Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 677 › Conversation 677-013

Nixon & Kissinger on Public Relations and Cabinet Management

Monday, March 6, 1972 · 1:28 PM–1:38 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation677-013 on Tape 677 (tape position 03:42:54–03:46:06)StartMonday, March 6, 1972 at 1:28 PMEndMonday, March 6, 1972 at 1:38 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 677-013 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417180921 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger met to coordinate administrative logistics and manage public relations regarding upcoming cabinet appearances and press engagements. The discussion centered on controlling the optics surrounding diplomatic interactions, specifically emphasizing that ambassadors should not be granted high-profile access to the White House. Nixon directed Kissinger to finalize specific memorandums and manage expectations for upcoming meetings with foreign representatives and administration officials.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 6, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 677-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 677-13

Date: March 6, 1972
Time: Unknown between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Memorandum for Kissinger
        -Modifications
        -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
             -Time
        -William P. Rogers
             -Committee appearance
             -Press conference

     [James C.H. Shen]
          -Meeting
          -Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with Shen
          -Memorandum of conversation
          -Meeting
                -Time
                     -The President’s forthcoming meeting with George W. Romney
          -Press
          -Private meeting

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

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You said you had the address number added.
I'm just looking at it.
I don't want to hear it.
I'll take it out by 1 o'clock.
That's normal.
Fine.
Sorry.
Yeah.
But he wants to have a press conference on this subject.
Oh, my boy.
I see.
Well, that's all right.
We'll try to have a press conference.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Well, then I've got a little time.
I get better.
I've got to do something for everybody.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll work on it right away.
Now, I'm going to change these things.
If you don't think that's pushing too hard, you can...
Well, you and me together, you will see an average.
And you will go to bed.
I'm not going to say anything wrong.
I'll just say, Dr. Kissinger, still again, I'm going to use both ideas.
I'm having a conversation, and that's our position.
So that's on you.
And you, myself.
That's true.
Say, Dr. Kirk, yeah, well, I got wrongly intrigued.
Well, could we say, yeah, just to be clear, how's that?
I don't like him over here with a whole host of newspaper people.
He's not going to walk out the White House president.
Do you understand that?
Yeah.
That is, if I have a meeting in this state, Mr. Frederick, we can all search and request an ambassador.
He doesn't see the ambassadors.
You know what I mean?
But he, because of his old friendship, is our new drugged-in signal.
All right.

Also recorded on March 6, 1972

  • 677-011 1:28 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-012 1:28 PM · 57 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-014 1:28 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-015 1:28 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-016 1:28 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-017 1:28 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-018 1:28 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:28 pm and 1:38 pm.
  • 677-019 1:38 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:38 pm to 1:40 pm.

All 36 conversations from March 6, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 677-013, March 6, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417180921). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/677-013 (accessed November 2, 2026).