Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 607 › Conversation 607-007

Nixon & Rogers on Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito

Friday, October 29, 1971 · 10:36 AM–10:45 AM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation607-007 on Tape 607 (tape position 02:04:38–02:12:07)StartFriday, October 29, 1971 at 10:36 AMEndFriday, October 29, 1971 at 10:45 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 607-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers discuss intelligence gathered regarding the geopolitical anxieties of Yugoslavian officials. The conversation centers on Yugoslavia's fear of Soviet encroachment following the eventual departure of President Josip Broz Tito. Nixon reaffirms his commitment to respecting Yugoslavian independence and leveraging U.S. influence to deter external interference in the region.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 44% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mm.
Hello.
I get it.
I get it.
Plus revenue.
That's shit.
Is that all right?
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Gino, of course, he's a little genuinely, but he did not imitate that much.
He said it did not go well.
Very interesting.
Showed you how scary it is.
Well, let's be very honest and sideline to that.
After the dinner last night, I had the, I had him, I thought we talked to him.
Now the interpreter, you know, the very distinguished man interpreter, he had white hair, and he was with him, so I think he was trying to do double talk.
But the message came through very, very clear.
He said, he said, you know, I only, I know I only have a few moments.
Actually, I spent all the time in the backyard with him, actually, about the last three or four months when I was out there.
He said, a few moments, but he said, I want to tell you that
We in Yugoslavia may face some very, very problems.
He says President Jito was a very old man.
And he got when he goes, I mean, he retires, and then, he said then, he said he may be in front of, with the attention of some of our neighbors who capitalize on that.
He said, he said, but I would strongly hope is that as far as U.S. policy, referring to my close-knit independence,
of our U.S. policy is that we would be aware of this, and I said, well, let me just say one thing.
First, you could be sure that we will never threaten your independence, and so forth.
And second, that we will use our influence to see that others have arrived on this way,
He used the word hands-off.
He responded, I said, we're sure our hands will always belong to the Slavic head.
We lose our influence, but others keep their hands off.
He said, you've got the message.
That's what he said.
He said, we're going to tell the men.
And, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Foreign Minister, when I met him, I listened to him, and he told me he didn't speak any English to me.
That's what the interpreter was there, so he probably wasn't as frank with me, but I could tell that what he was trying to tell me, and now I see what the picture, what he was trying to tell me was probably that Vincent was what you had said about Russia, that they feared Russians.
See?
But he did, but I think now the two conversations have been together.
When he said we are, then he said I am.
He used the word fearful of what will happen after Jesus.
He just folks his hands off him as long as he can.
And so I see exactly what he said, that he did not go well.
The point was, I pressed field in the dynamic there.
He got to the kind of impression I was on, sort of thing.
Whether or not the impression I brought to him really did mean that it would be very significant.
He, of course, he has a girl here that's probably an Asian of both sides, and he said that he left the implication, he asked if the Russian doctor was one of the five, or had been one of the five, but one of the four questions out here indicated certainly not.
It did not go well.
I didn't expect you to tell me.
He threw up.
Yeah, yeah.
And then he got tealed, probably because he figures everything's gonna be clear.
He took a, took a lot.
He didn't, I suppose he didn't trust any interpreter, he just didn't catch her.
Oh God, he can't.
He's scared to death.
It's getting very interesting.
Well, at least we've got, now I see the two conversations stick together like a glove, because he was trying to tell me exactly the thing, and it's obvious why I'm afraid.
You know, and he always talks in an ominous way.
I was like, you know, he's tough, tough and strong, and I was so, and I saw him out, actually.
I saw what he did, you know, our citizenship protocol, right?
And so this fits very, very well.
Now, I don't think I'll try to explore this with people who are going to do this.
No, no, no, no, I don't mean to mention this conversation, but I think that we've gotten the message, and now there's people out there that is afraid, is afraid of psychoanalysts next to the Russians.
That's good to know.
Wonderful, wonderful, good.
It is an issue of the eyes.
Hope you go there and then sign at the sanity meeting.
But for good as the weather goes there.
Oh great, one meeting right now.
Yeah.
What reception?
Oh Jesus Christ.
Yeah, okay.

NARA Description

On October 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:36 am to 10:45 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 607-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 607-007

Date: October 29, 1971
Time: 10:36 am - 10:45 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See Conversation No. 013-025]

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on October 29, 1971

  • 607-005 10:35 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:35 am.
  • 607-006 10:35 AM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 10:36 am.
  • 013-025 10:36 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 10:36 am to 10:45 am.
  • 607-008 10:45 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:45 am and 10:46 am.
  • 607-009 10:45 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:45 am and 10:46 am.
  • 013-026 10:46 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:46 am and 11:34 am.
  • 607-010 10:46 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:46 am to 11:00 am.
  • 607-011 11:01 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur F. Burns, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:01 am to 11:30 am.

All 65 conversations from October 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 607-007, October 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/607-007 (accessed October 1, 2026).