Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 310 › Conversation 310-024

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Peace negotiations

Sunday, December 26, 1971 · 11:45 AM–11:52 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation310-024 on Tape 310 (tape position 03:05:14–03:11:08)StartSunday, December 26, 1971 at 11:45 AMEndSunday, December 26, 1971 at 11:52 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 310-024 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to discuss international strategy, shifting from casual holiday pleasantries to substantive foreign policy concerns. They evaluated diplomatic options regarding Vietnam, agreeing to present a firm peace proposal to avoid protracted negotiations. The conversation also touched on the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War, specifically criticizing India’s prolonged presence in Bangladesh and its impact on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 53.7 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:05:14 into the tape and ends around 03:11:08.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
3:07:49Did you survive it?
3:07:51Were you in the big house?
3:08:13Well, that'll be better.
3:08:14You can get more service there.
3:08:17Yeah.
3:08:17Your children with you?
3:08:20Tell me this, it's raining down there though, isn't it?
3:08:25Will it stop?
3:08:29They stopped, it rained yesterday because I called after Hoover down there and it was raining.
3:08:41You tell your kids to walk to the lighthouse, will you?
3:08:45Well, they tell them that I always did that when I came to keep this game.
3:08:48You know, they won't be bothered.
3:08:49It's a mile and a half walk.
3:08:51It's the best walk in the world.
3:08:53They can, you know, pick up the shells.
3:08:55It's a great fun.
3:08:57And they can do anything they want.
3:08:59If it's swimming in the bed, they're hitting it over the other side.
3:09:06Well, they... Oh, they did.
3:09:07That's why I was calling to see what kind of a one they get off.
3:09:16Well, at least that's one day of it, huh?
3:09:24Well, I think it's a good time to do it, don't you?
3:09:26On the other side, by the way.
3:09:36Well, there, I think they're really, if your analysis may be correct, you know, they may be getting, trying to get to a bargaining position.
3:09:50We're going to be awful hard to negotiate with until at this point.
3:09:53There's no reason to get to go through that business of Paris again.
3:09:58I'm just out by me.
3:10:04No, they aren't interested in who did what and whom.
3:10:06They're only interested in, well, you remember, now is the time to have the benefit of what we did in October of 69, 70.
3:10:12Just put out a new peace plan, and then they will get a big play, and they will say they'll not answer it, and that's that.
3:10:27I would simply, without going into detail, I would simply say we have had 10 or 15 private meetings on this, and Matt has presented this all to them, and this is our offer.
3:10:41Yes.
3:10:43That's right.
3:10:48Correct.
3:10:51Correct.
3:10:51This strike will probably not be played in the papers until tomorrow.
3:11:02This is the one that hits mainly in the geopass area and that sort of place.
3:11:07Well, that was the purpose for getting there.
3:11:16You figured you could get some planes, knock out some planes.
3:11:25than nothing else in the world.
3:11:27I noticed that our Indian friends are having trouble, aren't they?
3:11:31They're now admitting that they've got to stay in Bangladesh for a few months, right?
3:11:40And then also telling Bhutto that he can't claim as part of that.
3:11:43Well, my God, I think Bhutto screams at the housetops about that.

NARA Description

On December 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:45 am to 11:52 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 310-024 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 310-24

Date: December 26, 1971
Time: 11:45 am - 11:52 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 17-100; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on December 26, 1971

  • 017-099 11:30 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 11:45 am.
  • 310-023 11:30 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 11:45 am.
  • 017-100 11:45 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 11:45 am to 11:52 am.
  • 017-101 11:52 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-025 11:52 AM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-026 11:52 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo Monson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-027 11:52 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.
  • 310-028 11:52 AM · 11 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 11:52 am and 12:12 pm.

All 31 conversations from December 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 310-024, December 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/310-024 (accessed October 11, 2026).