Office of the Historian

40. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Hillenbrand)1

Washington, June 9, 1970, afternoon.

K: He2 wants you to know he wants a tough line on that3 and he wants it part of our policy in Germany.

H: Thereʼs a meeting4 going on—the problem is not abolition but re-programming.

K: He wonʼt have it. They will not bargain with our assets there.

H: There may be some high level [omission in transcript] on this in due course.

K: From Brandt? It should be discouraged.

H: We are doing that but it will come up in the discussion they are having. In fact, they have already raised it. We are having an interagency meeting and I will bring it up.

K: He wants a tough line.

H: No re-programming?

K: Thatʼs how it was brought up by Shakespeare.5

H: OK, I understand.

  1. Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 367, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking.↩
  2. Apparent reference to Nixon.↩
  3. Apparent reference to Radio Free Europe.↩
  4. It is unclear to which meeting Hillenbrand is referring.↩
  5. See Documents 35 and 38.↩