Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 733 › Conversation 733-006
Nixon, Kissinger & Bull on Foreign Policy and John D. Lavelle
Wednesday, June 14, 1972 · 11:15 AM–11:55 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed a broad range of foreign policy and administrative issues, including Secretary of State William Rogers’s upcoming diplomatic travel and the political implications of the unauthorized air strikes conducted by General John D. Lavelle. The conversation touched upon the administration's strategic objectives regarding SALT ratification, legislative maneuvers involving Senator Henry M. Jackson and George McGovern, and the evolving dynamics with the Soviet Union and China. Kissinger also provided updates on personnel matters and public relations strategies to manage potential fallout from military and diplomatic developments.
Audio
Audio for this conversation has not been released by the National Archives.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available because the audio has not been released.
NARA Description
On June 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:15 am to 11:55 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 733-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 733-6
Date: June 14, 1972
Time: 11:15-11:55 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.
Kissinger 's previous talk with Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
-Dinner
-Remarks
-Humor
-Charles H. Percy
Clark MacGregor
-Mathias
-Richard G. Kleindienst
Kissinger's remarks
-Vietnam
-Response by audience
-The President's foreign policy
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 33s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
*****************************************************************
Nikolai V. Podgorny’s trip to Hanoi
-India
-Press reports
-Calcutta
-Aircraft
-Soviet aviation
-Kissinger's call to Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
The President’s previous meeting with William P. Rogers
-Reasons for trip abroad
-The President’s view
-Press conference
-Charles W. Colson
-"Issues and Answers"
-Strategic Arms and Limitation Treaty [SALT]
-“Issues and Answers”
-Congressional testimony
Rogers's forthcoming trip
-Romania
-Possible Soviet Union response
-The President’s view
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-Kissinger’s forthcoming conversation with Dobrynin
-Rogers trip
-Greece
-Brezhnev
-The President
-Ceylon
-Behrain
-Iran
-Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah of Iran]
-Oil
-John B. Connally
-Value of trip
-Greece
-Vietnam
Possible press conference by Rogers
-Colson
Rogers's itinerary
-Romania
-Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW] Convention
-Value of trip
-Travel around country
-Commonwealth Club
Kissinger
-Public appearances
-Forums
-Television appearances
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Elite groups
-Benefits
John D. Lavelle’s removal
-Melvin R. Laird
-Circumstances
-Air strikes
-Laird’s role
-Kissinger’s view
Laird's performance
-Compared to Rogers's
-Kissinger’s view
-Budget requests
-Kissinger, George P. Shultz
-Supplemental requests
-Military expenditures for Vietnam
Lavelle
-The President’s view
-Compared to Daniel Ellsberg case
-Military responses
Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Air strikes
-Kissinger’s instructions
-US relationship with Soviet Union
Lavelle
-Administration action
-Replacement
-Gen. John W. Vogt, Jr.
-Timing of removal
-Laird
-Informing the President
-Kissinger’s knowledge
-Public relations aspects
-Rogers
-Administration response
-Press response
-Number of unauthorized air raids
-Public response
People’s Republic of China [PRC] announcement
-Press coverage
-Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
The President talked with an unknown person [Stephen B. Bull?] at an unknown time between
11:15 and 11:55 am.
[Conversation No. 733-6A]
Ronald L. Ziegler
[End of telephone conversation]
PRC announcement
-Michael J. Mansfield
-Podgorny trip
-Publicity
Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:15 am.
Ziegler’s location
-Press briefing
Bull left at an unknown time before 11:55 am.
Lavelle
-Administration action
-Laird
Moorer
-Air strikes
-Kissinger’s instructions
-Laird
-Opposition to the President
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Soviet Union
-Podgorny’s trip
-The President’s conversation with Brezhnev
Rogers
-Purpose of Podgorny trip
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 5m 46s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
Warren E. Burger
-Letter
John C. Stennis
Laird
-Negotiations with Soviet Union
-Rogers
-Mining of North Vietnam harbors
-Cambodia, Laos
-Lavelle
-Political ambitions
-Kissinger’s view
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 18s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
*****************************************************************
Lavelle
-Haig
-News summary
Kissinger's trip
-Schedule
-Departure
-Dinner for Luis Echeverria Alvarez
-Schedule
-Echeverria
-Kissinger
PRC
-Military information
SALT ratification
-Approval
-Timing
-Republican convention
-Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson's response
-The President’s concern
-Soviet Union responses
-Jackson's concerns
-Defense appropriations
-Opposition
-George S. McGovern
-Jackson
-Opposition
-B-1 bomber
-Undersea long-range missiles [ULMS]
-McGovern
-Kissinger’s possible responses
-Defense appropriation
-Appropriations
-Anti-ballistic missiles [ABMs]
-Relations with Soviet Union
-John J. McCloy
-Support to SALT and military program
-Wall Street Journal
-Talk with Kissinger
-Keisling (sp?) [New York editor]
Kissinger left at 11:55 am.Also recorded on June 14, 1972
- 733-003 10:04 AM — William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John L. McClellan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:04 am to 11:07 am.
- 025-063 10:45 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at 10:45 am.
- 025-064 10:51 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John L. McClellan, and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 10:51 am to 10:53 am.
- 733-004 11:07 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:15 am.
- 733-005 11:07 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:15 am.
- 733-007 11:55 AM — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:55 am and 12:16 pm.
- 733-008 12:30 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:30 pm to 1:02 pm.
- 025-065 1:05 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:05 pm and 2:18 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 733-006, June 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/733-006 (accessed October 12, 2026).