Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 666 › Conversation 666-006

Nixon, Woods & Ziegler on William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger

Monday, February 7, 1972 · 12:42 PM–1:30 PM ET · Oval Office · 48 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose Mary; Sanchez, Manolo; Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation666-006 on Tape 666 (tape position 02:43:59–03:31:55)StartMonday, February 7, 1972 at 12:42 PMEndMonday, February 7, 1972 at 1:30 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 666-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Rose Mary Woods engaged in a wide-ranging discussion regarding the personal dynamics and professional tensions among his Cabinet members and close associates. The President expressed frustration over the interpersonal conflict between Secretary of State William P. Rogers and National Security Advisor Henry A. Kissinger, as well as his irritation regarding Martha Mitchell. Ultimately, the conversation highlighted Nixon's sense of professional isolation and his struggle to identify close confidants who could provide companionship without bringing political or personal drama into his inner circle.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:43:59 – 03:31:55

part B, 41:49

666a.mp3
666b.mp3
666c.mp3

NARA Description

On February 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 1:30 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 666-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 666-6

Date: February 7, 1972
Time: 12:42 pm - 1:30 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 29m 25s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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     Cabinet
          -Meetings
                -Congressional leaders
          -White House staff
          -William P. Rogers
          -Henry A. Kissinger
                -Relationship with Rogers
          -John N. Mitchell
                -Martha (Beall) Mitchell
                     -Remarks made
          -Robert H. Finch
                -Possible Congressional run
                     -Elliot L. Richardson
          -Rogers

         -Unknown man
         -Staff

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 33s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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Show the rest of the log (81 more lines)
    The President’s schedule
         -Cabinet
              -John B. Connally
                     -Schedule
                     -Idanell (Brill) (“Nellie”) Connally

    Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo and Robert H. Abplanalp
         -Relationship with the President
         -Abraham Lincoln
               -[Mary Todd Lincoln]
               -Friends
         -Mitchell
               -Campaign committee
               -Martha Mitchell
                     -Relationship with Woods
         -Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
               -Issues
         -Paul W. Keyes

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 57s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

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     The President’s schedule
          -Cabinet
                -Departments
                -Melvin R. Laird
                -Rogers
          -“Duke” Rose [?]
          -Golf
                -Possible location

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 5m 18s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4

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Manolo Sanchez and Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:42 pm.

     Refreshments

     Ronald L. Ziegler
         -Meeting with the President

Sanchez and Bull left at an unknown time before 1:29 pm.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 4s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

******************************************************************************

The President left at an unknown time before 1:29 pm.

Ziegler entered at 1:29 pm

     The President’s schedule
          -Ziegler’s action
          -The President’s reaction
               -Kissinger
               -Woods’s schedule
                      -The President’s schedule
          -The President and Woods

Woods and Ziegler left at 1:30 pm.

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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Thank you.

