Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 593 › Conversation 593-012
Nixon, Kissinger & Haldeman on PRC trip and USSR trip
Friday, October 15, 1971 · 11:32 AM–11:36 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with his staff and Henry Kissinger to coordinate logistics and public relations strategies for his upcoming diplomatic trips to the People's Republic of China and the USSR. The discussion focused on managing international itineraries, advance team assignments, telecommunications infrastructure, and the extensive press corps requirements for these state visits. Additionally, the group addressed domestic personnel matters, including Supreme Court appointment contingencies and media coverage regarding the President's personal finances.
- PRC trip
- USSR trip
- Public relations
- Press corps
- Supreme Court appointments
- Foreign policy
Audio
part C, 24:29
Download MP3 (part 1) · 89.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 90.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 141.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 89.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 5) · 55.2 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the players above hold the full tape, shared with neighbouring conversations. By the archivists' log it runs from 02:35:30 to 03:19:00 into the tape; their log often drifts a minute or two from the audio, so listen for the subjects in the finding aid.
NARA Description
On October 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:32 am to 11:36 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 593-012 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 593-12
Date: October 15, 1971
Time: 11:32 am - 11:36 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Manolo Sanchez.
The President's schedule
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 11:36 am.
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 22s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered and Sanchez left at 11:36 am.
The President's schedule
-George P. Shultz
Rose Mary Woods entered at 11:36 am.
-Signing of Executive Order
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 42s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
**********************************************************************
Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 11:36 am.
The President's schedule
-Signature autopenShow the rest of the log (224 more lines)
Butterfield left at 11:38 am.
-Tricia Nixon Cox
-Camp David
-Hobart D. Lewis and Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 4s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**********************************************************************
-Henry A. Kissinger's office
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 56s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
**********************************************************************
Woods left at an unknown time before 11:44 am.
Supreme Court appointments
-John N. Mitchell
-Warren E. Burger
-Possibility of resignation
-Herschel H. Friday
-Woman
Appointees' threatened resignations
-Robert Brown
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
-Kissinger
-Chief of Protocol
PRC trip
-Nature of trip
-Chou En-lai
-Kissinger
-The President's suggestions
-Haldeman’s view
-Crowds
-Haldeman’s previous conversation with Kissinger
-Communiqué
-Public relations
US foreign relations
-The President's trip to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Public relations
-Crowds
-Romania
-Kissinger
-The President’s view
The President's trip to PRC
-Crowd
-Itinerary
-Provinces
-Advance team
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Dwight L. Chapin
-Relations with Kissinger
-Public relations
-Itinerary
-Cities
-Meeting with leaders
-Government
-People
Kissinger entered at 11:44 am.
-Advance
-Chapin
-Itinerary
-Chinese
-George Meany
-Advance
-Kissinger’s concern
-Reception
-Popular reception
-Thelma C. (“Pat’) Nixon
-USSR
-Chou En-lai
-Crowds
-Haldeman's memorandum
-Chapin
-Instructions
-Mrs. Nixon
-USSR
-Communications
-Ground station
-Washington
-Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran
-Telecommunications capability
-Iranian Vice President
-Kissinger's role
-Chapin
-Soviet visit
-Mrs. Nixon
-Mao Tse-tung
-Kissinger’s efforts
-The president's forthcoming meeting
-Crowds
-The President’s possible visit to sites
-Haldeman's memorandum
-Chapin
-Kissinger
US foreign policy
-John B. Connally’s trip
-Textile agreement
-Press conference
-Announcement
-Peter G. Peterson
-Woods
-Timing
-State department
-Japanese
-PRC
The President's schedule
-Camp David
Kissinger left at 11:59 am.
Kissinger
-Crowds
-Romania
-Nicolae Ceasescu
-Soviets
Lyndon B. Johnson
-Crowds
-Kissinger
Mrs. Nixon
The President
-Meeting people
Kissinger
-Chapin
-Alexander P. Butterfield
Mosbacher
-Possibility of going to PRC
-Possibility of going to USSR
-Official party
The President's trip to PRC
-Military aids
-Function
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-John A. Scali
-Gerald L. Warren
-Press corps
-Kissinger
-China
-Press
-Yugoslavia
-Kissinger
-Communications
-[Forename unknown] Persepolis
-Shah
-Television
-Telecommunications
-Chinese
-Size and composition of press party
-Scali
-Networks
-Haldeman's comments
-Moon coverage
-Daily newspapers
-Magazines
-Photographers
-Kissinger
-Camp David
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”)\ Atkins
-James D. (“Don”) Hughes
-Military staff size
-Dinner
-Marine Band
-Technical assistance
-The President’s view
-The President's feeling about situation in the US
-Secret Service
Press
-Maxine Cheshire
-Newspaper story
-Kissinger
-Benjamin C. Bradlee
-Unknown woman
-Washington Post
-Taft Schrieber
-Rowland Evans and Robert D. Novak
-William L. Safire
-Newsday magazine article
-The President's finances
-Costs of being President
-White House response
-Fisher Roland stock
-Haldeman’s view
-George A. Smathers
-Rebozo
-Kissinger
-Bradlee
-Unknown priest
Haldeman left at 12:15 pm.Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
Also recorded on October 15, 1971
- 593-010 10:08 AM · 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Henry A. Kissinger, Robert S. McNamara, White House photographer, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:08 am to 10:37 am.
- 593-011 10:38 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, John N. Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:38 am to 11:32 am.
- 593-013 12:15 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 593-014 12:15 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 593-015 12:15 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 593-016 12:15 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 593-017 12:50 PM · 4 min — Alexander P. Butterfield, unknown person(s), and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 12:56 pm.
- 593-018 12:56 PM · 38 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:56 pm and 11:59 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon, Kissinger & Rogers on Vietnam War and Operation Vietnamization April 5, 1972 · 1 hr 18 min
- Nixon & Kissinger on People's Republic of China and Press Corps October 12, 1971 · 6 min
- Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Foreign Policy January 26, 1972 · 1 hr 54 min
- Nixon, Kissinger & Haldeman on China trip and Press reaction February 29, 1972 · 1 hr 12 min
- Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Media relations and Public relations strategy August 17, 1972 · 6 min
- Allin & Bull on Executive Order and Press Corps December 6, 1971 · 1 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 593-012, October 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/593-012 (accessed November 2, 2026).