Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 321 › Conversation 321-024
Nixon, Kissinger & Sanchez on People's Republic of China and Foreign Policy
Wednesday, March 8, 1972 · 3:55 PM–4:35 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 29 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to coordinate strategy for upcoming foreign policy challenges and domestic political management. They discussed potential questions from White House staffer Pat Buchanan regarding the recent trip to the People's Republic of China, specifically focusing on the Taiwan communiqué and its domestic impact. The pair also reviewed the President's upcoming schedule, including a potential Moscow trip announcement and the logistics of Kissinger’s future travel to Japan, Korea, and Paris.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 20 minutes of this recording (about 71% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.
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NARA Description
On March 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:35 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 321-024 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 321-24
Date: March 8, 1972
Time: 3:55 pm - 4:35 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
Kissinger’s schedule
-Dr. Kenneth W. Riland
Lunch
-Sans Souci
-Art Buchwald
-Wife
-Vote for the President
-Spiro T. Agnew
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/09/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[321-024-w001]
[Duration: 1m 30s]
Henry A. Kissinger
-Democrats
-Edmund S. Muskie
-George S. McGovern
-The President’s opinion
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Unknown person’s view on 1976 candidacy
-Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
-Trustworthiness
******************************************************************************
Set of questions
[Kissinger talked to an unknown person at an unknown time between 3:55 pm and 4:35 pm.]
[Conversation No. 321-24A]
Delivery of questions by unknown person
[End of telephone conversation]
President’s schedule
-Moscow trip
-Possible announcement
-William P. Rogers
-Previous conversation with the President
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-Kissinger’s meeting
-Kissinger’s forthcoming call
-Announcement of Paris channel
-Timing
-Possible press conference
-Possible questions from Patrick J. Buchanan
-Impact of People’s Republic of China [PRC] communiqué
-Vietnam
-Japan
-Taiwan, Republic of China
-Japan
-Reaction
-Eisaku Sato
-Takeo Fukuda
-Taiwan
-Japan
-Buchanan
-People’s Republic of China [PRC] trip
-Communiqué
-Settlement of issues
-Exchange rate
-Diplomatic contact with Taiwan
-Taiwan
-Renunciation of force
-PRC
-Questions
-Communiqué
-Kissinger’s opinion
-Backgrounder
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Opinion
-PRC authority
-Acknowledgement
-Buchanan
-Questions
-PRC leadership
-Age
-Need for urgent action
-Chou En-lai
-Mutual interests
-Personal reflections
-Preparations
-Vietnam
-US-Japan relationship
-PRC
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 3:55 pm.
Request to put away unknown item
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 4:35 pm.
PRC trip
-Communiqué
-Shanghai
-Buchwald
-Evaluation of the President
-Liberal program
-Buchanan
-Communiqué
-Taiwan
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
-Buchanan
-William L. Safire
-Foreign policy
-Questions
-Kissinger
News summary
-Prospects for resolving Buchanan issue
-Reaction time
-Buckley
-Kissinger’s intended call
Canada
-Forthcoming trip by the President
-Timing
-Rogers’s request
-Dinner for foreign ministers of Organization of American States [OAS]
-Timing
-President’s opinion
-Canada
White House staff
Possible press conference
-Taiwan
-Kissinger’s answers
-President’s viewing
**************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number LPRN-T-MDR-
2014-018. Segment exempt per Executive Order 13526, 3.3(b)(1) on 04/29/2019. Archivist: DR]
[National Security]
[321-024-w003]
[Duration: 1m 2s]
JAPAN
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**************************************************************************
The President’s schedule
-Unknown place
-Florida
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Gridiron dinner
-Japan
-Pierre E. Trudeau
-Rogers
-Japan
-Aid
Possible press conference
-Questions
-Middle East
-Nuclear test ban
-Compared to press conferences in Great Britain
-House Of Commons
-[James] Harold Wilson
-Memory skills
-Questions
-English Press
-Compared to US press
Press conference
-Old rules used by the press
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Questions
-Preparation by the President
-Intellectual exercise
-Busing
-Social Security
-Minimum wage
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/09/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[321-024-w004]
[Duration: 39s]
Democratic presidential candidates
-Henry A. Kissinger’s opinion
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Intelligence
-The President’s analysis
******************************************************************************
Forthcoming Moscow trip
-Significance
-Compared to PRC trip
PRC trip
-Newsweek
-Honor guard
-The President’s gesture with Chou En-lai’s coat
-Unknown person
-Possible talk with Kissinger
Gridiron dinner
-Kissinger’s presence
-President’s appearance at dinner
-PRC issue
President’s schedule
-Press conference
-Timing
-Canada
Kissinger’s trips
-Length
-Guam
-Korea
-Taiwan
-Korea
-Taiwan
-Paris
-Anchorage
-Meetings
-Schedule
-Timing
-Japan
-Paris
-President’s opinion
-Canadians
-Kissinger’s location
Kissinger left at 4:35 pm.Also recorded on March 8, 1972
- 021-039 4:03 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone at 4:03 pm.
- 321-025 4:35 PM · 2 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 4:35 pm and 4:40 pm.
- 321-026 4:35 PM · 5 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 4:35 pm and 4:40 pm.
- 021-023 4:40 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 4:40 pm to 4:43 pm.
- 321-027 4:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:40 pm to 4:43 pm.
- 321-028 4:43 PM · 10 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 4:43 pm and 4:56 pm.
- 021-024 4:56 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 4:56 pm to 5:01 pm.
- 321-029 4:56 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:56 pm to 5:01 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 321-024, March 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/321-024 (accessed October 2, 2026).