Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 40 › Conversation 040-117

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Leonid Brezhnev and Camp David

Thursday, June 14, 1973 · 5:48 PM–5:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation040-117 on Tape 40StartThursday, June 14, 1973 at 5:48 PMEndThursday, June 14, 1973 at 5:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 040-117 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger coordinated the logistical details and public relations strategy for the upcoming visit of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. The conversation covered the schedule for signing ceremonies, the arrangement of television tapings at Camp David, and the distribution of responsibilities for congressional briefings. Nixon also addressed the political climate, expressing satisfaction that positive engagement with congressional leaders was successfully distracting from the ongoing Watergate scandal.

Audio

Download MP3 · 10.4 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Hello, Mr. President.
The best thing, I think, Dr. Ron, is this.
He's going to do a speech to the nation Saturday, you know.
Well, he's taping it.
It's going to be on the air on Sunday.
Oh, he's going to tape it Saturday, though?
Yeah.
Well, I wanted to raise the taping with you, too.
He can tape it any time he wants.
Because he thought he might tape it at Camp David, but I don't know whether we've ever let television cameras up there.
We'll do it for him.
if he wants it taped we'll let in the crews and he can have it up there if he'd like to do it from there that's fine he'd like to do it there maybe thursday morning fine fine we'll let him tape from camp david and uh and uh whatever whatever he wants we'll suit his convenience we may move it you know a little away from the compound but he'll understand we'll set something up now the other thing is but it'll be run saturday night sunday night
Right.
When is the communique around then?
The communique could be published Monday.
The day he's leaving.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
But he's going to leave Sunday, I thought.
He's leaving San Clemente on Sunday and staying overnight in Camp David.
Oh, he's coming back to stay overnight in Camp David.
See, I'm not coming back with him, though.
No, no, he understands that.
Oh, he wants to stay in Camp David overnight.
Great, great.
That's right.
And we'll have the vice president see him off on Monday.
Fine.
That would open up Saturday then.
In other words, he is not, his speech would not be done Saturday.
We would have Saturday open.
Exactly.
Let's see.
We think the best thing to do it, since it's so big, we ought to have all the major congressional leaders and the rest, do it in the East Room on Friday.
It's such a big event.
And I just think that in Saturday we'll be flying out there.
Friday we are flying.
Friday we are flying, Mr. President.
We're flying Friday right after we do this thing.
And we can be talking, and Saturday is a day off, a day for pictures and things.
Well, we can also, Mr. President, on Saturday, are you planning to invite Rogers out there?
Well, I'll do it.
Is he going to have Drameco?
He'll have Gromyko.
Well, then I have to have Rogers, you know.
Well, in that case, we can have two of those minor agreements signed out there on Saturday morning.
Fine.
Let's have a couple of minor agreements done there.
Okay.
All right.
Fine.
And then you and, uh, you and Brezhnev will sign Thursday afternoon the nuclear, the gold principles and the peaceful uses.
That's right.
And Friday noon, you will sign the other agreement.
Mm-hmm.
In the East Room of the White House.
Now, the other thing is that this business about briefing the congressional people, I remember I want to do that on this darn thing.
I don't have to do it on all of them, but the ones we're going to do Saturday, somebody could brief here Friday on them, couldn't they?
There'd be no problem.
Well, Mr. President, we can have the experts brief on the minor agreements, and I can brief on the ones that you signed with Brezhnev, which will be Thursday afternoon.
You'll brief Thursday?
I briefed Thursday and Friday before the signing.
But you couldn't brief Friday.
Oh, yeah, Friday before the signing.
Now, the other thing is we're not going to have a signing on Tuesday.
...signing on Tuesday and Wednesday, but these will be minor agreements.
Those we have Rogers and Gromyko do.
Well, we have Schultz and Patolicev sign one of them.
We thought it would be good to show... Good for Schultz, yes, he needs the... Schultz and Patolicev will sign on Tuesday, and Rogers and Gromyko will also sign on Tuesday.
That's when they want Schultz to do the briefing on that one then, and Rogers do the briefing on his, and then you come up to bat on Thursday and Friday.
Exactly.
Fair enough.
Exactly, man.
You briefed both the Congress and the press, you know.
Well, that's fine.
You've got to do both.
See, we're trying to give the Congress a little feeling.
They didn't do much to the Congress, but just enough.
I can tell you, Mr. President, that congressional reaction today was unbelievable.
Really?
Unbelievable.
Well, you know, the way to handle these always damnable Watergate things is just to do something.
And, uh...
It's coming along.
They kept me in the house about half an hour because about 150 congressmen wanted to have their picture taken with me.
Great.
Did they?
Yeah.
Ah, great.
That's the stuff.
All right, Henry, have a good evening.
Give the ambassador my best wishes.
Now, on that, then, we will have the three.
Does he want, so that I can...
This is a very minor matter.
Does Dobrynin want...
It would be better just to have Dobrynin and his wife...
and Brezhnev at the compound, and have Gromyko stay with Rogers.
But I don't know.
You see what I mean?
We'll work that out.
I'll work that out.
You can see how that would be a little bit better, because Dobrynin and I know a little better, and Mrs. Dobrynin, and they could translate.
But I'll do it either way.
Either way.
No, I think, let me talk to Dobrynin.
Or I can put all three in, either way.
Well, he'll tell me honestly what the situation is.
And I will let you know about that first thing in the morning.
But I'll set the taping for Camp David or Camp Spy.
And the ceremonies will go then as you directed.
Good, Mr. President.

