Telephone Conversation Transcript Copies
Collection Information
Title

Henry A. Kissinger papers, part III

Call Number

MS 2004

Repository Information

Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library

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Series Information
Title
Telephone Conversation Transcript Copies
Dates
1969–1974
Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Ownership & Copyright

Copyright is retained by Henry A. Kissinger for works he has authored and provided during his lifetime to the Yale University Library. After the lifetime of Dr. Kissinger, all intellectual property rights, including without limitation all copyrights, in and to the works authored by Dr. Kissinger pass to Yale University, with the exception of all intellectual property rights, including without limitation all copyrights, motion picture and/or audio rights in and to his books, interviews and any films that will be retained by Dr. Kissinger’s heirs and assigns. Copyright status for collection materials other than those authored by Dr. Kissinger is unknown.

Except for the limited purposes allowed by the Yale University Library Guide to Using Special Collections, exploitation, including without limitation the reproduction, distribution, adaption, or display of Dr. Kissinger’s works protected by the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain shall not be commercially exploited without permission of Dr. Kissinger, the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Citation
Telephone Conversation Transcript Copies, 1969–1974. Henry A. Kissinger Papers, Part III (MS 2004). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University. https://hdl.handle.net/10079/digcoll/1192513
Scope and Contents

The files contain photocopies of the declassified and redacted copies of Kissinger’s telephone conversation transcripts (telcons) open to researchers at the Nixon Presidential Library. The telephone conversation transcripts are an extraordinary source on Kissinger’s service as national security advisor and secretary of state, one of the best that exists. The transcripts concern virtually every aspect of Kissinger’s diplomacy and government service as well as his relations with the media, friends, family, and a wider public.

The original transcripts, archived at the Library of Congress, number more than 15,000 and recount Kissinger’s telephone conversations while in office from 1969 to 1977 nearly verbatim. Kissinger had either a secretary listen to conversations on a “dead key” extension of the phone line and take shorthand notes or had the conversations taped, from which secretaries would later prepare the transcripts.

The copies in this collection cover only the Nixon presidency from January 1969 to August 1974 and do not include the transcripts from the Ford administration. These files are also missing a small proportion of the transcripts from 1969 to 1974, including all transcripts from April 29, 1972 to May 10, 1972 and individual transcripts from a number of other days. The copies were retained in Part III in order to increase the ease of access to these invaluable historical records.

Arrangement

Series IV is arranged chronologically.

PID
digcoll:1192513

OID
12480439