Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 1 › Conversation 001-014

Nixon phone call with Graham on Vietnam War and Public relations

Wednesday, April 7, 1971 · 9:52 PM–9:55 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Graham, William F. ("Billy")Conversation001-014 on Tape 1 (tape position 00:29:59–00:33:08)StartWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 9:52 PMEndWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 9:55 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 001-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Reverend Billy Graham spoke to discuss public reaction to Nixon’s recent televised address regarding the Vietnam War. Graham praised the President's sincerity and effectiveness, specifically highlighting the emotional impact of Nixon’s tribute to a young boy. They further discussed an upcoming New York Times editorial by Graham, which aimed to shift the historical blame for Vietnam-era escalation and the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem onto the Kennedy administration.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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President Billy Graham off the line, sir.
Who?
Reverend Billy Graham.
Hello.
Here you are.
Hello.
Hello.
Mr. President?
Who's this, Billy?
This is Billy Graham.
How are you?
I want to tell you that that's by far the best anybody has done on Vietnam.
And you had me in tears.
I really feel that... Well, I was in tears myself, you know.
Every time I think of that little Kevin he saluted, it just broke me up.
Well, I think you even threw old Dan right at the old fella.
Yeah.
I thought it was just tremendous, and I just wanted to tell you that... Are you in Knoxville?
No, I'm still in Vero Beach, Florida.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I've been down here about five weeks.
When are you going?
You're crusading Kentucky.
Yes.
Oh, yeah, I see.
But you felt it was the right thing.
Of course, we're fighting a very tough battle here.
Everybody wants to pull out, but I have to fight against the tide.
I've got to do the right thing.
I think you've defused a lot of it tonight, though.
I don't see what in the world they can say after tonight.
I think that you've given some of people like me, you've given me something to hold on to and to really say,
And I've got an editorial in the New York Times on Friday, which I wrote this morning.
They had it for you yesterday.
And I'm putting all the blame of this whole thing on Kennedy.
That's right.
He started the damn thing.
He killed Diem, and he sent the first 16,000 combat people there himself.
Well, I'm saying that the first time I ever heard of our involvement was four days before he was inaugurated, playing golf with him.
He said, I quote, we cannot allow layoffs in South Vietnam to fall to the communists.
And then I said, when President Johnson took over, we had 16,000 troops there.
That's right.
And I said, the political climate in the United States... Well, and Diem had been murdered.
You see, Billy, the key thing here was Kennedy's, and I must say our friend Lodge's, agreement to the murder of Diem.
Diem, that's what killed the whole, that's what opened the whole thing.
The whole thing.
And I said this sentence, I said, many of the President's doves in the Senate were not then so dovish, even Senator Fulbright, who introduced the now famous Tonkin Resolution.
And I got all that in there.
They've taken it.
They're going to print it Friday morning.
Good.
Well, anyway, I appreciate that.
I thought it was your sincerity and your manner of presentation was just excellent.
It was just wonderful.
One thing, incidentally, you know, I threw away the text at the last and talked about this little boy that came there.
That little Kevin, you know, when he saluted me, I damn near broke up.
I'm sure you did.
Well, you know how it is.
It's awful tough, isn't it?
Well, God bless you.
You've got a lot of people praying for you.
Well, believe me, Billy, it means an awful lot.
And you keep the faith, huh?
You betcha.
Keep the faith.
Sir.
Our folks, we're going to win.

NARA Description

On April 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William F. ("Billy") Graham talked on the telephone from 9:52 pm to 9:55 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 001-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 1-14

Date: April 7, 1971
Time: 9:52 pm - 9:55 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William F. (“Billy”) Graham.

     President's previous speech on Southeast Asia
           -Kevin Taylor's salute
           -Dan Rather

     Graham's schedule

     President's previous speech on Southeast Asia

     Role of John F. Kennedy in Vietnam War
          -Graham's article in New York Times
          -Overthrow of Ngo Dihn Diem
          -Combat troops
          -Laos
          -South Vietnam
          -Lyndon B. Johnson
          -Henry Cabot Lodge
                -Diem
          -J. William Fulbright
                -Tonkin Gulf resolution

     President's previous speech of Southeast Asia
          -Taylor

Also recorded on April 8, 1971

  • 001-009 9:31 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:31 pm.
  • 001-010 9:31 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 9:31 pm to 9:39 pm.
  • 001-011 9:39 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:39 pm and 9:42 pm.
  • 001-012 9:42 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone from 9:42 pm to 9:49 pm.
  • 001-013 9:49 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:49 pm and 9:52 pm.
  • 001-015 9:56 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew talked on the telephone from 9:56 pm to 10:00 pm.
  • 001-016 10:00 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:00 pm and 10:07 pm.
  • 001-017 10:07 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 10:07 pm to 10:16 pm.

All 67 conversations from April 8, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 001-014, April 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/001-014 (accessed September 24, 2026).