Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-172

Nixon phone call with Andrews on Speechwriting and Vietnam War

Friday, May 28, 1971 · 11:03 AM–11:04 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Andrews, John K., Jr.Conversation003-172 on Tape 3 (tape position 04:11:26–04:13:20)StartFriday, May 28, 1971 at 11:03 AMEndFriday, May 28, 1971 at 11:04 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-172 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed John K. Andrews, Jr. to revise the conclusion of an upcoming speech by incorporating an anecdote or a letter to provide an emotional rather than intellectual closing. Nixon suggested utilizing correspondence from prisoners of war, parents of servicemen, or Vietnam veterans to frame the theme of service. Andrews was tasked with gathering two or three potential options for the President to review by late afternoon.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.

I have Mr. John Price, sir.

Who?

John Price.

No, no, no.

I'm trying.

I'm sorry.

Andrews.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

It's John Andrews.

Yeah.

Yes, sir.

I was wondering if you and you can talk maybe to Cook about this, who's pretty good at this stuff.

I don't know that you can find one, but I wondered if you could give thought to the possibility of something for the conclusion of this rather than this is

a brief anecdote of some sort.

Now, it could be, you know, you've got a lot of letters.

I've never used any that we've had from POWIs, from Vietnam fathers, and all that sort of thing, or a boy who served, and something of that sort.

So why don't you be a good process anyway to get the crew over there to spend a couple hours looking through.

Maybe there's a letter.

a brief, very brief one that could be read.

Maybe there's an historical anecdote that would sort of put the whole problem of service and so forth in its proper context.

I'm sure we can come up with something.

I'd like to have two or three, a few choices so that there's a rather emotional lift at the end rather than an intellectual lift.

Yes, sir.

Just think about it.

And I won't maybe buy...

I won't be able to look at anything until around 4 o'clock this afternoon.

Okay.

And you want us to provide then the several choices if we can come up with them?

Well, yeah.

Yeah.

And a recommendation or two or three choices.

Yeah.

Two or three choices or something of that sort.

You can see where it comes toward the end.

Yes, sir.

Substitute for the end.

Okay?

Okay.

We'll get it.

Bye.

NARA Description

On May 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John K. Andrews, Jr. talked on the telephone from 11:03 am to 11:04 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-172 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 003-172

Date: May 28, 1971
Time: 11:03 am - 11:04 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John K. Andrews, Jr.

     President's speech
          -Conclusion
                 -Noel C. Koch
                 -Letters from prisoners of war [POW] wives, parents of servicemen, Vietnam
                 veterans
          -Purpose
          -Meeting with President

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                  -Time
             -Conclusion
                  -Alternatives

Also recorded on May 28, 1971

003-173 11:04 AM · 3 sec — the White House operator and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:04 am and 12:20 pm.
003-174 11:04 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:04 am and 12:20 pm.
505-019 11:04 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Luis A. Ferre, Rosario Benigno Trigo, and John C. Whitaker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:04 am to 11:17 am.
505-020 11:19 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen Hess, Dr. Edward Zigler, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:19 am to 11:32 am.
505-021 11:43 AM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Torben Ronne, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:43 am and 12:08 pm.
506-001 11:43 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Torben Ronne, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:43 am to 12:08 pm.
506-002 12:09 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, James Suffridge, James Housewright, William McGuire, Charles W. Colson, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:09 pm to 12:13 pm.
506-003 12:13 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:14 pm.

All 63 conversations from May 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-172, May 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-172 (accessed September 26, 2026).