Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-037
Nixon phone call with Rainwater on Vietnam War and Media Bias
Friday, April 23, 1971 · 1:32 PM–1:37 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Veterans of Foreign Wars leader Herbert R. Rainwater discuss public perception of anti-war demonstrations, agreeing that the media is providing biased coverage and failing to grant equal time to veteran perspectives. The two men also address political tensions involving Senator Vance Hartke's stance on veterans' legislation, with Nixon encouraging Rainwater to continue applying public pressure on the Senator. Additionally, Rainwater proposes a strategic framework for prisoner-of-war exchanges and troop withdrawals intended to pressure the North Vietnamese government, which Nixon agrees to review.
- Vietnam War
- Media Bias
- Veterans Affairs
- Senator Vance Hartke
- Prisoners of War
- Protests
Audio
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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
· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.
Hello.
Mr. President, I'm Mr. Rainwater.
Yeah.
Mr. President.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
I wanted to tell you I thought you did a fine job on television last night.
Well, thank you, sir.
Yeah, and we're glad to get some of our side across here.
Well, I just wish I could do more.
I'm going to ask what else can we do now?
Well...
I think actually, you know, I think we are right in not, you know, we've avoided trying to avoid getting rough on these people because I don't want to have the situation.
Remember the bonus marchers back in the 30s?
We must not allow that.
And so that's why we have finally vacated the court order.
It ends today anyway.
The permit ends.
But the real problem we've got here, Chief, is the fact that the media, although they gave you a minute that year about the first one they put on,
But night after night, they run five or six minutes of these people.
That's really something, isn't it?
Yes, and for the next 10 days here, I'm going to hit that every day, the overkill here as I get on.
Right.
The fact that basically they ought to present both sides.
Yes, I don't know why.
As an example, the five national commanders of the veterans organizations have not been invited to face the nation.
Right.
Good.
Well, you hit it.
That's the kind of thing.
Just say that, look, let's have equal time.
Well, this is a critical hour.
It's a critical time.
I was reading Hanoi's request this morning in Paris, and it dovetails in with what Hartke told me yesterday.
I went down and bearded him for 45 minutes in his den yesterday.
Good.
I said, Senator, you know that you're misleading these people with some of your statements.
A reporter questioned me in my interview and said, will you repudiate Senator Hartke's statement last night?
I said, I don't know what it is.
What is it?
She said, he said that he did not see any need for any more veterans legislation or liberalizing it until Vietnam War ends.
He said that.
miss, he's going to have $1,600,000 of veterans down his neck and get him off of that committee right fast.
He has us in the spot, sir.
He's the chairman of that veterans committee.
I know he has, yeah.
And here I am one day having to work with him.
I know you have to.
And it's a tough, tough one for me to walk.
Right.
Well, let me say this.
We're doing the right thing here, and we're going to come out all right, but we just have to sort of sail through these next couple of weeks and then... What did he tell you of my conversation with him last night?
Impulsive?
Yes.
No, no, I haven't seen him today.
I gave him a message, and I want to give it to you if you have one minute.
Sure.
What, Mr. President, if after this is over, this thing's demonstration is finished sometime in the next two weeks or so, you say to Hanoi, look, you are keep talking about a date.
Why don't you send one?
yourselves and you would know in your mind what it is then and that requirement then following that would be inventory of our prisoners accounting for all in Laos help of the Viet Cong in the north and then commensurate with every 50,000 troops America withdraws you send home 30 40 prisoners and that way we'll all come down together
and we will release your prisoners in the same way.
I'm just giving that to you as a thought.
I'll get it, and certainly look at what we're looking for.
We've presented a lot of these things, but any time we can find a new one, we're going to do it.
Well, this puts the onus on their backs.
You're saying to them, okay, you want a date?
Now you have been kidding the people who haven't lived up to Geneva Conference.
Right.
Nothing you have said have you honored, including all ceasefires at the Tet.
Right.
And Hartke says, oh, well, to me, yesterday, all the president has to do is tell them that he's going to pull out on October the 28th or whatever, and then they will negotiate the presence of war.
Negotiate it, yeah.
I said, why do you believe that, sir, when they haven't lived up to one single line of the PIVACon?
Yeah.
I search, too, every day for answers, and this one has come up.
Well, you keep pushing them in to us, Chief, and we'll examine them, and you'll pop up with them whenever we think it'll work.
Well, I know that you give things a lot of thought.
I know, but we always like some good ideas from outside.
Well, I'll think about this.
Right.
I know.
Well, I've just made a note on it.
Okay, sir.
And I appreciate it, and just keep slugging.
Well, I am, and I know you've got a tough one.
Don't worry.
We'll handle it.
Thank you.
Bye.
NARA Description
On April 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Chief Herbert R. Rainwater talked on the telephone from 1:32 pm to 1:37 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-037 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 2-37
Date: April 23, 1971
Time: 1:32 pm - 1:37 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Herbert R. (“Chief”) Rainwater.
[See Conversation No. 487-19B]
[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order from
December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums, et al. v. James M.
Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records Administration produced this
transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
Back to Top
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542Also recorded on April 23, 1971
- 002-034 1:04 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:11 pm.
- 002-035 1:11 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:11 pm.
- 487-017 1:11 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:11 pm.
- 487-018 1:11 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:11 pm and 1:17 pm.
- 002-036 1:14 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:14 pm and 1:32 pm.
- 487-019 1:17 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Chief Herbert R. Rainwater met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:17 pm to 1:51 pm.
- 002-144 1:37 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 1:37 pm on April 23, 1971 and 6:53 pm on April 26, 1971.
- 487-020 1:51 PM · 35 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:51 pm and 2:52 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 002-037, April 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-037 (accessed October 10, 2026).