Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 726 › Conversation 726-007

Nixon & Haldeman on Soviet summit and Henry Kissinger

Friday, May 19, 1972 · 12:51 PM–12:55 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation726-007 on Tape 726 (tape position 02:14:47–02:17:11)StartFriday, May 19, 1972 at 12:51 PMEndFriday, May 19, 1972 at 12:55 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 726-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the scheduling of upcoming meetings, including sessions with Henry Kissinger and Senator Jacob Javits. The conversation primarily focuses on managing the administration's public messaging regarding the upcoming Soviet summit, specifically addressing a press conference held by William P. Rogers. Nixon and Haldeman analyze a news report by Marvin Kalb, suspecting that information provided at a private dinner party involving the Kalb brothers and Kissinger served as the underlying source.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:14:47 – 02:17:11

part B, 12:44

726a.mp3

726b.mp3

NARA Description

On May 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 12:55 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 726-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 726-7

Date: May 19,1972
Time: 12:51pm - 12:55 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     President's schedule
          -A meeting
          -Meeting with Henry A. Kissinger
          -Jacob K. Javits
                 -The President’s view

     Soviet summit
          -William P. Rogers's press conference
                -Call from Ronald L. Ziegler
                -Reasons
                      -Clark M. Clifford
                -Statements
          -Marvin L. Kalb report
                -Source
                      -Kissinger
                            -Dinner party with Marvin Kalb and Bernard Kalb
          -Content

Haldeman left at 12:55 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

All right, bye, see you.

I don't know where I should do this thing here.

— 1 min 25 s with no transcribed speech —

Well, I'm not so sure that, you know, he was going down to hit the thing.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

He was going to, on the summit, what he said he was going to say, and I don't know whether he was or not, was, so if I'm asked about the summit, he said, I didn't realize the president was having this thing today.

But I will, of course, he said, I don't know what he said.

Also recorded on May 19, 1972

726-004 11:45 AM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:45 am to 12:19 pm.
726-005 12:19 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:19 pm to 12:49 pm.
726-006 12:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:49 pm and 12:51 pm.
726-008 12:55 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William J. Porter, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:55 pm to 1:04 pm.
726-009 1:04 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:08 pm.
726-010 1:04 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:08 pm.
726-011 1:08 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:08 pm to 1:27 pm.
024-159 1:58 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.

All 47 conversations from May 19, 1972 →

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Henry Kissinger and Diplomatic strategy October 11, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Hardin on Henry Kissinger and William P. Rogers February 24, 1971 · 22 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on People's Republic of China and Public opinion polls July 22, 1971 · 9 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Henry Kissinger and William P. Rogers December 24, 1971 · 25 min
Nixon, Ziegler & Bull on People's Republic of China and Press relations February 14, 1972 · 5 min
Nixon & Ziegler on Busing policy and Press relations March 13, 1972 · 7 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 726-007, May 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/726-007 (accessed November 2, 2026).