Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-129

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on William P. Rogers and Foreign relations

Tuesday, February 20, 1973 · 7:43 PM–7:44 PM ET · White House Telephone · 41 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation043-129 on Tape 43StartTuesday, February 20, 1973 at 7:43 PMEndTuesday, February 20, 1973 at 7:44 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-129 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417194969 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger coordinated the preparation for Secretary of State William P. Rogers' upcoming testimony regarding foreign relations. The discussion confirmed that Rogers had been briefed on the imminent release of a U.S.-People's Republic of China communiqué. They agreed that providing Rogers with the text by the following afternoon was the appropriate strategy to handle potential congressional inquiries on the matter.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 20, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:43 pm to 7:44 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-129 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-129

Date: February 20, 1973
Time: 7:43 pm - 7:44 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

       Foreign relations
             -Testimony by William P. Rogers
                                             -75-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                  -US and People’s Republic of China [PRC] communiqué
                       -Briefing by Kissinger

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

It occurs to me that perhaps before his testimony, you ought to perhaps tell him that he gets questions on China, that there will be a communique on the China thing tomorrow.

Don't you think you should, on Thursday?

Right.

Well, that I've told him already.

Oh, he knows there's going to be a communique.

Well, that's the answer to the damn thing.

That's good.

You told him there would be a communique and that you'd have the text by tomorrow afternoon.

That's right.

All right, good.

That's good, then.

That's good.

Okay.

Right, Mr. President.

Also recorded on February 20, 1973

411-021 6:10 PM · 34 sec — unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 11:59 pm.
043-125 7:21 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 7:21 pm to 7:22 pm.
043-126 7:22 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:22 pm and 7:30 pm.
043-127 7:30 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:30 pm to 7:41 pm.
043-128 7:41 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:41 pm and 7:43 pm.
043-130 7:44 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:44 pm and 7:54 pm.
043-131 7:54 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:54 pm and 8:21 pm.
043-133 8:21 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:21 pm and 10:00 pm.

All 29 conversations from February 20, 1973 →

Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Economic Policy and Foreign Relations August 4, 1971 · 60 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Domestic Policy and Political Strategy September 30, 1971 · 26 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on People's Republic of China April 27, 1971 · 20 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on People's Republic of China and Mao Tse-tung February 14, 1972 · 8 min
Nixon phone call with Lewis on People's Republic of China and Soviet Union February 29, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon & Kissinger on People's Republic of China and Ping-pong diplomacy April 21, 1971 · 5 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-129, February 20, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417194969). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-129 (accessed November 15, 2026).