Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 32 › Conversation 032-005

Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam peace negotiations

Sunday, October 22, 1972 · 7:48 PM–7:54 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation032-005 on Tape 32StartSunday, October 22, 1972 at 7:48 PMEndSunday, October 22, 1972 at 7:54 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 032-005 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417193909 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss the status of Vietnam peace negotiations, emphasizing the importance of remaining resolute against North Vietnamese pressure tactics and avoiding rushed concessions. The President instructs Haig to coordinate a response through Charles Colson to counter George McGovern's public allegations regarding the administration's negotiation motives. They also address the logistical complications in communicating with Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin and reinforce the need to prevent leaks from the State Department, confirming that Secretary of State William Rogers is aligned with the President's strategy.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 7:48 pm to 7:54 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 032-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 032-005

Date: October 22, 1972
Time: 7:48 pm - 7:54 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

           Haig’s possible meeting with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
               -Location
                   -New car
                        -Radio
                   -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
               -Yuli M. Vorontsov
                   -Possible meeting
                   -Location
               -Haig’s view
               -The President’s view
                   -Message
               -Forthcoming meeting with Haig

           1972 election
               -George S. McGovern
                   -Statements on Vietnam peace negotiations
                        -The President’s view
                            -Allegations about Nguyen Van Thieu’s future
                        -The President's reaction
                        -Possible response
                            -Charles W. Colson
                            -The President’s view

           Vietnam
               -Peace settlement
                   -Importance of public relations
               -Henry A. Kissinger's schedule
                   -Return to US
                        -Time
                   -Talk with the President
                   -Meeting with Haig
                   -Return to Paris
                        -Time
                        -Day
                        -North Vietnamese negotiators
                             -Assurances from US
               -Peace settlement
                   -The President’s view
                   -US position
                        -Cambodia, Laos, May 8, 1972 decision
                        -Possible Kissinger trip to Hanoi and bombing halt
                             -The President’s view
                   -North Vietnam’s situation
                        -Haig’s view
                   -Leaks from Hanoi
                        -Dobrynin’s forthcoming meeting with Haig
               -William P. Rogers
                   -Haig’s briefing
                        -Ellsworth F. Bunker’s cables
                   -Leaks from the State Department
                        -The president’s instructions

                   -Cooperation
                   -Bombing halt
                       -Rogers’s view
               -Kissinger

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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Hello.
General Haig.
Hello.
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Anything new?
No, except we've had a complication with Dobrynin.
He got a new car today and left at 2 o'clock.
He has not come back yet.
He was due back at 5.30.
And nobody can contact him because he has no radio in his car.
The only other thing I could do is have the FBI chase him down.
I don't think that's a good idea.
No, no, no, no.
Why don't you just do it with the other fellow?
Or do you think you should wait?
He's back in Moscow for once off.
Well, he'll get in, or what do you think?
Well, I'll just wait it out.
I don't dare deal with some underling.
No, no, no, it's too important.
I think it should be to bring in, and in any event, you set the message off to the other people, and we'll get you to bring in.
I'll get him tonight.
You'll get him beforehand.
Right, right, right.
All right.
I had one thought.
It occurred to me that that McGovern thing,
Probably they ought to be taken on by some of our people in the sense that they're, I mean, not by us, but, you know, by somebody that's trying to sabotage the peace negotiations.
What do you think?
That's a very shocking statement, you know.
Oh, it is.
Well, he just had a slur on that TV thing, but that's the most atrocious.
But he said that we were going to sink, too, for the purpose of making an election settlement, huh?
That's right.
Isn't that something?
I think Colson and company can handle this.
Why don't you chat with them about it in the morning and let them know when you've thought about it.
Let them give him a few kicks in the ass about it.
The public relations on this, of course, is important.
The expectations actually will have been built up, but Henry's coming back here.
Give us a chance to think about it.
Now, did you get him so he won't be in at 6, I trust?
Yes, sir.
He'll be arriving about 11.
When I get back from New York, I'll have a talk with him, and at least just a very preliminary talk.
But if you could sort of talk to him first, it would be a good idea.
Right, sir.
I will.
And... Sure, we'll have lots of traffic from him tomorrow and lots of ideas, but... Sure.
And then...
What is your feeling as to when he would be, if the schedule works out, he would be going back to Paris?
I would think about, to get their number one back, they need about three to four days.
So I would say probably the end of next week.
You mean the end of this week?
Sunday, that's right.
The soonest, that's the soonest.
I wouldn't want to, I mean, the longer we get, the better.
That's right, that's right.
and uh particularly if we give them the private assurances that we're not delaying we're just trying to get the time to work out the settlement exactly well it's quite a as usual we've had a lot of others like this they're all quite tenuous but uh we can handle it we can handle it but the main thing is not to make the uh not to make the wrong jump
simply because of emotional reactions to what this or that or the other one does.
Because, good God, I mean, we're not going to flush everything we've done.
I mean, Cambodia, Laos, May 8th, and then like Henry running to Hanoi or stopping the bombing or something, good God.
I mean, that would ruin the whole thing.
That's right.
We're not going to do it.
We're not going to do it.
We're not here because they're in good shape.
They're on their knees and they wouldn't be here.
That's right.
That's right.
That means we'll be reasonable, but we're not going to be rushed into something.
We're not going to, and they were trying to rush us by leaking this thing out.
Of course they were.
That's exactly what they were doing.
That's what I would, that's the first thing you'll have to bring it on.
Okay, fine.
All right, Mr. President.
And Rogers didn't have any thoughts, did he?
No, I talked to him again later this afternoon, and he's, I think tomorrow we'll probably get together and give him a rundown of some of the, who should John read some of these cables.
All right.
Right.
Well, let's be sure you don't get him, keep him from it, but be sure you hit hard with him.
Well, I won't be here tomorrow, unfortunately.
I'm going to New York.
But be sure that he is on board with not...
having any leaks out, cracking, too, and so forth?
Oh, he is.
In fact, he feels very strongly about it.
I talked to him, and he's totally on our wavelength on this.
He understands that.
How about the bombing?
Did you mention that?
I mentioned that Henry had mentioned it.
He said, oh, God, this would be the worst thing we could do.
Good, good.
So he's 100%.
Good, good.
And then I think that he can play the game, and then we'll have to get Henry calmed down when he gets here.
Okay?
Right, sir.
Thank you.
Good.

Also recorded on October 22, 1972

  • 032-001 3:06 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:06 pm to 3:10 pm.
  • 032-002 3:10 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 7:28 pm.
  • 032-003 7:28 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:28 pm to 7:32 pm.
  • 032-004 7:32 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:32 pm and 7:48 pm.
  • 032-006 7:54 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:54 pm.
  • 032-007 7:54 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen talked on the telephone from 7:54 pm to 8:09 pm.
  • 032-008 8:09 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:09 pm and 8:23 pm.
  • 032-009 8:23 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 8:23 pm to 8:41 pm.

All 26 conversations from October 22, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 032-005, October 22, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417193909). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/032-005 (accessed November 3, 2026).