Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 307 › Conversation 307-004

Nixon & Kissinger on White House briefings and Richard Helms

Wednesday, December 8, 1971 · 12:34 PM–2:15 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation307-004 on Tape 307 (tape position 00:04:20–00:07:15)StartWednesday, December 8, 1971 at 12:34 PMEndWednesday, December 8, 1971 at 2:15 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 307-004 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417185411 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger strategized on the structure of an upcoming briefing regarding the current international situation. Seeking to balance high-level participation, Nixon determined that CIA Director Richard Helms would be excluded, while Secretary of State William Rogers would be included to maintain a specific optics strategy. The meeting concluded with plans to organize the sequence of presenters to ensure the desired political balance during the sessions.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 307-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 307-004

Date: December 8, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     The President's schedule
          -Forthcoming meeting
                -Richard M. Helms
                      -Television
                -William P. Rogers
                -United Nations [UN]
                -Helms
                -Rogers
                -Kissinger
                -Briefing with Helms and Gen. William C. Westmoreland
                -UN
                -Rogers

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I'm going to run this meeting a little differently from this.

I don't want to have Helms on this thing.

You understand?

I'll be on the television front.

I think the thing to do is to get Rogers on some, since he will not be on anything else.

And so I'll let him describe something.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

I thought I'd start with the U.N. and then go into the other thing at a later point.

So the main point of this is we get Rogers in on something during the day and see where he's on.

And then later this afternoon, you will come in so we get the other side.

No, no, no, no.

But I want it so we get the balance.

But you see, there's no reason to have the elements in the West.

I'll just say that we're going to have a briefing on the current situation.

And I'll let Rock respond, OK?

All right, fine.

Also recorded on December 8, 1971

307-001 12:34 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-002 12:34 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-003 12:34 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-005 12:34 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-006 12:34 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-007 12:34 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-008 12:34 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.
307-009 12:34 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:34 pm and 2:15 pm.

All 72 conversations from December 8, 1971 →

Nixon, Helms & Scowcroft on Iran and Oil and Energy Policy February 14, 1973 · 35 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Peace negotiations February 9, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on China policy and William P. Rogers February 29, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Haldeman on People's Republic of China March 7, 1972 · 39 min
Nixon phone call with Byrd on Vietnam War and Foreign policy April 7, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Congressional relations April 11, 1972 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 307-004, December 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417185411). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/307-004 (accessed November 2, 2026).