Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 199 › Conversation 199-012

Nixon phone call with Haig on Henry Kissinger and Diplomatic strategy

Sunday, August 13, 1972 · 10:19 AM–10:22 AM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation199-012 on Tape 199StartSunday, August 13, 1972 at 10:19 AMEndSunday, August 13, 1972 at 10:22 AMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 199-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig coordinate the logistics for Henry Kissinger’s upcoming diplomatic travel to Saigon and Tokyo. The discussion touches upon recent political critiques from Cyrus Vance and Averell Harriman regarding administration policy. Nixon emphasizes the need for strategic silence during the upcoming week to manage public expectations and avoid distracting from the party platform.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Hi.
Is Henry on his way?
Uh-huh.
Fine.
And then let's see what would his plans be.
He'll be there tomorrow.
Now he will go now to...
to Saigon and then to Tokyo.
Yeah, that's right.
That's good, you can go on a week and have a great little interest.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
You know, I was certainly pleased, I've been pleased with the way Rogers and Laird have maintained a little, you know, they've been doing well since then.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, well, the whole point is that it's totally right.
I thought that was a pretty, I mean, that Vance and Harriman saying, well, that's true.
They didn't really back, they didn't back this guy on the key point.
The key point was whether or not he had told us of anything at all, you know what I mean?
You know what I mean?
as they held everybody and swiveled around about whether this or that.
But as an airman, I think it's just a very little part of the curriculum.
Good, good.
Good luck, come on.
And it's good what he said.
Yeah, good, good.
And that's great.
Well, anyway, I told you a little about it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, we'll just stay on in here.
You've got the PR panel.
We should be, I think we should be mum about everything this week.
Not say a week, because they're having a platform.
The rest of the year, they're nothing.
all week, particularly when we build up the expectations.
But that is going to happen.
We just want to come back.

NARA Description

On August 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 10:19 am to 10:22 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 199-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 199-12

Date: August 13, 1972
Time: 10:19 am - 10:22 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 137-18]

Also recorded on August 13, 1972

  • 137-015 10:15 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 10:15 am.
  • 137-016 10:15 AM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 10:15 am.
  • 137-017 10:15 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:19 am.
  • 199-010 10:15 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 10:15 am.
  • 137-018 10:19 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 10:19 am to 10:22 am.
  • 137-019 10:22 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:22 am and 10:45 am.
  • 199-013 10:22 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:22 am and 10:45 am.
  • 199-014 10:22 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:22 am and 10:45 am.

All 29 conversations from August 13, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 199-012, August 13, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/199-012 (accessed October 12, 2026).