Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 642 › Conversation 642-008

Nixon & Kissinger on SALT and Arms control

Monday, January 3, 1972 · 9:02 AM–9:07 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation642-008 onTape 642 (tape position 05:45:46–05:47:02)StartMonday, January 3, 1972 at 9:02 AMEndMonday, January 3, 1972 at 9:07 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 642-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed strategies for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), specifically focusing on necessary legislation and the coordination of upcoming meetings. They reviewed the roles of Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird and Secretary of State William Rogers in these negotiations. The President finalized plans for an imminent phone call with Rogers to align administration policy regarding the arms control process.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 148.0 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 05:45:46 into the tape and ends around 05:47:02.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

5:45:53And that also people would,
5:46:10Okay.
5:46:11Well, anyway...

NARA Description

On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:02 am and 9:07 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 642-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 642-8

Date: January 3, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:02 am and 9:07 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
           -Legislation
           -Possible meeting
                -Melvin R. Laird
                -Forthcoming call to William P. Rogers

     Phone call

Also recorded on January 3, 1972

  • 642-005 8:45 AM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:45 am and 9:02 am.
  • 642-006 9:02 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:02 am and 9:07 am.
  • 642-007 9:02 AM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:02 am and 9:07 am.
  • 642-009 9:02 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:02 am and 9:07 am.
  • 642-010 9:07 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard A. Moore met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:07 am to 9:14 am.
  • 642-011 9:15 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald L. Warren, unknown person(s), and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:15 am to 9:19 am.
  • 018-001 9:19 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:19 am.
  • 018-002 9:19 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 9:19 am to 9:23 am.

All 105 conversations from January 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 642-008, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/642-008 (accessed September 18, 2026).