Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 577 › Conversation 577-016
Nixon, Colson & Kissinger on Vietnam War and PRC summit
Monday, September 20, 1971 · 5:04 PM–5:12 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon, Charles Colson, and Henry Kissinger met to discuss the strategic timing of military actions in Vietnam, the upcoming PRC summit, and the influence of these events on international negotiations and domestic political stability. The discussion emphasized leveraging air strikes against enemy supply lines, particularly in Cambodia, to apply pressure on North Vietnam. Kissinger and Nixon also analyzed how the 1972 election cycle might impact the willingness of North Vietnam and the Soviet Union to engage in serious diplomatic agreements.
Audio
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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 02:26:10 into the tape and ends around 02:53:18.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On September 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:04 pm to 5:12 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 577-016 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 577-16
Date: September 20, 1971
Time: 5:04 pm - 5:12 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President talked with Charles W. Colson.
[Conversation No. 577-16A]
[See Conversation No. 9-99; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]
Henry A. Kissinger entered after 5:05 pm.
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 24s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
[End of telephone conversation]
Vietnam negotiations
-National Security Council [NSC] meeting
-Spiro T. Agnew
-William P. Rogers
-Status
-Revelations
-Effect
-The President's speech on October 7, 1971
PRC initiative
-Summit trip to the PRC
-Announcement
-Possible date
-Hanoi
-Nikolai V. Podgorny
-Trip
-Date options
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters
-Kissinger's schedule
-Trip itinerary
-Hawaii, Shanghai, Peking
-Effect on negotiations
-Date of negotiating session
-Agreement between the US and the PRC
-Dates
-Order of dates
-Flexibility of dates
-Podgorny
-Hanoi, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
-Summit meeting with the President
-Announcement
-Timing
-Podgorny
-Announcement timing
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
Vietnam
-Air strikes
-Time
-Target
-Petroleum, oil and lubricants [POL] dumps
-Cambodia
-Target
-Time
-Air strikes
-Weather
-Date
-Targets
-Weather factor
-Number of planes
-Minimum
-Maximum
-Negotiations
-Agnew
-Rogers
-Melvin R. Laird
-Knowledge
-Casualties
-Number
-Effect on negotiations
-Hanoi
-Blockade
-Soviet Union
-PRC
-Soviet Union
-Egon Bahr
-Cable
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Comments about the President
-Détente
-Leaks
-The President's trip to the PRC
PRC initiative
-Political attitudes within the US
-Right wing
-PRC trip
Vietnam
-The President's statement
-Foreign policy
-The President's Administration
-Unified Government
-Laird
-Alternatives In Vietnam
-Thieu
-Communism
-Ngo Dinh Diem
-Effect on US in negotiations
-Soviet Union, PRC
-Negotiations
-Effect of US military actions
-"Menu" air strike
-Cambodia
-Laos
-Military standpoint
-Diplomatic effect
-PRC trip
-Laos
-Compared to Cambodia
-North Vietnamese
-Date
-Balance of negotiations
-Laos and Cambodia
-Attacks
-Timing on negotiations
-Laos
-Helms
-Timing of attacks in Vietnam
-Date
-Air strikes
-Military action
-Timing
-Soviet announcement
-US election
-Effect on US-PRC and US-Soviet negotiations
-US goals
-Verdun Battle during World War I
-The President's possible policy in 1965
-Bombing
-Escalation
-Targets
-Locations
-Compared to World War II
-Date
-US position in negotiations
-Speculation
-Foreign policy
-Domestic policy
-Effect on the Administration
-Effect on US domestic policy
-Saigon
-Communist rule
-Kissinger's memorandum
-Peace talks
-Election
-Bombing halt
-Time duration
-South Vietnam
-Projected status
-North Vietnam
-Laird
-Military supplies
-Equipment
-Congress's possible action
-Military Supplies
-North Vietnam
-Offensive
-Tanks
-Laos
-Prisoner of war [POW] issue
-Bombing
-Effect of re-election of the President
-Effect of election on the North Vietnamese
-Soviet Union
-Defeat of the President in election
-Re-election of the President
-Polls
-Effect on negotiations
-North Vietnam position
-1968 election
-North Vietnam
-Bombing halt prior to 1968 election
-Clark M. Clifford
-W. Averell Harriman
-John N. Mitchell
-Conversation with Kissinger
-Bombing halt
-North Vietnam position
-Attitude toward the President
-Defeat
-Victory
-1972 election
-Polls
-Re-election of the President
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] agreement
-Summits with the PRC and the Soviet Union
-European summit
-Campaign
-Public news
-Public reaction
-Economy
-George H. Gallup polls
-Louis P. Harris polls
-Gallup Polls
-The President's position
-Percentage
Kissinger’s schedule
-Meeting with Dobrynin
-Forthcoming call to the President
Kissinger left at 5:33 pmAlso recorded on September 20, 1971
- 577-012 4:41 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:41 pm to 5:04 pm.
- 009-098 5:04 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:04 pm.
- 009-099 5:04 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 5:04 pm to 5:12 pm.
- 577-013 5:04 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:12 pm.
- 577-014 5:04 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:12 pm.
- 577-015 5:04 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:12 pm.
- 009-100 5:12 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and 7:40 pm.
- 577-017 5:34 PM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:34 pm to 6:19 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 577-016, September 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/577-016 (accessed October 12, 2026).