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Conversation 311-041

TapeTape 311StartSunday, January 2, 1972 at 12:39 PMEndSunday, January 2, 1972 at 12:48 PMTape start time02:16:24Tape end time02:21:13ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.Recording deviceOld Executive Office Building
AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss the strategic challenges of formulating a public response regarding U.S. military involvement in Laos and Cambodia. They focus on the difficulty of maintaining a clear policy stance while distinguishing these operations from the broader Vietnamization program. The conversation highlights the administration's concern over how to justify and defend these incursions against anticipated political criticism.

Vietnam WarLaosCambodiaVietnamizationForeign PolicyPublic Relations
AudioNARA Description

On January 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:39 pm to 12:48 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 311-041 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 311-41

Date: January 2, 1972
Time: 12:39 pm - 12:48 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 17-142]
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Hello.
Yeah.
Hello.
But one thing about our wings tonight, I want to change the, you know, where the rod is.
Therefore, we have all this part of the curtain and, you know, the friction.
We're going to have that, the way we're going to do it is we're going to have all these two wires, you know, four of each other.
Bye bye, ain't no spare today.
Søren, takk for i dag.
Ha det bra.
Hello?
Hello?
When do you leave for California?
So you're going out with us?
Oh, I see.
Oh, I see.
I know you're going to go out there at 5.30.
But I'm not going for 5.30.
Go out with us if you want.
All right.
Fine, fine.
Yeah.
All right.
Go ahead.
Okay, on this...
I don't understand how to answer all the Laos questions if you don't have any comments, you know, there, etc.
But I understand that it began long before, in the last, and they might add to our Laos national podium.
So, how does the country stick on that?
What can I do?
The question is, what are we talking about?
It's gone.
In the city.
In the city, because you have a city in the city.
The separation of South Vietnam and the rest of the Indian infiltration was justified on the basis of the repressions of the Americans.
The problem, of course, is this.
To what extent are we going to commit ourselves for the protests in Cambodia and the events in Laos as distinct from the Vietnam and Vietnamization?
That's the critical question that many smart guys will ask.
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