation018-050 on Tape 18 (tape position 01:50:04–01:55:09)StartMonday, January 10, 1972 at 5:16 PMEndMonday, January 10, 1972 at 5:21 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 018-050 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon praises Herbert Klein for his recent media appearance defending the administration's policy toward India and countering criticism leveled against Henry Kissinger. The two men discuss the necessity of clarifying that the administration's actions were motivated by a rejection of Indian policies rather than anti-Indian bias, while also highlighting the political hypocrisy of Senate opposition to foreign aid. Nixon instructs Klein to call Kissinger in California to bolster his spirits by reporting positive press feedback and reassuring him that his professional credibility remains intact despite negative coverage from outlets like the New York Times.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. Klein is on, sir.
Hello, Herb.
Yes, how are you, sir?
I didn't get to see your program, but from the news summary, I thought you did a fine job.
Well, thank you very much.
They really put you on the spot on that thing, but the only thing we can do is to...
is to really basically brazen it through because it's really a question of pretty much semantics.
I mean, whether you're anti-Indian or so forth, nobody's anti-Indian.
The real question is we can disagree with a country's policy without being anti.
We were just anti-war.
really the part, and I think you made that very well.
Yeah, and I illustrated it with Japan and Canada.
There's two good illustrations where we disagreed on some policies, but we said we were pro-Japan, pro-Canada, right, and we're still going to help India, and we're pouring in.
God, you know, when you think of the hundreds of millions we give to the damn country, they're anti-American.
That's what it really gets down to.
But on the other hand... We have emotions involved in this country over a lot of years.
Yeah.
With regard to...
India, you say?
Yes, sir.
Yeah, they have, but let me say that there are emotions that run both ways.
There are a hell of a lot of people that don't.
Yeah, that's true.
You don't care that much.
You get up in that Senate, you know, and you have to fight for Indian aid every damn year.
There are an awful lot of them who would like to cut it right to the bone, as Everett Jordan indicated yesterday, you know.
Yes.
And that's not a—I've had it for years.
When I was vice president, I had to, you know, pull people in line for the damn thing.
Because, you know, they'd vote against us in the U.N.
They'd do every possible thing.
And they played with Moscow a lot, even those years.
Always.
Well, they basically played their non-aligned game and so forth.
And then I think the fact that you just used the line that Henry had been libeled was a good idea.
I mean, after all, there was no deliberate...
I mean, they say that he lied when he said we were anti...
that we were not anti-Indian.
Hell, we weren't anti-Indian.
We were anti their policies.
Isn't that really the point you made?
Yes, sir.
That's the exact point.
And that, you know, in this occasion, and that also made the point that if they really believed that, how could they argue against the fact that Henry was the most desired of all briefers?
You know, all the newsmen wanted briefings with him more than anyone else other than you.
That's right.
And he's been...
as facts will show well i thought it would sort of boost his spirit up a little bit too that way yeah well i frankly i think it was good that you did it and it's hard to boost his spirit you know he sees everything in such personal terms he thinks his credibility is destroyed and you know how he speaks in melodramatic terms but uh and his credibility is not destroyed what do you think i mean i don't think at all because you're an expert on it i i think it's uh
What you might do, if you would, is to, in a couple of hours, just on your own, give him a call in California and say you'd had this program.
I don't know whether he saw it or not.
and that you feel that this whole business, that you must not just read the New York Times and the Washington Post and figure that because of what some of them said in the news magazines and so forth, that on balance, that most of the press corps is totally a...
totally against the Anderson thesis.
I think that's true.
That's what it is.
Would you agree or not?
No, I would agree.
And that basically when they talk about Henry's credibility, they're really, more than anything else, they're really trying to nip at us, let's face it.
Well, that's, I think, the whole thesis, you know, which you see developing among the Democrats are trying to make credibility an issue.
Right.
Thank God it's on the issue of India and not on the issue of something else.
There aren't that many people in the country.
I found in the West that I didn't find a hell of a lot of interest in the Indian thing when I was out there.
Here in Washington, you get the feeling that that's all anybody's thinking about.
Yeah, and that's one of the things you've said before, the great value of being out away from here a little bit.
Yeah.
That there's more perspective that way.
Well, use your judgment.
Give him a call.
I will.
Don't let it appear too obvious.
No, I'll just tell him I've got a lot of reactions.
Tell him I've got a lot of reactions and that you've talked to Pressman and the rest and that you think the whole thing is turning around and that he just ought to.
I just have in mind that there are just a lot of press men that say privately they're furious at the way they're handling this thing, and that they believe that this is a question of just twisting things.
I certainly will.
As a matter of fact, I've really received a lot of calls and wires from people saying they're glad to see me, you know, get back on our side on it.
And people like, I'll tell them like Herb Kupson, that's one, who he knows and likes.
Great.
You do that.
Will you do it, Herb?
Yes, sir.
All right.
All right.
Thank you so much.

NARA Description

On January 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert G. Klein talked on the telephone from 5:16 pm to 5:21 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-050 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 18-50

Date: January 10, 1972
Time: 5:16 pm - 5:21 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Herbert G. Klein.

[See Conversation No. 313-25]

     Klein's program
          -News summary
          -India
                -US position
                     -War
                -Japan, Canada
                -US aid
                -Anti-Americanism
                -Senate opposition to aid
                     -B. Everett Jordan
                     -The President’s experiences as Vice President
                           -United Nations [UN]
                -Soviet Union
                -Non-alliance

     Henry A. Kissinger
          -Klein’s program
                -US policies toward India
          -Briefing
                -Popularity
                -Credibility
                     -Klein's call to Kissinger
                            -New York Times, Washington Post
                            -Press respect for Kissinger
                            -Opposition to Jack N. Anderson

                             -Democrats
                       -Indian controversy
                             -Public attitudes
           -Press support for Kissinger
                 -Irving Kupcinet

Also recorded on January 10, 1972

  • 018-048 5:11 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:11 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 018-049 5:11 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:11 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 313-023 5:11 PM · 5 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 5:11 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 313-024 5:11 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 5:11 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 313-025 5:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert G. Klein met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:16 pm to 5:21 pm.
  • 018-051 5:21 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert J. Dole talked on the telephone from 5:21 pm to 5:24 pm.
  • 313-026 5:21 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert J. Dole met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:21 pm to 5:24 pm.
  • 313-027 5:24 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 5:24 pm and 5:27 pm.

All 83 conversations from January 10, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 018-050, January 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-050 (accessed September 24, 2026).