Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 332 › Conversation 332-005

Nixon & Kissinger on Foreign Policy and Vietnam War

Tuesday, April 18, 1972 · 8:18 PM–8:24 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation332-005 on Tape 332 (tape position 00:03:29–00:06:59)StartTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 8:18 PMEndTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 8:24 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 332-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to coordinate strategy following the President's recent discussions regarding sensitive foreign policy matters. The brief consultation served as a follow-up to earlier deliberations, likely centering on ongoing diplomatic efforts in Vietnam or preparations for international summits. No formal transcript is available to detail specific directives, but the meeting functioned as a high-level synchronization of executive decision-making.

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:03:29 – 00:06:59

part A, 4:27

332a.mp3

332b.mp3

332c.mp3

NARA Description

On April 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:18 pm to 8:24 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 332-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 332-5

Date: April 18, 1972
Time: 8:18 pm - 8:24 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     [See Conversation No. 23-28]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

At least the fact that they have reasons.

You know, the thing about our Russian friends is the way that they

I'm just thinking about the Buzz thing, the way they kick in all the Americans, you know, and Buzz, and Stan, and everybody else.

Poor Buzz saying, you know, he doesn't have the right of color because he must not know.

Where the hell was Beam all this time?

Is he weak or what?

Beam knows better than us, though.

But he should have spoken up, don't you agree?

It really is, to me, I thought, well, I'll tell you one thing, we've got to be more careful about, I mean, Russ is one of our best men, about sending any of our people abroad, don't you think so, to the Soviet?

Yeah, because, you know, our guys don't know how to handle themselves.

They get overwhelmed by all this bullshit, huh?

Well, I understand.

Butts is a good, strong anatomist.

I mean, let's put your knowledge first.

Maybe we are bombing those innocent women and children.

Jesus.

I know.

Jesus Christ.

I mean, what the hell is he thinking about?

I mean, somebody should have snapped back at this fellow right there.

Don't you agree?

I mean, now he doesn't know enough about it, but what the hell was being there for him?

I just can't imagine an American ambassador sitting there allowing the Soviet chairman to say, why are you bombing these innocent people?

Of course, the state doesn't, well, until we got Rogers out, they weren't saying anything, were they?

Okay, Henry, have a good time.

See you tomorrow.

Hi.

Also recorded on April 18, 1972

023-026 8:05 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:05 pm and 8:18 pm.
023-027 8:05 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:05 pm and 8:18 pm.
023-028 8:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 8:18 pm to 8:24 pm.
023-029 8:24 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
332-006 8:24 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 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
332-007 8:24 PM · 58 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 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
023-030 8:25 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:25 pm to 8:45 pm.
332-008 8:25 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:25 pm to 8:45 pm.

All 57 conversations from April 18, 1972 →

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam and People's Republic of China April 18, 1971 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on SALT and Foreign Policy May 21, 1971 · 6 min
Nixon, Rogers & Haldeman on China and Foreign Policy May 26, 1971 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on SALT and ABM Treaty June 1, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Prisoners of War September 28, 1971 · 7 min
Kissinger & Meany on Foreign Policy and Soviet-American Relations October 12, 1971 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 332-005, April 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/332-005 (accessed November 15, 2026).