Conversation 321-024

TapeTape 321StartWednesday, March 8, 1972 at 3:55 PMEndWednesday, March 8, 1972 at 4:35 PMTape start time02:18:13Tape end time02:47:13ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.;  [Unknown person(s)];  Sanchez, ManoloRecording deviceOld Executive Office Building

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.

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
                          -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

     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
                -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
              -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.

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.

I was with Bob when you called.
I thought you were going to see Riley.
Yeah.
Okay.
I had a...
I had lunch today at the Saucer Sea, and a taco came over from my table.
And he said, you know, it was an unbelievable thing that's happened.
That's why I just determined to vote for you.
And he said, my God, help me.
And I was one of the people who helped him.
You know, that's almost unbelievable.
Hey, brother.
Yeah.
It's not difficult to go through prison.
You know, everyone is disgusted with the Democrats in New Hampshire.
What do they think of that?
Well, they think that now that's an issue.
Uh...
Uh...
It was a sorry lot to watch on television.
I've watched Muskie and McGovern before.
Of course, McGovern.
Well, who told me?
Somebody who knows.
Somebody who knows many things.
That he wants to go in 76.
Change his mind.
But if he thinks he'll go, then he might go.
But if he's after you,
Well, Mr. President, the tragedy is, or the fact is, not the tragedy of everybody, it is the only Democratic candidate of whom one could barely trust as Jackson.
He's not a candidate.
He's not a candidate.
He's not a candidate.
He's not a candidate.
He's not a candidate.
First, with regard to the date for the Moscow trip, can we announce that now?
Rogers tackled me on that again yesterday.
Let me check that with...
He tackled me again and said that the Russians were putting out all over the place.
That's right.
I'll check it with the Breedians tomorrow.
If you could, if I could just say it as of today, it's been said it will be 20 seconds.
I'll call it tonight.
Second point, as I remember, when you announced the Prairie Channel Friday, did I say that tomorrow?
They could announce it tomorrow.
Go ahead, John.
I'll say it in an announcement we made on Friday.
I won't announce it.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I think it's just a matter of time.
I'm fine with it.
All right.
All right.
Now, let me go over a few things.
Ken has got quite a few questions.
He has a lot of questions that I'm really close to.
I'm not sure what he expects me to be asking.
I don't know.
I mean, if we're holding it up, you know, it's a serious point.
You know, it just makes a surprise negative impact.
You know, it's a serious point.
Well, that's one of the questions which I may take out.
It is not true that it made a negative impact on Japan.
The answer to that, A, I don't believe that question would be asked.
It is a question asked.
This is a loaded question.
As far as Taiwan is concerned, of course, it is a very painful thing for them to do.
Once they examine it, once they've heard the statements that were made by Dr. Christensen and by you, it seems to me that they are in phase for the undertone.
There's no essential...
The effect has been...
It's not true, Mr. President.
The impact has been...
It has been on the whole extremely positively.
There's something...
Mr. President, I... Do you think Buchanan goes out of himself?
Yes.
He's concerned about charges of so-and-so.
He gave away more than he got.
I just say more.
I should read my...
I just read my statement.
The answer to that question.
I know, but I don't want to argue with them.
I'll say, I'd argue with them.
I don't want to argue with them.
You tell us.
I'm going to be very careful.
You tell us if most of that community would support the Chinese.
Again, Mr. President, that has been suggested over the advantage and exemption.
What did they just make?
The answer is that the number of suggestions were made by the number of people who reported it, meaning on both sides of the decision to make that.
I think you said we should say that we knew enough people we met there to know that what they hoped that we did was a good prospect of an agreement, but the essential issues were settled there.
That's true.
Which happens to be true.
Extract, extract the money from that pipeline.
All of this was done there.
This is a, this is what I was going to say.
I can't understand it.
We, the Chinese, we're very positive.
We're very positive.
We're very positive.
We're very positive.
For Christ's sake, we said there were no, I'm just going to say no.
