Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 19 › Conversation 019-062

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Vietnam War and Public Relations

Tuesday, January 25, 1972 · 6:41 PM–6:44 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation019-062 on Tape 19StartTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 6:41 PMEndTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 6:44 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 019-062 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinated final preparations for an upcoming nationally televised speech on Vietnam. They confirmed that key political figures and Cabinet members had been briefed to ensure unified support, while also reviewing the strategic tone of the address. The discussion specifically addressed concerns over Henry Kissinger’s original draft, which was deemed too defensive, favoring the President’s preference for a more positive and dramatic presentation of the secret negotiations.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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yeah mr haldeman mr christian yeah thank you yeah on the information side i forgot to be sure you i don't know i suppose you covered him be sure you covered dole tonight right was that done yep and uh how about cabot lodge yep he was covered yes sir and bruce was covered bruce was covered right both will be asked yes sir david bruce and lodge are both on henry's list and uh
And the other cabinet people, I just assume, will be called.
They're being called and just told, you know, that you particularly want to be sure they listen.
That's good.
Called with a message from you.
Right.
And McGregor's going to hang on to the Republican leaders after the briefing and have dinner here and then watch the thing so that he can ride herd on them.
Okay.
On statements, you know, post-speech statements.
Let's all get behind the president.
We had a very good session with Marshall Green and Bob McCloskey and Dan Hankin and Warren Nutter.
Yeah, yeah.
And with Henry, and we got... Hank said it was very good that he...
It went very well.
...got Henry away from the nitpicking and all the positive things.
The first time around, he was a little on the wrong track.
Well, he was on the track.
I'll bet you that his original draft was not.
And it became kind of a negative sort of defensive approach instead of the...
I just wonder, as I look at my draft, if it's got too much of the crap on the negotiations on September blank, on November blank, and all that crap.
But we can't do anything about it now.
Thank you.
Probably okay.
But we...
He just started that way and finally got to the other, and by then, you know, it kind of set the tone in the wrong direction.
He realized that we had a good session afterwards.
It worked damn well.
Well, you see, the way I've done this, though, I think the way that my draft has come to think about it does answer that, because I start right out on the positive note.
That's right.
And that's the key.
And Henry doesn't do that in his draft, you see.
That was the difference.
Okay.
What is the, I think, what is our own staff?
Do they see the importance of it or most probably don't realize it?
Nope, very much so.
They do?
Oh, hell yes.
Well, I knew fellows like Ziegler would because he's pretty sophisticated, but what about the, what about the, you know, the... No, no, they very much do.
They have?
Very much do.
And we had, Henry had Elliot Richardson in the staff.
I think Elliot did a hell of a good job of putting, you know, putting...
putting it in the positive context and where it fits, and I'll step right up to it.
Because he knew.
That's it.
That's what I meant.
A fellow that knows about it, but the one thing I'm concerned about this is that it's so boring and so complicated that a lot of people just don't, you know, say, for Christ's sakes, I mean, here we go again, Vietnam, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Well, except that you got the drama of the...
You know, the twos moving and the secret meetings, secret talks.
Do you think that's drama?
Hell yes.
Well, I hope so.
Okay.
All right.
Fine.
Right on.

NARA Description

On January 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:41 pm to 6:44 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 019-062 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 19-62

Date: January 25, 1972
Time: 6:41 pm - 6:44 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with the President.

     The President's forthcoming speech on Vietnam
          -Informing people
                -Robert J. Dole, Henry Cabot Lodge, David K.E. Bruce
                      -Henry A. Kissinger
                -Cabinet
          -Clark MacGregor
                -Handling of Republican leaders
          -Kissinger's previous meeting
                -Marshall Green, Robert J. McCloskey, Dan Hankin, G. Warren Nutter
                -Value
                      -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Content and phraseology
                -Chronology of negotiations
                      -Kissinger’s draft
                            -Tone
                                 -Compared to the President’s draft
          -White House staff's reaction
                -Ronald L. Ziegler
                -Elliot L. Richardson
          -Possible reaction
                -Nguyen Van Thieu's actions
                -Secret negotiations

Also recorded on January 25, 1972

  • 019-059 4:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 019-060 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
  • 316-015 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
  • 316-016 5:32 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.
  • 316-017 5:32 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.
  • 316-018 5:32 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Marjorie P. Acker, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.
  • 019-061 6:31 PM · 4 min — the White House operator, Rose Mary Woods, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 6:31 pm to 6:34 pm.
  • 019-063 6:44 PM · 16 sec — unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 8:55 pm.

All 29 conversations from January 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 019-062, January 25, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/019-062 (accessed September 19, 2026).