Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 329 › Conversation 329-019

Nixon & Butterfield on China policy and Henry Kissinger

Tuesday, April 11, 1972 · 1:12 PM–1:14 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation329-019 on Tape 329 (tape position 01:16:57–01:18:42)StartTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 1:12 PMEndTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 1:14 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 329-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield discuss the tactical orchestration of an upcoming meeting regarding China policy. Nixon explicitly decides to exclude Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird to avoid the necessary inclusion of Secretary of State William Rogers, tasking Henry Kissinger with leading the briefing instead. The President emphasizes that China-related matters should remain distinct from standard congressional relations to ensure the initiative is perceived as a significant diplomatic event rather than partisan politics.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
But I don't think I marked Rogers there.
So you know what I mean.
I would prefer to frankly leave it not to have Mel.
You see what I mean?
If you have him, you have to have Rogers.
And I think Henry should do it.
Let Henry do the breathing.
That's the purpose of the pep talk.
Let Henry do the breathing.
Yeah.
Fine, fine.
Fine, fine.
No, I think the China thing has to be sort of separated from congressional relations.
Henry will be there, and that means that you'll agree with him on the damn thing.
I don't look at mine normally, but I think since it's gone to China, they can deal with it.
We want them to feel it's not a little separate politics.
There will be pictures, of course.

NARA Description

On April 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:12 pm to 1:14 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 329-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 329-19

Date: April 11, 1972
Time: 1:12 pm - 1:14 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Alexander P. Butterfield.

[See Conversation No. 22-107]

Also recorded on April 11, 1972

  • 329-015 12:35 PM · 18 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 12:35 pm and 12:37 pm.
  • 329-016 12:37 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:37 pm to 12:40 pm.
  • 022-106 12:40 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
  • 329-017 12:40 PM · 4 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 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
  • 329-018 12:40 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
  • 022-107 1:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 1:12 pm to 1:14 pm.
  • 022-108 1:14 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:14 pm and 2:06 pm.
  • 329-020 1:14 PM · 4 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 1:14 pm and 2:06 pm.

All 29 conversations from April 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 329-019, April 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/329-019 (accessed October 1, 2026).