Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 311 › Conversation 311-046

Nixon & Kissinger on John Connally and Pat Buchanan

Sunday, January 2, 1972 · 3:40 PM–3:50 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation311-046 on Tape 311 (tape position 02:28:01–02:32:48)StartSunday, January 2, 1972 at 3:40 PMEndSunday, January 2, 1972 at 3:50 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 311-046 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss internal concerns regarding the political optics of John Connally's role within the administration. The conversation touches upon the management of public impressions and the potential influence of press coverage by figures such as Pat Buchanan. Despite the fragmented transcript, the participants deliberate on administrative messaging strategies and the handling of internal staff perceptions.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 61.7 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 02:28:01 into the tape and ends around 02:32:48.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
2:28:48Hello.
2:28:49It's Bob.
2:28:52I was looking over Buchanan's last story on Connelly and his acceptance of him.
2:29:07where Bromley is supposed to go, and then Connelly, and then Connelly, and then Connelly, and then Connelly.
2:29:19You had kept, you benefited from Connelly, and so it really comes down very close to the impression of the story that he was not good.
2:29:30They all get confused, and you know it's that kind of thing.
2:29:38Well, it's certainly a good idea for YouTube, for example, on the White House stats.
2:29:43I shouldn't be in the way of that.
2:29:49It's a good one.
2:29:51Yeah.
2:29:51I should see it myself.
2:29:51But I think it's a good idea.
2:29:53I think that's a good idea.
2:29:55It's a good idea.
2:29:56It's a good idea.
2:29:59It's a good idea.
2:30:00It's a good idea.
2:30:40Hello!
2:30:41John.
2:30:41Hi, I'm Ace.
2:30:43I got in here last year and noticed that you can't have that son of a gun.
2:31:19The wife and the star had a very curious feast with the pregnant dove.
2:31:30It was all in a loft of flowers.
2:31:36The other line was that the lion had said, I'm going to go back and check to see what that deer had done.
2:31:43And the thing is that...
2:31:51That's the long history that they're following.
2:31:55Those are the only two things that I see that are different from each other.
2:32:03And of course, there's a traditional memory play on every attack plan.
2:32:09They're sporadic, not real.
2:32:14It's not that serious.
2:32:18I got a little bit, I mean, I'm going to go so far as to indicate that that's been tried and they won't take it, you know what I mean.

NARA 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 3:40 pm to 3:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 311-046 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 311-46

Date: January 2, 1972
Time: 3:40 pm - 3:50 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 17-146]

Also recorded on January 2, 1972

  • 017-144 3:30 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 3:30 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 311-044 3:30 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:30 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 017-145 3:36 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 311-045 3:36 PM · 14 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 3:36 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 017-146 3:40 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 3:40 pm to 3:50 pm.
  • 017-147 3:50 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:50 pm and 3:58 pm.
  • 311-047 3:50 PM · 33 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 3:50 pm and 3:58 pm.
  • 017-148 3:58 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 3:58 pm to 4:07 pm.

All 39 conversations from January 2, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 311-046, January 2, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/311-046 (accessed October 12, 2026).