Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 562 › Conversation 562-001

Nixon & Kissinger on Pentagon Papers and Press relations

Thursday, August 12, 1971 · 8:46 AM–8:58 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation562-001 on Tape 562 (tape position 00:04:04–00:05:18)StartThursday, August 12, 1971 at 8:46 AMEndThursday, August 12, 1971 at 8:58 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 562-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met briefly to coordinate their schedules and manage upcoming staff interactions. The discussion focused on preparing for a press briefing involving John Ehrlichman concerning the Pentagon Papers. Nixon specifically requested the inclusion of key advisors to ensure a unified administrative message during the press engagement.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 26.4 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:04:04 into the tape and ends around 00:05:18.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

4:15Are you busy with somebody?
4:17Oh, I see.
4:17I want to talk to you and Erwin.
4:20He's trying to say something.
4:24He's trying to do something with the press.
4:27So some of you fans should come in.
4:30Take your time.
4:31I've got ten minutes, I guess.

NARA Description

On August 12, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:46 am and 8:58 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 562-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 562-1

Date: August 12, 1971
Time: Unknown between 8:46 am and 8:58 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Kissinger's schedule

     President's schedule
          -John D. Ehrlichman
                 -Forthcoming press briefing
                      -Pentagon Papers
          -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

Also recorded on August 12, 1971

  • 007-111 8:46 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:46 am and 12:01 pm.
  • 562-002 8:58 AM · 3 hr 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:58 am to 12:15 pm.
  • 007-112 12:01 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 12:01 pm to 12:12 pm.
  • 562-003 12:15 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Harold C. Passer, Charles W. Colson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:24 pm.
  • 562-004 12:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 562-005 12:25 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arnold R. Weber, George P. Shultz, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 12:44 pm.
  • 562-006 12:45 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, III, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 1:17 pm.
  • 562-007 1:17 PM · 34 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:17 pm on August 12, 1971 and 8:59 am on August 13, 1971.

All 51 conversations from August 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 562-001, August 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/562-001 (accessed October 9, 2026).