Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 583 › Conversation 583-001
Nixon, Rogers & Kissinger on U.S.-USSR relations and U.S.-China relations
Wednesday, September 29, 1971 · 5:05 PM–5:14 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Secretary of State William P. Rogers and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to discuss U.S.-Soviet relations following Nixon's earlier meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. The participants reviewed the status of communication with Leonid Brezhnev and the strategic importance of balancing upcoming summits with both the USSR and the People's Republic of China. The discussion focused on coordinating the timing and announcement of the President's visit to the Soviet Union and managing potential diplomatic sensitivities regarding the two major powers.
- U.S.-USSR relations
- U.S.-China relations
- Summit diplomacy
- Andrei Gromyko
- Leonid Brezhnev
- Cold War foreign policy
Audio
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 00:00:33 into the tape and ends around 00:09:45.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:05 pm and 5:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 583-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 583-1
Date: September 29, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:05 pm and 5:14 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger at 5:05 pm.
[This recording began at an unknown time while the meeting was in progress]
US relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Meeting with Andrei A. Gromyko, September 29, 1971
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-The president
-San Clemente
-Brezhnev
-Forthcoming US-People's Republic of China (PRC) Summit
-US-USSR summit
-Announcement
-Rogers, Kissinger
-The President's forthcoming visit to the USSR
-October 12,1971
-Comparison to May 20, 1971 announcement on
Anti-ballistic missiles [ABM]
-Brezhnev
-Goals
-King of Afghanistan
-State visit
-Indira Gandhi
-Meeting with Gromyko
-Developments in US-PRC relations
-Issues
-Middle East
-Israel
-Letter
-Gromyko’s statement about PRC
-Scheduling of US summits with the PRC, USSR
-Timing
Rogers and Kissinger left at 5:14 pm.Also recorded on September 29, 1971
- 283-002 2:45 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:55 pm.
- 580-018 3:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:00 pm to 3:02 pm.
- 580-019 3:02 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:02 pm to 3:03 pm.
- 580-020 3:03 PM · 1 hr 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Andrei A. Gromyko, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, William Krimer, Viktor M. Sukhodrev, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:03 pm to 5:00 pm.
- 580-021 5:00 PM · 53 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:00 pm.
- 583-002 5:15 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:17 pm.
- 010-032 7:19 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:19 pm to 7:24 pm.
- 010-033 7:27 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:27 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 583-001, September 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/583-001 (accessed September 28, 2026).