Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 338 › Conversation 338-006

Nixon & Rebozo on Vietnam War and Mining of Haiphong Harbor

Tuesday, May 9, 1972 · 11:07 AM–11:12 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rebozo, Charles G. ("Bebe")Conversation338-006 on Tape 338 (tape position 00:25:37–00:29:21)StartTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 11:07 AMEndTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 11:12 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 338-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his close confidant Bebe Rebozo to discuss the ongoing military escalation in Vietnam, specifically the mining of North Vietnamese harbors and planned bombing raids on railroad yards. Nixon expressed confidence in the effectiveness of these measures despite concerns that they might jeopardize the upcoming Moscow summit. The two also touched upon domestic political fallout, noting the opposition from Democrats and Senator Edward Kennedy regarding these foreign policy actions.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 96.0 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:25:37 into the tape and ends around 00:29:21.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
25:16I thought I might come down this weekend, but that was the political weather.
25:22I don't want to come there.
25:24I don't want too many radicals.
25:44The question is now whether it works.
25:47It will work over a period of time, because I intend to squeeze these batteries if it takes a year.
25:56No, no, no, no, no.
25:57Oh, hell no.
25:59Oh, no.
26:00Boy, if they start bringing it in, if you see them, the ships are stopped.
26:04So nobody's going to go in.
26:07Twenty ships are lined up to get out right now.
26:09They're clogged with channeling.
26:10No way they can get in.
26:12Hell no.
26:14And we're gonna bomb the railroad yards tonight.
26:18Well, it'll give the course probably, as they've already said, most people think it'll sink the Russian summit, but I don't.
26:30But if it does, what the hell?
26:43It crawled all the way up.
26:48Probably got it off of the wall or some toilet.
26:58Let me ask you to say to the little people in your band, the little secondaries in the room, do they understand you?
27:16Ray McGovern jumped on it right away, and the Democrats have refused to endorse it.
27:22So I think that's playing a very vicious part in politics.
27:25I endorse that goddamn Kennedy's Cuban thing.
27:27But that's all right.
27:29Let him play part in politics.
27:31He'll be.
27:38Well, we've got strength.
27:40We will work on that.
27:42Well, okay, well, I may come down around Thursday, but I can't get away.
27:45I agree.
27:46Well, you know, I worked my hell this weekend.
27:50I worked on that, I was working on the money and all that.
27:55So I did mostly write and speak myself.
27:59Protected the part of Russia I didn't know about.
28:10Don't do anything I don't say.
28:13Except I'm a lover.
28:14Okay.
28:17Okay.
29:02I think that's a little dry.
29:05Oh, it's under operation now.
29:09Yes, sir.
29:10Sir, there's Larry, please.

NARA Description

On May 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:12 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 338-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 338-6

Date: May 9, 1972
Time: Between 11:07 and 11:12 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo.

[See Conversation No. 24-38]

Also recorded on May 9, 1972

  • 024-037 10:58 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:58 am and 11:07 am.
  • 338-002 10:58 AM · 1 min — 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 10:58 am and 11:07 am.
  • 338-003 10:58 AM · 45 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 10:58 am and 11:07 am.
  • 338-004 10:58 AM · 24 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 10:58 am and 11:07 am.
  • 024-038 11:07 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 11:07 am to 11:12 am.
  • 024-039 11:12 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:16 am.
  • 338-007 11:12 AM · 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 11:12 am and 11:16 am.
  • 338-008 11:12 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:16 am.

All 96 conversations from May 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 338-006, May 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/338-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).