Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 462 › Conversation 462-006

Nixon & Kissinger on Richard Helms and Central Intelligence Agency

Friday, March 5, 1971 · 10:15 AM–10:20 AM ET · Oval Office · 34 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation462-006 on Tape 462 (tape position 02:18:56–02:19:44)StartFriday, March 5, 1971 at 10:15 AMEndFriday, March 5, 1971 at 10:20 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 462-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss the allegiances and perceived loyalty of CIA Director Richard Helms following a prior meeting. Nixon expresses concern regarding the internal dynamics of the intelligence agency and emphasizes the necessity of having a clear understanding of where Helms’s loyalties lie. The conversation concludes with Kissinger confirming that Helms has become a more reliable and forthright proponent of the administration’s objectives.

Richard Helms
Central Intelligence Agency
Loyalty
Administration internal dynamics
Intelligence community oversight

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.8 MB

NARA Description

On March 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:20 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 462-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 462-6

Date: March 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 10:15 am and 10:20 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger

     Previous meeting
          -Richard M. Helms
               -Positions
               -President’s view

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I thought it was very important to have a picture on this now, who he's working for.

So this, because he's with us, I think some of these are all good, you know, they're really worrying me, and they should worry all of us, and looking to work on them.

Don't you agree?

And he'll talk now, he'll speak right up around these discounts, because he is a loyal follower.

Good.

It's okay, honey.

Bye.

Also recorded on March 5, 1971

462-005 8:30 AM · 1 hr 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), White House operator, Alexander P. Butterfield, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, and Richard M. Helms met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:30 am to 10:15 am.
462-007 10:15 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, White House operator, and John C. Stennis met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:40 am.
462-008 10:40 AM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:40 am and 10:41 am.
462-009 10:41 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leonard Garment met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:41 am to 10:45 am.
462-010 10:45 AM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:45 am to 10:46 am.
462-011 10:46 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:46 am to 10:49 am.
462-012 10:49 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:49 am to 11:06 am.
462-013 11:06 AM · 1 hr 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, George P. Shultz, Paul W. McCracken, Rose Mary Woods, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:06 am to 1:05 pm.

All 21 conversations from March 5, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Morgan on Richard Helms and Luis Echeverría June 20, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Watergate and Central Intelligence Agency May 12, 1973 · 17 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Pentagon Papers and Richard Helms August 16, 1972 · 7 min
Nixon, Helms & Scowcroft on Iran and Oil and Energy Policy February 14, 1973 · 35 min
Haldeman & Higby on Watergate and John Dean April 15, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon, Cox & Hughes on Watergate and Presidential Address April 30, 1973 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 462-006, March 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/462-006 (accessed November 2, 2026).