There weren't.
Did we get a renunciation, of course, by the PRC in the title on the cover of the matter?
We didn't get a renunciation, of course, but I'm not going to say it.
I'm going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
I'm going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
I'm not going to say it.
Actually, what we said on that is the exact thing.
I would just say the position of this district is one that is said by both Chinese authorities.
And we just acknowledge what they said.
This is a very good question.
Thank you.
I'd like to question some of the questions that you have.
Dr. McCann is really sure that he doesn't stir up questions, you know, that are, you know, basically made to him.
I think that's ridiculous.
On the behalf of the hospital, so to speak, considering the age of the present Chinese leadership, there are certain things you're going to do in terms of your accomplishment.
I'm sure that will be rapidly initiating in the time.
I say, no, the interest in the two nations.
And then they don't agree to you.
Can you give us personal reflections in China?
Have you covered this?
.
.
.
.
.
... ... ... ... ...
There we go.
All right.
All right.
They don't have the right to ask you questions.
They've all been answered.
And then Kay was cleared for Shanghai.
They must have cleared Kay in the back.
That's what happened.
Another thing Buckwell said, which was just fantastic, he said, nobody could like the president.
I know it's true.
I think he's focused that way to me, he's focused that way on
Frankly, I don't see it.
We can't operate because of the fact that the mic is small.
That's what I would say.
I'm self-serving.
I'm self-serving.
I've got a mic, you know.
You know, like we're working here.
The university has no existence.
There's no christian institution.
Technically, he has seen what we have suffered here for the last three years.
I'm not so sure.
I'm not so sure you should reassure them either.
Now what?
Well, part of it is his case in picture, also a case of God damn ego, too.
And he had also the wrong perception of his own, of Sapphire, who actually said that he was driving a few times.
doesn't pretend to be so you can't think of himself as an independent court.
He should give you questions on foreign policy that I don't have the chance to comment on.
I don't object to it.
Oh, I don't intend to.
He would make me do it.
No, no, he got me the big questions and answers which I didn't provide.
And then I see all this good questions.
Oh.
This is telling me that there's a little bit of evidence or that these are wrong questions.
Oh, well, maybe.
maybe they're, you've got to give credit to them.
That's what, that's the disrespect is mine.
I don't know who did what he did.
He should have done that.
But I hope that we get this thing through and we'll say it was something that was an excellent example of how you made this one.
Something more than a creature.
It was something that we wanted to do.
It was something we wanted to do.
It was something we wanted to do.
I suspected it, but I've never...
I think the devil is trying to kill me.
Joe, of course you can't react.
Joe, if we don't react, what am I going to do?
You were based on that kind of call about me.
I said, what the hell did you say that for?
I wanted to.
I indeed wanted to.
I said I was going to call him again, but he just wanted to have me talking to him now.
I don't know.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And, uh, you know, then I go to, uh, and I suppose I ought to do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
I'll do this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
.
.
.
.
.
I don't know what they call it.
... ... ... ... ... ...
Thank you.
... ... ... ... ...
Thank you.
But, uh,
This idea of putting, you know, some kind of a rhythm, you know, guiding the press is not for the purpose of getting information.
It's for the purpose of embarrassing, harassing.
Well, it's an aesthetic offense.
And to say, well, now, what about this matter?
But you put whoever is the chief executive in the position having a word with me is that.
So it's not for the purpose of enlightening the public.
I can enlighten the public through a speech or anything like that.
They could ask a question, and I can spend an hour to answer it.
but some people's purpose would be another contest.
It's true.
They want to get you to say something because they know you don't want to say it, and if you said it, it would be a mistake.
And embarrass the government.
And embarrass the government, and they wouldn't let you get off our... Not me.
Their purpose is to embarrass me, but it's really to embarrass the United States.
It's a senseless...
It really is.
The way it's become...
There was a time, I think, when the press conference was over in the office,
on a rule, but it was all backed up, it was made all backed up, and it never was correct.
