Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 502 › Conversation 502-009

Nixon, Kissinger & Bull on SALT and Arms Control

Thursday, May 20, 1971 · 10:09 AM–10:12 AM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation502-009 on Tape 502 (tape position 00:55:16–01:01:25)StartThursday, May 20, 1971 at 10:09 AMEndThursday, May 20, 1971 at 10:12 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 502-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to finalize talking points for a briefing with Congressional leaders regarding the impending announcement of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreement. They discussed the strategic framing of the announcement, specifically focusing on positioning the initiative as a personal presidential endeavor while acknowledging defensive weapons limitations. Stephen B. Bull joined the discussion to coordinate the arrival of Democratic leadership, and the group reviewed the planned script to ensure an effective presentation of the administration's progress on nuclear arms control.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 25% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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To ask you whether or not you feel that it's a legal action, I should have said that it was a defensive weapon.
So to you, it was a defensive weapon only?
Absolutely.
And why did you limit both?
Right.
And did you consider that to the outside people?
I did not.
No.
Okay.
Thank you.
I do agree.
I will say it.
Actually, it wasn't fair not to give you more of a place.
Oh, no, no, no, Mr. President.
I don't want the place.
You may leave.
I don't want the place.
You should have the name right here.
They all know.
They all know.
Anybody in the room, they all know.
Everybody stays this way here.
I think the major thing was to say builds and melts phase.
And the credits.
Right.
No, that was fine.
I really believe me, Mr. President.
I have no sensitivity on that point.
And... Well...
If I have...
Now, should I tell the leaders that early in January, this is an outside, outside, I don't want to say this, but early in January, I took a personal issue with the highest level of the record, that's what I said.
I said that.
I said that.
But please don't use that.
They'll use it anyway, but say.
Yeah.
No, I didn't say that.
I mean, I'd say, no, I think you should say it.
I think you should say it.
No, sir.
Apparently, Albert Boggs and Neil are not going to be able to attend the Democratic meeting.
The four garrons are supposed to be here.
They just have not arrived, sir.
We're going to have to wait for them.
We've got to wait three or four minutes.
The answer is close to 10 minutes.
Well, I don't know whether they're here or not.
Their office is set there on their way, sir.
I think I should say, go ahead.
I just want to say that early in January, to these leaders, absolutely.
You should get the credit for the reversion of issues.
And this is the beginning of issues.
I want some more questions.
Dan Fulbright came up to me and said, you've been subverting the Congress again.
I said, how could I have been subverting?
He said, well, the vote yesterday, that was done.
It's an act of subversion of the Congress.
You'll be a marriage.
I wonder whether for dramatic effect, Mr. President, but you are so much better at that.
It isn't best just to read this statement and then go into the history for these guys.
Just say I want to read to you a statement that's going to be released at 12 noon.
Well, I thought that I would very quickly.
I will say, gentlemen, the Soviet-American cross-country nuclear arms have been deadlocked for over a year.
In early January, I undertook an initiative at the highest level to attempt to break this deadlock.
This statement is not allowed to be read.
Very intensive negotiations will be required.
And that's that.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On May 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:09 am to 10:12 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 502-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 502-9

Date: May 20, 1971
Time: 10:09 am - 10:12 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] agreement announcement
           -President's talking points with Congressional leaders
                 -Defensive weapons
                 -Role for Kissinger
                 -Credit for the agreement
                       -Kissinger
                       -Melvin R. Laird
                       -Gerard C. Smith
                       -President's initiative

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:09 am.

     President's meeting with Congressional leaders
           -Carl B. Albert, [Thomas] Hale Boggs, Thomas P. (“Tip”) O’Neill, Jr.
          -Gerald R. Ford and Leslie C. Arends
          -W. Averell Harriman
          -President's instructions

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:12 am.
              -J. William Fulbright
                   -Views on Kissinger's relations with Congress
                   -Congressional vote, May 19, 1971

     SALT agreement announcement
         -Smith
              -Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle [MIRV]

     President's talking points with Congressional leaders
           -Effective presentation
           -Text of President's statement on May 20, 1971

Kissinger left at 10:12 am.

Also recorded on May 20, 1971

  • 502-005 8:32 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:32 am and 8:38 am.
  • 502-006 8:38 AM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, and Marjorie P. Acker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:38 am to 9:02 am.
  • 058-004 9:02 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and the Cabinet members, including William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., William T. Pecora, Clifford M. Hardin, James T. Lynn, Laurence H. Silberman, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, James M. Beggs, George P. Shultz, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, Peter M. Flanigan, Herbert G. Klein, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, Ronald L. Ziegler, William E. Timmons, Charles W. Colson, John A. Scali, Richard A. Moore, Harry S. Dent, Leonard Garment, John W. Dean, III, Frederic V. Malek, Robert J. Brown, Robert J. Dole, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Gerald C. Smith, Arthur J. Sohmer, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Virginia H. Knauer, and Arnold R. Weber, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 9:02 am to 9:48 am.
  • 502-007 9:49 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:49 am to 10:03 am.
  • 502-008 10:03 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:09 am.
  • 058-005 10:15 AM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and bipartisan Congressional leaders and staffers, including William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Gerard C. Smith, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Ronald L. Ziegler, Herbert G. Klein, John A. Scali, Hugh Scott, Allen J. Ellender, J. William Fulbright, John C. Stennis, Margaret Chase Smith, George D. Aiken, Robert P. Griffin, Milton R. Young, Robert C. Byrd, Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield, [Thomas] Hale Boggs, Leslie Arends, William S. Mailliard, Frank T. Bow, F. Edward Hébert, Gerald R. Ford, Dr. Thomas E. ("Doc") Morgan, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr., and George H. Mahon, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 10:15 am to 11:05 am.
  • 502-010 11:10 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:10 am and 11:18 am.
  • 502-011 11:18 AM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, Gerald R. Ford, Rose Mary Woods, and Mark I. Goode met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:18 am to 11:59 am.

All 48 conversations from May 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 502-009, May 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/502-009 (accessed October 12, 2026).