Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 338 › Conversation 338-009

Nixon & Laird on Vietnam War and Military Strategy

Tuesday, May 9, 1972 · 11:16 AM–11:21 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Laird, Melvin R.Conversation338-009 on Tape 338 (tape position 00:29:59–00:34:23)StartTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 11:16 AMEndTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 11:21 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 338-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird met to coordinate the public relations strategy and military planning surrounding the Vietnam War, specifically focusing on the recent escalation of operations. Nixon emphasized the necessity of achieving a strong psychological impact through targeted strikes on infrastructure, such as power lines, and requested photographic evidence of enemy naval activity. They further discussed managing congressional testimony and media appearances to ensure a unified, aggressive message that conveys the administration's resolve and authorization to achieve victory.

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 00:29:59 into the tape and ends around 00:34:23.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
29:38So, Mel, everything's still going on schedule, huh?
29:43Right.
29:43One thing that would be very helpful, I was talking this morning, there was some wires that were reported on the ship, on the FBI, last night out there, but if you could have a photo plane get a photo of the ship's line up to get out, that would be a hell of a good thing to put out here.
30:00Do you think you could do that, or is it too dangerous?
30:08Maybe that that was simply unawares of the report.
30:09If you do that, in other words, Mel, I would particularly like, in this period, if you watch the PR thing yourself, and you're not operational, but you know you know more about this, you forgot more than a hundred people have ever learned.
30:25So, and if you see something we can do, write it down.
30:32Oh.
30:32Oh.
30:40We're all set for a good strike tonight, is that right?
30:42And I particularly want that one.
30:44You see, when we've got it at the outset of an operation like this, you'll have more support than you'll have later.
30:51Now is the time to bang and do it.
30:57Yeah.
31:00It's a rare event.
31:01Some feel well.
31:03Yeah.
31:04And you're looking at those power lines.
31:05You get those power lines, you know, they use up fuel.
31:09That would have a hell of a psychological effect on you.
31:11You take a hard run for those.
31:16Good deal.
31:17Fine.
31:18All right.
31:18Just be careful out there, because now that we've crossed the Rubicon, as I said, Bobby, I don't seem to cross the Rubicon, but he didn't lose.
31:28Oh, he did.
31:28I didn't get to see him.
31:29I...
31:31Well, he's a, he's a, he's a diplomatic experience and this and that.
31:34Well, good, I'll, I'll, I'll get a rerun of it and see what happens tonight.
31:38Good.
31:39When are you going to do something?
31:42When do you have to appear before committees?
31:46I'm just trying to think of when to go after that.
31:50Take a day off, yeah.
31:52And we go to date, right?
31:53You go tomorrow.
32:03Great, great, great.
32:04Hit it like hell.
32:05That's a marvelous place to do it.
32:07Could be better.
32:08But also, get the national TV there down there, too.
32:10They'll tell you.
32:12Try to hit it in the way that you hit it at the part of the day that you get on the evening news and you met they have in your room, okay?
32:19Fine.
32:20And then tomorrow, I don't know, we haven't got anybody to go.
32:23Well, I guess that makes no sense.
32:27Well, anyway, you're not going tomorrow, then, huh?
32:37If you do this, would you mind, I'm almost concerned, watching to see that we don't step on each other, would you mind giving him a ring to see who is going tomorrow, and if not, it may be more important for you to do a press conference here than a court meeting.
32:52Or maybe even to vote, you know.
32:55Right, right.
32:57Okay.
32:58Well, you see, I should not go up to that again right now.
33:00Don't you agree?
33:01I've got to let it rest a week now, and then maybe I'll do something next week with the president.
33:07Henry's on today, and that's good.
33:10That gets all the diplomatic stuff we do coming away.
33:13But then you can go on with a strong statement about that this can be made to work.
33:18That's the main thing.
33:19It will work.
33:20And the main thing is the president has given authorization
33:23that we now have not only the power but the will and the directives and the flexibility to make the name of the name work.
33:30And I think that's what we've got to become home to.
33:35Because the psychological effect is what we need.
33:37And I'm not speaking American people, but the psychological effect is what we need.
33:41And it is going to be like 68.
33:45See?
33:45Okay.
33:45That's right.
33:46All right, well, thank you.
34:02Press the next one, please.

NARA Description

On May 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Melvin R. Laird met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:16 am and 11:21 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 338-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 338-9

Date: May 9, 1972
Time: Between 11:16 and 11:21 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Melvin R. Laird.

[See Conversation No. 24-40]

Also recorded on May 9, 1972

  • 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.
  • 024-040 11:16 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 11:16 am to 11:21 am.
  • 024-041 11:21 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:21 am and 11:23 am.
  • 338-010 11:21 AM · 10 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 11:21 am and 11:23 am.
  • 024-042 11:23 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 11:23 am to 11:24 am.
  • 338-011 11:23 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:23 am and 11:24 am.

All 96 conversations from May 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 338-009, 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/338-009 (accessed October 17, 2026).