They would know that it broke Eisenhower was the person in fact, we forget this, we're introduced to that as well.
It was true that they would know that it never was, and therefore they could always refute it.
In this sense, it contributed to the environment, and they were the questions when it was offered.
They were working.
They had to leave because if you can't quote the man that I said, then you can't hang on to this question.
They, of course, you might as well ask them to get their life back.
Of course, on the other side of the time, the press conference, the preparation, the lunch, the prayer, the breakfast, the lunch, the dinner, the wine, the chocolate stuff, and all that stuff.
But except that the burden of this office is so great, and I know all of them, and I can make fun of this because I'm fussing,
and the police and all that sort of thing.
And I was literally really crying.
I was looking at a bunch of people.
And one of the residents really had this little certificate that they can keep it all in their mind.
And I looked at this story a lot of times.
And I didn't think about it.
I didn't think about it.
But you stopped to think, Henry.
You stopped to think about it.
And all the bad things were all on the ground.
Well, let them look at Hubert for a minute.
Hubert is the smartest of them all.
Hubert has nothing to lose.
His head is screwed on highly.
He's all over the lot.
And therefore, Hubert...
They're really good at securing the position that has to defend today's services.
You're in a position of strength to fix the other way around.
I felt that before, John.
You see, I think Moscow in this way is going to...
cement the image created by Moscow, by China, it does not contribute quite so much to the human thing, because it's going to be less respectable.
You know, it will be more respectable than the achievement, you know.
But I think I read an article in History last week saying that to respect the Chinese thinking is enormous.
I didn't realize it was written by Chinese.
This was the largest arm of God that ever turned on in the earth.
Everything they said meant something.
On the other hand, they said you could hold it.
Joe's coat was one of the most graceful things that could be done.
And if you hadn't planned it, it could not have had any big impact.
It would have had to have a lot of blockage.
That's just the expression of God.
Well, it's going to make it any time you want.
If you want to push it a little back a little, push it back.
But one way you might do it is to, let's see, do you think I ought to get the drill down?
Oh, I'm not doing it.
I therefore think that probably you should.
I don't want to just kick the rest of the podium.
I think that it will be the big issue, the China issue, and you could be there.
You see, I think there is something that he said.
I'm not going in because I'm not going to submit myself to that sort of thing.
I'm true of it.
The president had to say, I should go.
You go do it.
I should come out Sunday.
Then you can go to the gridiron, and then you can come out Sunday.
And I'll go to, I had to do a press conference out there, probably on Wednesday.
Maybe I'm planning on that.
Right after that, I'll go up to see our Canadian friends.
And I think that's pretty cute.
Let me say, another reason it's probably pretty cute is that you just may as well be 3,000 miles closer.
Why work your ass off?
And also the...
It's not quite 3,000 miles, but if you go this road.
Right.
It's a bunch of hell.
It's about, it cuts four hours off.
It cuts four hours off.
And you come over there.
It's hard.
It's hard.
Don't we know.
Then what would you do?
Go on around there?
Do you have a career, too?
My own view is, no.
If I go to Korea, then I don't go to Taiwan.
My own feeling is that you've just got a hard-line career.
I've had an unavailable invitation to go to Japan and then put up a... A hard-line career because I'm sure you'll have to go to Taiwan.
What I may do is go from there to Taiwan.
I'll go with the coal from Axis.
to Paris.
Do you have a charter meeting that's scheduled yet?
Yes.
It's the 15th, I think.
April?
Yeah.
Oh, I'm trying to think.
We're talking about April, aren't we?
Oh, now we're on the program.
Of course that's what you should do.
Then I go from there.
From Japan to Paris?
Yeah, that's much better.
I just want to go to Seoul.
It's the only way to the big old world.
But that's the thing, Henry.
You can go there, you can ride on Paris, but do you think you practically can do that with the back of your hand?
You can go to Japan, knock it off, then go on to Paris, and this is a damn good cover.
And let's forget it.
Let the Canadians just probably give them a little affront.
They've given us plenty.
I have no desire to be there.
I don't know what I'd do.
I had no desire to be here.
Well, anyway, we'll see you later.