Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 473 › Conversation 473-013

Nixon & Kissinger on Soviet-US relations and Arms control

Thursday, March 25, 1971 · 4:23 PM–4:40 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation473-013 on Tape 473 (tape position 04:32:41–04:35:22)StartThursday, March 25, 1971 at 4:23 PMEndThursday, March 25, 1971 at 4:40 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 473-013 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176303 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to deliberate on sensitive foreign policy strategies regarding Soviet arms control and the complex implications of the People's Republic of China's potential admission to the United Nations. They discussed adopting a firmer negotiating posture while navigating the domestic political risks associated with a 'two-China' policy. The conversation reflects a strategic shift toward maneuvering through international pressures and deciding on a clear, decisive path forward for these diplomatic challenges.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:40 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 473-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 473-13

Date: March 25, 1971
Time: Unknown between 4:23 pm and 4:40 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with an unknown person [Henry A. Kissinger?]

     Soviet Union - US relations
          -President’s instruction
          -Public statements on arms control

     People’s Republic of China
          -United Nations admission
               -”Two China” policy
               -US strategy
               -John B. Connally

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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that y'all can play a little firmer game.
And, you know, I, you know, you're all so much, I don't have much firmer game play in terms of this thing, but I play very confident, very successful, we're not counting on this, we all are doing.
You understand?
Yeah, yeah.
And the other, well, I want to throw out, I want to, you know, I want to leave fresh,
We're gonna have to put it right out there, then.
Yeah.
Okay, first we're gonna talk about that, and then we're gonna talk about the sun and how we're gonna have to go along with it.
We're gonna have to go through these games.
Should we value this general order of play?
I think so.
I think the other thing is that we've got to make a decision on this.
The reason that I have to raise that point about this is to say the U.N. has all that good news.
It's going to be wonderful.
We've got a lot to do in that policy.
Well, domestically, it's just not.
And it's a dynamite for the world.
One of our friends is going to have a job.
I'm not sure that just letting the UN enroll us would be a bad idea.
You know, if somebody does that, maybe we can enroll the UN a little bit.
I'm not sure we're sitting about that.
Ready to kick it out.

Also recorded on March 25, 1971

  • 473-010 3:55 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, Thomas A. Pappas, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:55 pm to 4:23 pm.
  • 473-011 4:23 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:40 pm.
  • 473-012 4:23 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:40 pm.
  • 473-014 4:23 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:40 pm.
  • 473-015 4:23 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Robert H. Finch, Clark MacGregor, White House operator, Stephen B. Bull, and William M. Allen met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:56 pm.
  • 473-016 4:56 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Walter E. Fauntroy, Dorothy (Simms) Fauntroy, Marvin K. Fauntroy, Clark MacGregor, and Robert J. Brown met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 5:00 pm.
  • 051-012 5:00 PM · 1 hr 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the Congressional Black Caucus, including Charles C. Diggs, Jr., August F. Hawkins, William L. Clay, George W. Collins, John Conyers, Jr., Ronald V. Dellums, Walter E. Fauntroy, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren J. Mitchell, Robert N. C. Nix, Charles B. Rangel, Louis Stokes, and Shirley Chisholm, as well as staff members Clark MacGregor, Robert H. Finch, George P. Shultz, George W. Romney, Robert J. Brown, and Leonard Garment and press photographers, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
  • 473-017 5:00 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:00 pm on March 25, 1971 and 9:40 am on March 26, 1971.

All 27 conversations from March 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 473-013, March 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176303). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/473-013 (accessed November 2, 2026).