{"conversationCode":"336-061","tapeNumber":336,"conversationNumber":61,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-336-061","startDateTime":"1972-05-08T22:34:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-08T23:14:00.000Z","startDate":"8-May-1972","startTime":"6:34 PM","endDate":"8-May-1972","endTime":"7:14 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-061 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 336-61\n\nDate: May 8, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 6:34 and 7:14 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.\n\n     Meeting with the President\n          -Speech","filename":["336a.mp3","336b.mp3","336c.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:12:34","tapeEnd":"03:12:59","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"336-060","nextCode":"336-062","tapeTranscriptFile":"336a.mp3,336b.mp3,336c.mp3","transcript":[{"start":11554,"end":11554.6,"text":"It's only convenient here in my very mind, our way, to defend our great interests."},{"start":11556.04,"end":11557.42,"text":"No sort of soldier is your friend, even now."},{"start":11558.74,"end":11560.64,"text":"Sixty thousand Americans are your friend."},{"start":11561.64,"end":11562.62,"text":"We expect you to help your allies."},{"start":11562.66,"end":11566.18,"text":"You cannot expect us to do other than to continue to help our allies."},{"start":11566.2,"end":11573.64,"text":"But let us on that already far help our allies only for the purpose of their defense, not for the purpose of launching nations in abstraction."},{"start":11574.73,"end":11579,"text":"Otherwise, the cause of peace, the cause to which we both have so great a stand,"}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":11554,"end":11579,"startMethod":"tape_time","endMethod":"tape_time"},"transcriptConfidence":"low","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss the strategic rationale behind American military commitments and the defense of allies. They emphasize that U.S. support for international partners is strictly intended for defensive purposes rather than expansionist goals. This dialogue underscores the administration's attempt to justify ongoing involvement while framing their actions within the broader cause of global peace.","topics":["Foreign Policy","Military Alliances","National Defense","International Relations","Cold War Strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T15:54:07.396Z"},"topicSlugs":["foreign-policy","military-alliances","national-defense","international-relations","cold-war-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":25,"audioFiles":[{"file":"336a.mp3","bytes":118106903,"durationSec":7399.18,"bitrate":127697,"missing":false},{"file":"336b.mp3","bytes":117742978,"durationSec":7375.91,"bitrate":127705,"missing":false},{"file":"336c.mp3","bytes":51899404,"durationSec":3251.1,"bitrate":127709,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:41.909Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/336a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/336b.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/336c.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/336-061","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/336/conversation-336-061","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}