Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 20 › Conversation 020-090

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Diplomacy

Sunday, February 13, 1972 · 7:37 PM–7:52 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation020-090 on Tape 20 (tape position 02:51:24–02:54:14)StartSunday, February 13, 1972 at 7:37 PMEndSunday, February 13, 1972 at 7:52 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 020-090 ↗

AI Summary

Henry Kissinger informs President Nixon that North Vietnamese officials have initiated a meeting with Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters, marking a rare shift in diplomatic engagement. The two discuss potential motivations behind this move, including the possibility of a new meeting request or a strategic diplomatic gesture regarding past negotiation proposals. Additionally, Kissinger confirms his plan to brief Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird on the promotion of Alexander M. Haig, Jr. during an upcoming breakfast meeting.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Thank you.
There you are.
Hello.
Mr. President.
Yeah, hi.
How are you?
Sorry to disturb you.
Right.
But I thought you might like to know that the North Vietnamese have asked Walter to come in tomorrow for a message, which is the first time they've taken the initiative.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
You know, I have no idea what it is.
Maybe they're just going to object to the bombing.
No.
Oh, no, Mr. President.
I don't think this bombing is so much of a problem.
In fact, I don't think it's any problem.
Well, it's in South Vietnam.
That's right.
But they've called him to come in, huh?
And it's got practically no president.
Yeah.
Very interesting.
Well, when will he get it?
He'll go in tomorrow?
He'll get it at 10 o'clock our time.
Well, that'll be very interesting.
But, you know, it may be an offensive move.
They may ask for a meeting out there.
You mean in Yacht?
I don't know where.
I don't want to speculate, but it's a rare move on their part.
Or they just may want to make a point to condemn us for releasing Dext and so forth.
But you never know.
Not on this kind of a thing.
They've done all that publicly.
I mean, they've done that publicly.
I don't see any sense in their doing it privately.
Right.
Right.
Good.
I don't think it's going to be vilification.
It may be some sort of a move.
uh maybe they'll release the transcript of the meeting but they won't hurt us oh sir and maybe they'll uh that's pretty good guess that they might want to do that i doubt it but that would i don't think call them in to do that i think they just do it i mean after all they released the transfer they released the text they haven't even released all the text here of what we are but yeah
They haven't released the August 16th or the May 31st proposal yet.
And what they did release, they released without checking with us.
Sure.
That's what they would do in any event.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
But I thought you might like to know.
Very interesting.
I'm having breakfast with Layard, Mr. Dresden, and I was going to mention that Hayes promoted to him.
Sure.
Right ahead.
May I say that I've discussed this with you?
Yep.
Yep.
And that's going to be done.
right right and i think uh just be sure he's uh totally on salvo with what we're doing here okay

NARA Description

On February 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:37 pm and 7:52 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 020-090 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 20-90

Date: February 13, 1972
Time: Unknown between 7:37 pm and 7:52 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President.

     Henry A. Kissinger call to President

Kissinger talked with the President between 7:49 pm and 7:52 pm.

     Vietnam negotiations
          -North Vietnamese message
               -Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters
               -Prospects
                     -Objection to bombing

                     -Kissinger view of bombing
                -Timing of message
                -Possible purposes
                     -Request for meeting
                     -Condemnation of US
                     -Diplomatic move
                           -Release of meeting transcripts
                                -August 16 and May 31, 1971 proposals

     Kissinger's schedule
          -Melvin R. Laird breakfast
                -Alexander M. Haig, Jr. promotion
                      -Discussion with the President
                      -Vietnam negotiations

Also recorded on February 14, 1972

  • 020-089 7:25 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:25 pm to 7:37 pm.
  • 090-003 8:40 AM · 1 hr 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Administration officials, and members of Congress, including Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Robert P. Griffin, John G. Tower, Thomas N. Downing, Norman F. Lent, Thomas J. ("Tom") Steed, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Edward L. Morgan, William E. Timmons, Richard K. Cook, Thomas C. Korologos, Ronald L. Ziegler, and the White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 8:40 am and 12:45 pm.
  • 670-001 8:52 AM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:12 am.
  • 670-002 8:52 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:12 am.
  • 670-003 8:52 AM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:12 am.
  • 670-004 8:52 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:12 am.
  • 670-005 9:12 AM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:12 am to 10:02 am.
  • 670-006 10:02 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:07 am.

All 30 conversations from February 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 020-090, February 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/020-090 (accessed October 2, 2026).