NARA Description

On June 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 5:48 pm to 5:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 040-117 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 40-117

Date: June 14, 1973
Time: 5:48 pm - 5:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See also Conversation No. 446-6E]

     President’s schedule
           -Ronald L. Ziegler
           -Leonid I. Brezhnev visit
                 -Agenda
                       -Television [TV] speech
                             -Taping
                                   -Camp David
                                   -Timing and day
                                   -President’s aide
                                   -Security
                             -Broadcast
                       -Communique
                                              -96-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                             -Release
                             -Schedule
                                   -San Clemente
                                   -Camp David
                       -Spiro T. Agnew
                             -Brezhnev’s departure
                       -Speech
                             -Schedule

The President conferred with Ziegler.

[Begin conferral]

[See Conversation No. 446-6E]

[End conferral]

     President’s schedule
           -Ronald L. Ziegler
           -Leonid I. Brezhnev visit
                       -Signing of agreement
                             -Congressional leaders
                             -East Room
                             -Travel to California
                       -San Clemente
                             -Congressional leaders
                             -William P. Rogers and Andrei A. Gromyko
                             -Signing of agreements
                       -Signing of agreements
                             -Nuclear
                                   -Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] principles
                                         -Peaceful uses [of atomic energy]
                             -East Room signing
                             -Briefings of Congressmen
                                   -Kissinger
                             -George P. Shultz, Nikolai S. Patolichev
                                   -Rogers and Gromyko
                                   -Briefings
                                         -Shultz, Rogers, Kissinger
                                         -Congress and press
                                             -97-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                              -Kissinger

     Kissinger’s briefing, June 14
           -Congressional response
                 -Watergate
                       -Diversion
                 -Photographs with Congressmen

     President’s schedule
           -Brezhnev visit
                 -San Clemente accommodations
                       -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin and wife
                       -Brezhnev
                       -Gromyko and Rogers
                 -Speech taping
                       -Camp David
                 -Signing ceremonies

Also recorded on June 14, 1973

  • 040-115 5:43 PM · 3 min — Henry A. Kissinger and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:46 pm.
  • 040-116 5:46 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:46 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 446-007 5:58 PM · 4 min — 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 5:58 pm and 6:03 pm.
  • 446-008 5:58 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Chief Petty Officer met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 6:03 pm.
  • 040-118 6:03 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 6:03 pm.
  • 040-119 6:03 PM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:03 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 446-009 6:03 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:03 pm to 6:04 pm.
  • 446-010 6:04 PM · 37 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 6:04 pm and 6:08 pm.

All 74 conversations from June 14, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 040-117, June 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/040-117 (accessed October 9, 2026).