— 30 min 26 s with no transcribed speech —

Yes, sir.
I'm at it, sir.
I ought to told you about the package.
I don't want that.
But you know, on the other hand, there is somewhat of a tendency for, I'm not speaking of our very close involvement, of staff and cabinet people
Bring in their own little birds and the other birdie among you.
Which I understand.
Well, what I meant is, I hope I get a cat in the family.
Bill Rogers could, but he is so consumed with his hatred of Kissinger that he can't do anything.
Kissinger is so consumed with his hatred of Rogers that they can't do anything.
And both are at fault.
Both are at fault.
I understand it.
I understand it.
And I don't forgive Henry one goddamn bit for his business, because he's an egocaniac and vicious and so forth.
But Bill, on the other hand, ought to be big enough to understand it.
And Bill is at times, but in terms of our, I no longer can have Bill come around because he's bound to, he hasn't yet.
But he's bound at one point.
Now, I have to raise this in your subject.
I must not have to raise it.
Well, yeah.
He's standing right there.
He's standing right there.
No, that's not it, because that's... Well, you see, he's up again.
I don't know who I talked to.
Well, I can all well mention who's fine.
He's fine.
But there's Martin.
Yeah.
And I can't pick up on that.
I heard she should, but she bugs me too.
I mean, Martha... She does look pretty down-to-earth.
Also, I don't like her rubbing against you and everything.
It just embarrasses me.
You know, Martha Mitchell's not the kind of person...
I mean, I think a lot of people would enjoy her.
Yeah, she's very positive.
She's not the kind of person.
She's the kind of person that irritates me.
And so who the hell else do I have in the cabinet?
There's another one that I could talk to.
Vince, you know, is off on his own things now.
And also, Vince is so worried about his own problems.
We're trying to help him.
We're trying to help him in every way we can.
You know, I don't mean for Congress.
I don't know if your question is good or not.
I don't think so.
Well, I think that's the reason that I'm supposed to be here.
And that wouldn't happen.
But y'all don't need a guy like Glenn Hull used to be, who can always walk in and hide everything and stuff and, you know.
Well, it made it sort of terrible.
Yeah.
You see, I cannot get it, obviously, for any of the other sad people.
No, because... Because they are not my love, and they should never try to be my love.
No, no.
You know, I don't have, I don't, did you know, it's a very interesting thing.
The only other one that might be a sort of a help and a respect would be Connolly.
But Connolly, of course, he's so deeply involved in so many terrible problems that the hell I can't...
And he isn't the best guy to relax with.
He's a lot more fun than he is.
He's quite an intense person.
No, I don't mean that in anything.
I don't keep terrific, but...
But you see, he's not... Well, for example, it's a small thing.
He doesn't drink.
That's right.
I was just going to say, he doesn't drink.
So when you go to relax...
He doesn't never drink.
I'm likely to drink if the other person isn't.
They ask you, well, why don't you see Raposo?
I say, you know why you see Raposo.
Because there are two men who absolutely never raise a son.
They never have any problems at all.
They never raise a son each of their own.
Their own problems.
And they try to make things delightful and easy for you and let you alone when you want to be alone.
But here we are.
So I had a position that is quite unique in this office, you know.
The poor man had a crazy wife.
But on the other hand, he had a couple friends.
And I'm sitting here really, you know, with no really kind of friends that I could count on.
With the possible exception, really, of, I don't know, maybe of the campaign committee, or maybe of Mitchell.
Mitchell, I enjoy him because he's cold.
And he's got a good sense of humor with it, too.
He isn't going to be raised every second day.
You can have Mitchell without Martha.
Now, I can get a lot of fun with Martha because, frankly, if she calls me, I have to straighten her out.
But, I don't know.
Maybe.
Maybe he didn't get along.
Yeah, he's good.
Now, how's Louis?
Does he bring up things when he's around?
He doesn't figure enough, though.
He probably does.
Rose, he is basically a fellow who is so passionately interested in issues and so forth.
Mm-hmm.
He didn't hear about it.
That's what I was afraid of.
And a...
Don't even be afraid.
He's wonderful, and I'd love to be with him, you know what I mean?
I mean, I shouldn't be with anybody who's an editor anymore.
It doesn't make any difference, because they have to...
So too bad there aren't a few guys like Paul Keyes around just after the month, or once every three months.
He's good, because he doesn't believe in raising anything.
He's very good, very good.
But if we had several people like that, you know...

— 2 min 5 s with no transcribed speech —

And the term was all you could catch, if you believe it.
They were fine.
They'd get around to it.
They'd take us across to their own department, if you don't think.
The answer was, look, I don't get to see a man very often.
So what happens is, and then you're caught on the run, and they shoot out of the other thing.
I know.
But I wish there were a few people in town, or around somewhere, like for instance, that Duke rose to, well, you don't play golf anymore, but if you were near someplace to play golf, because I don't think he ever brought that stuff either.
He was sort of a nice guy.
But there just aren't.
I agree.
Getting back to

— 5 min 21 s with no transcribed speech —

I, uh, I think you would, you did make, you did make one very, very significant point there.
I think one more thought would help.
Let me go over to the other side.
Let's see if Ziegler has seen three yet.
Let's see.

Also recorded on February 7, 1972

  • 090-001 11:54 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, United States Attorneys, Treasury Department officials, and Justice Department officials, including Whitney N. Seymour, Jr., William D. Keller, James R. Thompson, Jr., Harold H. Titus, Jr., Louis C. Bechtle, Ralph Guy, Jr., Joseph L. Tauro, James L. Browning, Jr., Richard L. Thornburgh, George Beall, Herbert J. Stein, Anthony J. P. Farris, Eldon B. Mahon, Stan Pitkin, John W. Stokes, Jr., Donald O'Connor, Harry D. Steward, Robert W. Rust, James L. Treece, Gerald J. Gallinghouse, Daniel Bartlett, Frederick Coleman, Sidney I. Lezak, William Smitherman, William W. Milligan, David J. Cannon, John L. Briggs, Wayman G. Sherrer, James M. Sullivan, Jr., F. L. Peter Stone, Richard G. Kleindeinst, Myles J. Ambrose, Henry E. Petersen, Jerris Leonard, John E. ("Jack") Ingersoll, Harlington Wood, Jr., Eugene T. Rossides, John F. Hanlon, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., Geoffrey C. Shepard, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 11:54 am to 12:18 pm.
  • 666-003 11:54 AM · 2 min — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 12:23 pm.
  • 666-004 11:54 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 12:23 pm.
  • 666-005 11:54 AM · 2 min — Manolo Sanchez and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 12:23 pm.
  • 090-004 12:18 PM · 2 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 12:18 pm on February 7, 1972 and 11:22 am on February 9, 1972.
  • 666-009 12:18 PM · 1 min — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:23 pm.
  • 666-010 12:18 PM · 49 sec — Stephen B. Bull and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:23 pm.
  • 666-007 1:31 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:31 pm to 2:03 pm.

All 49 conversations from February 7, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 666-006, February 7, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/666-006 (accessed November 2, 2026).