Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 746 › Conversation 746-011

Nixon & Johnson on Diplomacy and Algeria

Saturday, July 1, 1972 · 11:07 AM–11:12 AM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Johnson, U. AlexisConversation746-011 on Tape 746StartSaturday, July 1, 1972 at 11:07 AMEndSaturday, July 1, 1972 at 11:12 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 746-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consults with U. Alexis Johnson regarding the scheduling and diplomatic priorities for an upcoming overseas trip involving a representative referred to as Bill. The conversation centers on balancing a potential meeting with the Pope against securing a diplomatic opening in Algeria, with Nixon expressing that an Algerian engagement is of higher strategic importance. Ultimately, Nixon instructs Johnson to prioritize the Algerian contact and directs that a meeting with the Pope should only proceed if the Algerian arrangement is finalized.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Bill doesn't want to wait until the 13th when Kevin Durbin is back.
Grant Hartman, of course,
My only information is that they're going to have to go ahead on the 9th and see some other official and help the government.
It's not his fault.
But he would have a strong opinion about it.
Bill apparently very much wants to call on the 9th and then call on some Italian official and then come on.
Rather than waiting for 13, otherwise he would have to stay around someplace over there.
But I know this hassle about I've been truly a citizen, having always received it.
What church is he going to be coming in?
Of course, that's an obsession, too.
What is your view?
Will the Italian government feel that bad about it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
Oh.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That'd be great.
Yeah.
Right.
I heard it.
Yeah.
That's my prayer.
Let me stay on the Pope.
We can have a Pope.
I mean, I just, frankly, it's always good to see the Pope get on so that he doesn't, so he sort of stays in line on other things.
But we do have a hell of a lot of contacts, right?
And my view is that if Algeria would be added, it's infinitely more important.
Everybody's doing it.
Yeah, but let me suggest that
trying to get him on the phone, but they were like, I'll sort of, sort of, you know, I mean, I'll, it's really, your government is impressed, and Henry wrote a little memorandum, and we've been, I'm just, we're all just, you know, that was said because we don't know what the, what he wants to do, and I don't want to, but you have to listen to your ambassador, in this case, and Mark really feels strongly about it.
So the Italians are so complacent, even this is apparently the first
Yeah.
Oh, and then, I see.
Well, then I need you to write one for all of them.
You should knock off the rankings.
See, my rank is supposed to be in the 13th.
Rankings are not supposed to be in the 12th.
Oh, I see, right, right, well.
Right, right, yeah.
Yeah, well, if the Algerian reaction is favorable, I would be very much with that, and then you could go see the Pope, too, which would be the better thing to do.
Yeah, yeah.
All right, fine.
If you would do this, I don't leave one o'clock in California.
If you would just, Henry's out there.
If you would just bill him in and tell him that my view is exactly this.
One, if Algeria is on, then bill on Algeria.
If two, if it is not on, then he should not see the vote.
And leave that under Reagan and come on.
And that's the way we should operate.
Because I can see that Bill probably isn't going to have a lot to say about it.
I just wanted somebody...
Well, I wanted somebody to see.
That was it, you know.
Since nobody has seen since the Russian trip, I wanted somebody to see the boat.
But Randy didn't do it.
Sure, sure.
You just go in there and tell them.
I just signed something saying it's okay to go and so forth.
I got the impression he wanted to go.
But in spite of that, you could tell them everything.
One, I prefer the Algeria.
Okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On July 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and U. Alexis Johnson met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:12 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 746-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 746-11

Date: July 1, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:07 am and 11:12 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with U. Alexis Johnson.

[See Conversation No. 26-33]

Also recorded on July 1, 1972

  • 746-009 11:03 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:03 am to 11:07 am.
  • 746-010 11:07 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:12 am.
  • 026-034 11:12 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:25 am.
  • 026-035 11:12 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:25 am.
  • 746-012 11:12 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Bruce J. Kehrli, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:19 am.
  • 746-013 11:12 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:19 am.
  • 746-014 11:12 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:19 am.
  • 746-015 11:12 AM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:19 am.

All 43 conversations from July 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 746-011, July 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/746-011 (accessed September 30, 2026).