Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 44 › Conversation 044-017

Nixon phone call with Rogers on ICCS and Canada-US relations

Thursday, March 22, 1973 · 4:02 PM–4:05 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation044-017 on Tape 44StartThursday, March 22, 1973 at 4:02 PMEndThursday, March 22, 1973 at 4:05 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 044-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon briefed Secretary of State William P. Rogers on a telephone conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau regarding Canada’s participation in the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS). Nixon pressed for Canada to remain in the commission for at least a few more months to avoid the appearance that their departure caused the mission’s collapse. Rogers was instructed to follow up with Canadian Foreign Minister Mitchell Sharp to finalize this commitment after the Canadian cabinet reviewed the matter.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Secretary Rogers, sir.
Yeah, okay.
Hello?
Bill, I just talked to Trudeau on the phone, and it was a long, rather interesting conversation.
I suppose it was a good idea.
He said they were going to have a meeting tomorrow.
He said he didn't know whether they could carry the house on it.
That's their problem.
They're going to talk to his cabinet about it.
made all the arguments, told him the letter was on its road.
Of course, all the points I covered went far beyond the letter.
And then he finally said, well, I said, suppose we could have a backup position that they could stay on, not indefinitely, but for several months.
I said, well, that would sure be a lot better than getting off.
And I left the impression, which I think makes some sense with him, is that
if they got off, that even though it might not be fair, that it would appear that Canada's failure to serve was the primary reason why it blew up.
And he said that Sharp would be in touch with you tomorrow with regard to what their decision was.
I feel quite sure that Sharpe will make the recommendation they stay on.
Stay on?
Yeah, for a reasonable length of time.
Yeah.
Well, I was thinking that even if they stay for several months, that's not too bad, is it?
Oh, no.
I mean, just so they don't get off now.
That's right.
Yeah.
Well, I think this was very important.
So I did, and I was thinking that you, I also told him incidentally, he said he heard I'd made a speech today about
and mentioned Canada about trade relations, which I suppose is one of our statements to the Congress.
And I just, George Shultz just came in.
So I have told him that I was going to discuss at length their views with Shultz, which I have now done.
And so, and then George, of course, he wanted his print quoco, print quoco.
So, but if you could give, I think if you could even follow up with Sharp with a call tonight, if you think well of it.
So I had this talk with the prime minister and then I, I think it's, I didn't, uh,
The letter is almost pro-pharma.
He hoped it would be up there today.
And I said, sure, it'll be up there.
But it didn't say hardly anything.
So I went into the Canadians and the, I mean, to the Hungarians and the Poles and the Chinese and the Russians and DRV and the GVN and told them we were going to work on them all.
But, you know.
That's good.
That's it.
Okay.
Well, thanks very much, Mr. Mayor.
That's very helpful.
I appreciate it.
Bye.

NARA Description

On March 22, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:02 pm and 4:05 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 044-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 044-017

Date: March 22, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:02 pm and 4:05 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See also Conversation No. 887-25]

       The President’s conversation with Pierre E. Trudeau

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

[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-013. Segment declassified on 12/20/2017. Archivist: MAS]
[National Security]
[044-017-w001]
[Duration: 2m 2s]

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

       The President's conversation with Pierre E. Trudeau
            -International Commission of Control and Supervision [ICCS]
                  -Continued Canadian participation
                  -March 23, 1973 Canadian cabinet meeting
                  -Support of Canadian Parliament
                  -The President's letter to Pierre E. Trudeau
                  -Canadian participation for limited period
                  -Potential result of Canadian withdrawal
                  -March 23, 1973 Mitchell Sharpe telephone call to William P. Rogers
                         -Decision on Canadian participation
            -The President’s message to Congress on trade relations
                  -Forthcoming discussion between the President and George P. Shultz
            -March 22, 1973 William P. Rogers telephone call to Mitchell Sharpe
            -The President's letter to Pierre E. Trudeau
            -Hungarians and Polish
            -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
            -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
            -Democratic Republic of Vietnam [DRV]
            -Government of Vietnam [GVN]

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

Also recorded on March 22, 1973

  • 887-020 3:43 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:43 pm and 3:48 pm.
  • 044-015 3:48 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre E. Trudeau talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 4:01 pm.
  • 887-022 3:48 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre E. Trudeau met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 4:01 pm.
  • 044-016 4:01 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:01 pm and 4:02 pm.
  • 887-023 4:01 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:01 pm.
  • 887-024 4:01 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:01 pm.
  • 887-025 4:02 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:02 pm and 4:05 pm.
  • 887-026 4:05 PM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:05 pm and 5:00 pm.

All 71 conversations from March 22, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 044-017, March 22, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/044-017 (accessed October 2, 2026).