Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 197 › Conversation 197-010

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on John Connally and Media Relations

Saturday, July 22, 1972 · 2:25 PM–2:31 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation197-010 on Tape 197StartSaturday, July 22, 1972 at 2:25 PMEndSaturday, July 22, 1972 at 2:31 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 197-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed strategic communication tactics regarding the administration’s handling of political opponents and foreign policy optics. The discussion focused on coordinating messaging for an upcoming media appearance by John Connally, specifically regarding his potential appointments to advisory boards and his response to political inquiries. Furthermore, the two men addressed the necessity of maintaining a firm public stance against political criticism concerning the Vietnam War and the deployment of naval assets.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 43% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Hi, Henry, are you in New York?
Or Washington?
Yeah.
I had one item briefly that I wanted to mention to you.
Conley said that he had a call from James, who is the president of Standard & Jersey.
You know him, don't you?
Ken James, good man, good man.
If you, if you would do it, and if you could, you could also, if you wouldn't mind, you could just take the time maybe.
And maybe, maybe just, just to call, I think it would be better if you just called Connelly and said what you were doing so that he could tell you in this manner.
You don't have to talk to James.
No, he's down here.
He's going to be on Face the Nation tomorrow.
He's working with Colson on the...
on the Democrats for next Sunday.
He's doing it.
He's doing it.
No, yes, I keep running back today.
I've been back to Washington already, and I'm back on the campaign.
I had to come down for a wedding, so he came down with me.
But he's in great shape and so forth.
And the second thing is this, that I, he's not going to be on this program when we're talking to him.
I've covered virtually everything, but I had forgotten that, while I don't think the press will raise it, they might ask
said the President had mentioned that he had an idea of part-time assignments where he could tell us what to do tomorrow.
I wonder if he could, I think he ought to say that what the President says to be served on foreign intelligence advisory board, you know, the other one, and then say that he also has discussed others that I'm not familiar with.
He discussed them at this point, but it would be disarming that we should wait to get the Senate's information.
But you're talking that we want to be sure, we want him to put that out on that too.
recent skits for confirmation.
But he should mention Fiat.
See, that's when he can mention, because I don't have to.
The president has asked me, and I accept it as a question.
All right.
What else is new in your place?
I don't know if I can get you at lunch.
I hope not.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
In other words, your thought is basically grind them up.
Now, that hasn't occurred to me, but you're so right.
You know, it was like Lance Augustine.
Remember, once they shot them, they couldn't shoot later on.
Once they grind up now, they can't shoot later.
That's why, as I read that, I was reading that, and I was like,
But what was impressive to me, I just thought, thank God we've got those carriers, and what we've got to do is out there.
You know?
And the other thing, well, we've got the extra one.
That's the point.
Isn't that true?
Because they're really, really fast and powerful, these people.
Right, right, right.
So true.
The man ought to announce this, you know.
My God, I'm not going to give aid to an enemy they've killed.
And the coast is saying that one of his people are saying that one of the issues they're going to make is 20,000 American dead when there's this new president.
Jesus Christ.
I love them.
Thank you.
That's fine.
And I hope you get out of town.
It's harder than that.
It's just hell outside.
Oh, good.
Okay.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On July 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:25 pm to 2:31 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 197-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 197-010

Date: July 22, 1972
Time: 2:25 pm - 2:31 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

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

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 136-7]

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number LPRN-T-MDR-
2014-015. Segment exempt per Executive Order 13526, 3.3(b)(1) on 04/29/2019. Archivist:MAS]
[National Security]
[197-010-w001]
[Duration: 1m 30s]

       SAUDI ARABIA

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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Also recorded on July 22, 1972

  • 136-006 2:17 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:17 pm and 2:25 pm.
  • 136-007 2:17 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:17 pm and 2:25 pm.
  • 197-009 2:17 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:17 pm and 2:25 pm.
  • 136-008 2:31 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:37 pm.
  • 197-011 2:31 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:37 pm.
  • 136-009 2:37 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at Camp David from 2:37 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 197-012 2:37 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:37 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 136-010 2:44 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:44 pm and 2:46 pm.

All 29 conversations from July 22, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 197-010, July 22, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/197-010 (accessed October 12, 2026).