President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the political fallout of the Watergate scandal, with Nixon expressing concern over the potential involvement of John Dean and questioning the appropriateness of White House Counsel having access to FBI reports. The conversation also covered foreign policy strategy, specifically the administration's ongoing efforts to navigate Congressional opposition regarding the bombing of Cambodia and the necessity of maintaining stability in Vietnam following the peace agreement. Kissinger and the President additionally reviewed upcoming international diplomatic schedules, including meetings with British and French officials and plans for future summits to address economic and defense policies.
On March 29, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 10:50 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 424-026 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 424-26
Date: March 29, 1973
Time: 10:50 am
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler and Henry A. Kissinger.
President’s address
-Announcement
-Release of prisoners of war [POWs]
-Foreign policy and domestic issues
-Briefing of press by George P. Shultz
-Press reaction
-Ziegler's comments
Ronald Ziegler left at 10:55 am.
House Foreign Affairs Committee
-Meeting with Kissinger
*****************************************************************
-Cambodia bombing
-Questions for Kissinger
-Donald M. Fraser [?]
-War powers
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-2010)
Conversation No. 424-26 (cont’d)
-Kissinger’s answers
-Authority
-Peace agreement
-Article 20
-North Vietnam
-Aid
-H. Ross Perot’s position
-Cambodia
-Questions
-President’s opponents
-Charles C. Diggs
-Fraser
-Jonathan B. Bingham
President’s address
-Text of speech
-US troop withdrawal
-Peace agreement
-Missing in action [MIA]
-Laos, Cambodia
-Infiltration
-Compliance
-North Vietnam
Laos
-Bombing
President’s address
-Support for President
Watergate
-Impact on administration
-John N. Mitchell
-Loyalty
-Martha (Bealle) Mitchell [?]
-Involvement with break-in [?]
-Culpability
-Incarceration
-President’s speech
-Public acceptance
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-2010)
Conversation No. 424-26 (cont’d)
-President’s response
-Morality [?]
-Comparison with divorces
-Divorce lawyers
-Kissinger’s recommendation
-Removal of John W. Dean, III [?]
-Dean
-Involvement with break-in
-Role in defense of burglars
-Role as lawyer
-White House Counsel
-Access to Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] reports
-Inappropriateness [?]
-Bugging
-Daniel Ellsburg break-in [?]
-National security justification
-Public reactions
-President’s speech
-President’s stature
-Lyndon B. Johnson scandals
-Robert D. (“Bobby”) Baker
-Walter Jenkins
-1964 election
-Margin of victory
-Press exaggeration
-Comparison with Truman and Johnson cases
- Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP]
-Lack of control
-President’s responsibilities
-May 8, 1972 decision
-1972 Moscow summit
-Lack of contact with Mitchell
-Break-in
-Intentions
-Results
-Dean’s involvement
-Handling of investigation [?]
Vietnam settlement
-Cambodia bombing
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-2010)
Conversation No. 424-26 (cont’d)
-Congressional reaction
-President’s powers
-Cut off of funding
-Survival of Cambodia
-Blaming Congress
-Unlikelihood
-Negotiations
-Trip by Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-President’s opponents
-Bureaucracy
-India-Pakistan War of 1971
-US withdrawal
-Peace with honor
-Bugging out
-George S. McGovern
-Duration
-1974 election
Soviet Union
-Supplies to North Vietnam
-Leonid I. Brezhnev’s veracity
-Future summit
-Timms
-Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War
-New version
-Kissinger’s talk with President
-Infiltration from North Vietnam
-Cessation
People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Visit by Kissinger
-Visit by Chou En-Lai
-Arrangements
-Visit by President
France
-Meeting with President
-Montenegro
-President’s knowledge of geography
-Martinique
-26-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Aug.-2010)
Conversation No. 424-26 (cont’d)
-Caribbean Sea
Joint statement with Great Britain
-State visit by [Elizabeth, Queen of England] Elizabeth II
-Discussion with Edward M. Heath
-1976 Bicentennial
-Protocol
-Ceremony
President’s schedule
-Meetings with Great Britain, France
-International economic policy
-Charter
-Atlantic countries
-Japan
-Possible progress
Cambodia
-Support for President
-House Foreign Affairs Committee
-Compared with Vietnam negotiations
Kissinger left at 11:10 am.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.