{"conversationCode":"686-007","tapeNumber":686,"conversationNumber":7,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-686-007","startDateTime":"1972-03-17T15:09:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-03-17T15:13:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Mar-1972","startTime":"10:09 AM","endDate":"17-Mar-1972","endTime":"10:13 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On March 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:09 am to 10:13 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 686-007 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 686-7\n\nDate: March 17, 1972\nTime: 10:09 - 10:13 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Henry A. Kissinger.\n\n      The President's forthcoming meeting with the National Security Council [NSC]\n           -William P. Rogers\n           -Melvin R. Laird\n           -Defense Department\n           -Gerard C. Smith\n                 -Anti-ballistic missiles [ABMs]\n                 -Submarine-launched ballistic missiles [SLBMs]\n                       -Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]\n                 -Soviet Union\n                 -Possible leak\n           -Laird\n\nThe President and Kissinger left at 10:13 am.","filename":["686a.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:30:15","tapeEnd":"00:33:32","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"686-006","nextCode":"686-008","tapeTranscriptFile":"686a.mp3","transcript":[{"start":1829.27,"end":1837.71,"text":"If you could lean, there's this thing in your top side."},{"start":1837.78,"end":1838.64,"text":"See that?"},{"start":1857.95,"end":1863.13,"text":"My recommendation is that you rule the game, but not as to me, but as to other folks I'm very interested in."},{"start":1863.99,"end":1868.61,"text":"Because Smith is trying to get us out of the field at the end."},{"start":1868.63,"end":1871.21,"text":"If he can't get us out of the field, I rule this defense."},{"start":1872.15,"end":1874.57,"text":"It gives me the heart, and I'll try to do it."},{"start":1875.45,"end":1883.6,"text":"I'll present this defense as a heart check, and if you want me to read for that, give me a chance to do it, and I'll be interested in it, and I'll go ahead and do that at the end."},{"start":1884.44,"end":1886.52,"text":"Well, here's the answer."},{"start":1905.66,"end":1908.84,"text":"There's also what he wants next, that is to say, one side."},{"start":1908.9,"end":1914.06,"text":"Now, one side, after he started with 12, it's going to put him in a hell of a hole."},{"start":1914.88,"end":1920.98,"text":"I'm just going to tell him, I'm going to leave him to say that I don't agree with that."},{"start":1921.09,"end":1924.29,"text":"And I'm going to show him what I'm going to let him do."},{"start":1924.31,"end":1926.91,"text":"So I think it's okay to rule this sort of thing on."},{"start":1926.95,"end":1927.55,"text":"He's got to believe it."},{"start":1927.61,"end":1928.57,"text":"He's got to believe it."},{"start":1929.39,"end":1932.19,"text":"We're going to get it."},{"start":1932.45,"end":1936.15,"text":"Now we've got to put it up there too."},{"start":1936.21,"end":1940.71,"text":"It's going to make less of it without it."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":1797.125,"end":1984.875,"startMethod":"silence","endMethod":"silence"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Henry Kissinger coordinated strategy ahead of a National Security Council meeting involving William Rogers, Melvin Laird, and Gerard Smith. Their discussion focused on navigating complex negotiations regarding anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with the Soviet Union. Nixon determined that he would personally interject to override Smith’s position if necessary to ensure administration control over the defense posture.","topics":["National Security Council","Anti-ballistic missiles","Soviet Union","Defense policy","Gerard C. Smith","Strategic arms negotiations"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T02:38:06.542Z"},"topicSlugs":["national-security-council","anti-ballistic-missiles","soviet-union","defense-policy","gerard-c-smith","strategic-arms-negotiations"],"audioDurationSec":197,"audioFiles":[{"file":"686a.mp3","bytes":84904436,"durationSec":3537.62,"bitrate":192003,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.664Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/686a.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/686-007","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/686/conversation-686-007","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}