Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 160 › Conversation 160-004

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Congressional relations

Friday, January 5, 1973 · 8:27 PM–8:31 PM ET · Camp David Study Table ·4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation160-004 onTape 160StartFriday, January 5, 1973 at 8:27 PMEndFriday, January 5, 1973 at 8:31 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 160-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directs Henry Kissinger to adopt a cold, confrontational demeanor during an upcoming meeting with Senator Mike Mansfield to pressure him regarding Congressional opposition to the Vietnam War. Nixon insists that Kissinger blame Mansfield and other Democrats for jeopardizing peace negotiations by threatening to cut off war funding, warning that the President will publicly address the nation to assign blame if the Senate persists. The President emphasizes that Kissinger must abandon conciliatory tactics and clearly communicate that Senate actions have undermined the administration's leverage in ongoing talks.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Hello?
Henry?
Mr. President.
Were they going to get you at home?
No, I'm going to Joe Alsop's.
He's giving a dinner for General Abrams.
Oh, I see.
I'm in my office still.
Right.
How'd you get along with Scott Ford?
Oh, very well.
Very well.
And Ford is really steamed up now.
And he has a resolution which I worked out with him and Anderson and Ahrens.
which the house caucus he thinks is going to pass overwhelmingly tomorrow right which is what i want you to do what i want you to do tomorrow with mansfield and you're not going to like this but i want you to do it is to tell him and very coldly you've talked to the president tonight and after the senate uh indication that they'd cut off funds in the 20th that the president uh that we as he tried to tell mansfield when he met with him
The hopes for that, and this is probably torpedoed the hopes for the things in the Senate.
The president will go on television on Wednesday or Thursday of this week to tell him so, tell the nation so.
To torpedo what?
The negotiations.
The negotiations.
I want you to play a very hard line with him, very cold.
Say, Senator, I regret to say that we had it made.
You know what I mean?
Right.
What I mean is that we feel we had a very good chance.
Your resolution now has cooled it off.
And the president is going to go on national television.
He regrets doing it because it was a great personal affection for you.
But he's going to have to say this.
Scare the shit out of him.
Now, I want you to do that.
No, I don't mind doing it at all.
You've got to do it, Henry.
You've got to start playing the game a little bit stronger than we've been playing it.
Did he put in a resolution today?
No.
The star tonight has a thing that the Senate will cut off funds on January 20th.
Yeah, I didn't see it.
I'll have to take a look, but I'll say it anyway.
Right.
Independent.
I just didn't know specifically to what you were referring.
That's right.
See what I mean?
Yeah.
I just want you to say, Senator, I regret to say, but your resolution probably has destroyed the chance for an honorable peace.
The president, and you can just say that you have no other choice but to advise the president to go on television and to point this out when you return.
If it fails, put it that way, see?
So that he knows that it's all I'm in.
And be very cold and very tough with him, not a bit conciliatory.
Don't give him an itch.
I was at your reception today very cold to him.
He came up and tried to be very friendly, and I just shook hands and moved on to somebody else.
Good, good, good.
You see what I mean?
What they've done.
The Canadian parliament is something else.
But for the Democrats and the Congress to play this kind of a line, we're not going to let them get away with it.
But I want him to be coldly treated in the morning.
I would be icy and say that, I'm sorry, Senator, but I think you, I regret to say you've torpedoed the negotiations and that you are going to have to advise the president to go on and say so.
And the president, you've talked to him.
He says, I regret to say that I'm going to have to do it.
Absolutely, I think that's what I meant to suggest this morning.
That doesn't bother me a bit.
not a bit you've been overly generous to these people right tonight with these people i'd play a very confident cool calm line you know oh yeah absolutely not not not not optimistic but just say we don't know what's going to happen but by god we know what we're doing and this is unconscionable and wrong and so forth okay absolutely mr president okay

NARA Description

On January 5, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:27 pm to 8:31 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 160-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 160-4

Date: January 5, 1973
Time: 8:27 pm - 8:31 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 239-4]
                                              -7-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                       (rev. August-08)

                                                               Conversation No. 160-4 (cont’d)

       Kissinger's schedule
             -Joseph W. Alsop
                   -Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
             -Meeting with Hugh Scott and Gerald R. Ford
                   -John B. Anderson
                   -Leslie C. Arends
                   -House Caucus
             -Meeting with Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
                   -Instructions
                         -Senate's funds cut off
                               -Effect
                               -Vietnam negotiations
                               -The President's Television [TV] address
                    -Washington Star column
                   -Instructions
                   -Meeting with Mansfield
                         -Kissinger’s demeanor

       Senate actions relating to Vietnam
            -Canadian parliament
            -Democrats
            -Mansfield

       Kissinger's demeanor at meeting
             -The President’s instructions

Also recorded on January 6, 1973

  • 239-004 8:27 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:27 pm to 8:31 pm.
  • 160-005 8:31 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 239-005 8:31 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 239-010 8:31 PM · 12 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 160-006 8:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:47 pm to 8:49 pm.
  • 239-006 8:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:47 pm to 8:49 pm.
  • 160-007 8:49 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:49 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 239-007 8:49 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:49 pm to 8:50 pm.

All 37 conversations from January 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 160-004, January 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/160-004 (accessed September 18, 2026).