Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 86 › Conversation 086-001

Nixon, Irwin & Packard on India-Pakistan conflict and Soviet Union

Thursday, December 9, 1971 · 4:41 PM–4:56 PM ET · Cabinet Room

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Irwin, John N., II;  Packard, David;  Helms, Richard M.;  Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.);  Kissinger, Henry A.;  Nixon, Richard M. (President);  Irwin, John N., II;  Packard, David;  Helms, Richard M.;  Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.);  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation086-001 onTape 86StartThursday, December 9, 1971 at 4:41 PMEndThursday, December 9, 1971 at 4:56 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 086-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with senior administration officials, including Henry Kissinger, Richard Helms, and Admiral Thomas Moorer, to discuss urgent foreign policy concerns regarding the escalating India-Pakistan conflict and the geopolitical maneuvering of the Soviet Union. The participants evaluated the risks posed by Soviet involvement in the region and the potential for broader international instability. The meeting served to align the administration's strategic stance on these pressing global security challenges.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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15:39I didn't know I had this problem when I got up here.
15:42I don't know if I said it or I didn't speak of it, but I have a problem with it.
15:52I think I'm a little curious about that anyway.
15:54Just to say this is the problem.
16:06The president has told us that the Soviets are in this position and are coming in this position fast.
16:10Something doesn't have to be fast, right?
16:11There is a problem.
16:12There is a problem.
16:13Yes, that's the reason I worry.
16:14I don't think any of us will be left here.
16:27They can't act like that anymore.
16:53Stortbroker, det var det atlet som kom i dag.
18:59All over the world, yes.
20:11I want to show you what it's like, so let me go ahead and pull that door, or that.
20:16I don't know if I should want to go down that door, but that would be cool, wouldn't it?
20:21Or...
20:21I see that.
20:22Yeah.
20:22Now, it's tiny, man.
20:22It's starting to still start to come out.
20:38Thank you very much.
20:39Thank you very much.
21:01I'd like to say a word about this bill.
21:27Thank you very much, and I want to say a word in relation to the bill, and also in relation to the members of the House and Senate who are here, both Republicans and Democrats, who were coming.
21:32I guess, again, like I said, this is a kind of fiscal bill, like a debt.
21:44It's a bill truly that's working for all Americans.
21:47It's increasing sanctions, increasing sanctions on all American citizens.
21:52That, in another sense, is also a vital part of the future of this country.
21:57The new economic program that was announced in August this year.
22:04The other part of the program is equally important.
22:25Over 3 million automobiles.
22:47and have been sold since the announcement on August 15th of May.
22:48That means that an average of $200 for 3 million people will be repaid against themselves via the Congress.
22:51And we can see that approximately $600 million will be exposed against ourselves around the 16th of May, even if the government does not trust us at all.
23:11On the other side, too, we have the job creation aspects in our own areas of non-development credits, and which we believe will have the effect of stimulating investment money in our industries in New England, but will also have the added benefit of making America's industry better.
23:29More contentious than it has been for a long time.
23:33Now I worry about how it all came about.
23:36When I made the proposal, I was very afraid to deny it.
23:40I recall, and David, and a lot of other members of the administration working for the Congress, some of those who were there said it was impossible to send a tax bill to the Congress at this time of year, just as the Lord elected to do it.
23:56and expect the bill to come out in a responsible way.
24:00In fact, it was said that a tax bill presented to the Congress now would inevitably end up as a Christmas tree.
24:06But, of course, Satan has to close that.
24:09It would be a Christmas tree in the sense that it would be slow-loaded down the bridge, because it would break down the tree.
24:18I would like to say that the tax bill
24:21that has been shown by the ranking members, and all the members of the finance committee, the chairman and the ranking member and their colleagues, the chairman and the ranking member and their colleagues on the Senate finance committee, has presented a splendid example of our system of work, and where it has been.
24:44This is the Christmas tree.
24:47It is one which there is something for all of you to speak, but it is one which will not break down the truth.
24:56It could have been that temptation of telling them that Congress is coming forward with a responsible bill, which will mess up the economy, mess it all up.
25:05So, speaking for the American people, for the administration, I want to give it credit for their students.
25:13Thank you very much
25:45I'll be waiting here until I can call you again.
26:13Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:14Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:16Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:17Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:18Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:19Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:20Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:22Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:23Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:25Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:26Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:28Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:30Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:31Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:32Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:34Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
26:36Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
26:37Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On December 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Irwin, II, David Packard, Richard M. Helms, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 4:41 pm and 4:56 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 086-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 86-1

Date: December 9, 1971
Time: 4:41 pm - unknown before 4:56 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

The President met with John N. Irwin, II, David Packard, Richard M. Helms, Admiral Thomas
H. Moorer, and Henry A. Kissinger
[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress]

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

     The President’s meeting with Soviets

     India/Pakistan conflict

The President left at 4:54 pm

[To listen to the segment (15m33s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-569.]

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

Recording ends at an unknown time before 4:56 pm

Also recorded on December 9, 1971

  • 634-009 3:32 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Jaime Arguelles, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:32 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 634-010 3:36 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:57 pm.
  • 634-011 3:57 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:57 pm to 3:59 pm.
  • 634-012 4:00 PM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vladimir V. Marskevich, Yuli M. Vorontsov, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:00 pm to 4:41 pm.
  • 634-013 4:54 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 4:54 pm and 4:56 pm.
  • 634-014 4:54 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:54 pm and 4:56 pm.
  • 634-015 4:56 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:56 pm to 4:59 pm.
  • 634-016 4:59 PM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:59 pm to 5:54 pm.

All 44 conversations from December 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 086-001, December 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/086-001 (accessed September 18, 2026).