Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 678 › Conversation 678-008

United States Secret Service agents on Cambodian foreign policy

Monday, March 6, 1972 · 6:59 PM–7:54 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation678-008 on Tape 678 (tape position 03:55:21–03:56:08)StartMonday, March 6, 1972 at 6:59 PMEndTuesday, March 7, 1972 at 7:54 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 678-008 ↗

AI Summary

Secret Service agents gathered in the Oval Office to discuss sensitive diplomatic maneuvers regarding Cambodia and internal administration strategies. The participants deliberated on blocking State Department officials like Sullivan from pushing Cambodians toward a separate deal, proposing instead a directive to warn them against such negotiations. The discussion included plans to edit official dispatches and generate a memorandum to formalize these instructions while navigating broader foreign policy concerns.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 164.9 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 03:55:21 into the tape and ends around 03:56:08.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
3:54:43They won't do it.
3:54:45But if they do, you must, though, remember to never say, that was what the president said here last day, you must not pay attention to what a senator says.
3:54:56They won't pick it up.
3:54:57I'm practically certain of that.
3:55:00The state was on the record.
3:55:01Yeah, the state was on the record.
3:55:03Yeah, but Scott is nobody.
3:55:05The state is an organ of the government.
3:55:10But Scott voted me.
3:55:11Or he said it was a little more indirect than that.
3:55:18He said it was.
3:55:20He didn't say it was.
3:55:22It wasn't good, but it was not good.
3:55:23I don't know.
3:55:29We are having a Cambodian purpose.
3:55:31That is, we wanted to instruct Green to warn the Cambodians against making a separate deal.
3:55:38Now, Sullivan is blocking that, and because obviously the state has been pushing them into the direction of the separate deal.
3:55:48Now, I'm sure that they'll all... Why don't you just give me a memorandum signed?
3:55:53Okay.
3:55:53Well, if you would let me edit the dispatch, and let me tell them that I...
3:55:59can you just say that i i saw it by this uh by franklin's this is a this is totally because it's too dangerous with regard to the opening issue and then bill and i ordered directly from the spanish and i'll call you sure and uh i said well but i think on the letter a lot worse
3:56:23Well, maybe, maybe, but we're going to have some.
3:56:27And on the other hand, the main thing is that you can have a price to see those great relations.
3:56:36Isn't that true?
3:56:38Oh, that's it.
3:56:39They won't get anywhere near great relations.
3:56:42They may bother us on the amount of money.

NARA Description

United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:59 pm on March 6, 1972 and 7:54 am on March 7, 1972. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 678-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 678-8

Date: Unknown between March 6, 1972 and March 7, 1972
Time: Unknown between 6:59 pm, March 6 and 7:54 am, March 7
Location: Oval Office

Unknown men [Secret Service agents] met.

     George [Surname unknown]

     The President’s location

     Unknown object

     Schedule

     Request for a call

The unknown men left at an unknown time before 7:54 am, March 7, 1972.

Also recorded on March 6, 1972

  • 021-001 4:00 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:00 pm.
  • 678-003 4:00 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:00 pm.
  • 678-004 4:00 PM · 1 hr 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Rose Mary Woods, Jayne Brumley, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, and James C. H. Shen met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:00 pm to 5:04 pm.
  • 021-002 4:12 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jayne Brumley talked on the telephone from 4:12 pm to 4:13 pm.
  • 021-003 4:13 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:13 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 678-005 5:05 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:05 pm to 5:10 pm.
  • 678-006 5:10 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 678-007 5:15 PM · 1 hr 39 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:15 pm to 6:59 pm.

All 32 conversations from March 6, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 678-008, March 6, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/678-008 (accessed October 12, 2026).