Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969–1972

342. Editorial Note

During a conversation between President Nixon and Secretary of State Rogers in the Oval Office on March 7, 1972, the following exchange took place:

Rogers: “I think I should say too that one of the problems I have now with diplomats is that they don’t really think it counts. They don’t—”

President: “Well we’ve got to change that, got to change that.”

Rogers: “So they want to come to the White House—and you can see that in all the traffic—they say this doesn’t make any difference what Rogers says or the State Department, and that’s important because it hurts our ability to conduct foreign affairs.” National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, Conversation between Nixon and Rogers, March 7, 1972, Oval Office Conversation No. 679–15. The editor transcribed the portion of the conversation printed here specifically for this volume.