Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-179

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Laos

Thursday, February 22, 1973 · 7:24 PM–7:27 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation043-179 on Tape 43StartThursday, February 22, 1973 at 7:24 PMEndThursday, February 22, 1973 at 7:27 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-179 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417195063 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger coordinated the communication strategy regarding upcoming air strikes in Laos and Cambodia, specifically ensuring that Secretary of State William P. Rogers and Elliot Richardson were properly briefed. The strikes were framed as necessary responses to cease-fire violations, justified by formal requests from Souvanna Phouma. Additionally, the pair discussed the political strategy for securing future Congressional support for economic aid in Southeast Asia, with plans to delay formal requests until the performance of the peace agreements could be evaluated.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 22, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:24 pm to 7:27 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-179 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-179

Date: February 22, 1973
Time: 7:24 pm - 7:27 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

       Vietnam War
            -Laos and Cambodia
                  -Air strikes
                  -William P. Rogers
                  -Elliot L. Richardson
                  -William H. Sullivan
                        -William P. Rogers
                  -G. McMurtrie Godley
                  -William P. Rogers
                  -Air strikes
                        -Timing

*****************************************************************

[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-013. Segment declassified on 12/20/2017. Archivist: DR]
[National Security]
[043-179-w001]
[Duration: 4s]

       Vietnam War
            -Laos and Cambodia
                  -Air strikes
                        -Thai troops

*****************************************************************
                                            -104-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 43-179 (cont’d)

       Vietnam War
            -Laos and Cambodia
                  -Air strikes
                        -Souvanna Phouma

       The President’s schedule
            -The President’s speech
                  -Kissinger’s view
                  -Members of Congress
                         -James L. Buckley
                              -Economic aid to Southeast Asia
                                    -Congressional support

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

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Hello, Mr. President.
Henry, I just wanted to be sure that with regard to that Laos and Cambodia strike that both the Rogers and Richardson are informed about it.
Richardson is certainly informed, and I know Sullivan is informed.
I don't know whether he's informed Rogers, but I'll make sure State knows.
Just say that, well, maybe... Godley formally requested it, so there's almost no way they couldn't know.
I see.
Okay, just so that I don't want Rogers to feel that he wasn't informed.
Right.
Will it come tonight or tomorrow night?
Tonight for Laos and tomorrow night or the day after for Cambodia.
For Cambodia there's no problem, of course.
But we almost have to do the Laotian one.
Right.
And we just do it, and then somebody screams.
We simply say that it was... At the request of Sivana Puma.
Sivana Puma, because the ceasefire had been broken by the other side.
Exactly.
Right.
Then they'll see what happens.
That was a great speech you made, Mr. President.
You got there, did you?
Oh, yeah.
And that was a fine group.
I was walking around.
They're quite something, aren't they, you know?
They were so proud of themselves.
Well, that's what they had.
They had to feel some pride, you know, these guys...
taking a lot of heat and the rest, and so they made him stand a little taller.
No, it was a very good speech.
It was a pleasure.
I talked to Buckley a bit on aid.
He said he'd approach it in an open-minded way if we give him a hard-headed reason to be forward.
That's the whole thing.
One fellow came through.
He said he'd have to leave me on aid.
He thought, and I said, well, just mind holding off until you see what it is, and
whether what's going to come from and so forth, and that others are going to participate.
You know, I gave him all that chat.
He says, well, he'd keep an open mind.
Right.
But that's what we're going to have to do is just sort of continue this now.
I think we're going to get it.
It's going to be a tough fight, but I think we're going to get it.
Well, we haven't started to count the votes yet, but we'll see.
Well, we haven't really elaborated a program.
No, and we don't have to go for it for a while.
The...
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
It'll be a couple of months before we even ask for it.
It won't be until May until we are in a decision to do it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And by that time, we'll know how they're performing on the agreement.
That's true, too.
Good, okay.
Right.

Also recorded on February 22, 1973

  • 043-171 2:47 PM · 12 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:16 pm.
  • 043-172 2:47 PM · 29 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:16 pm.
  • 043-174 3:16 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:16 pm to 3:17 pm.
  • 043-175 3:17 PM · 9 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 043-176 3:17 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 043-177 3:17 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and John W. Dean, III talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 043-178 3:17 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 7:24 pm.
  • 411-019 4:04 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Howard H. Baker, Jr., and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:04 pm and 4:54 pm.

All 51 conversations from February 22, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-179, February 22, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417195063). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-179 (accessed November 15, 2026).