Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 22 › Conversation 022-053

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on North Vietnam and South Vietnam

Thursday, March 30, 1972 · 12:45 PM–12:47 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation022-053 on Tape 22 (tape position 02:10:12–02:11:31)StartThursday, March 30, 1972 at 12:45 PMEndThursday, March 30, 1972 at 12:47 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 022-053 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417193071 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discuss the North Vietnamese offensive into South Vietnam, which Nixon characterizes as a violation of prior understandings. Expressing grave concern that this aggression threatens diplomatic progress, the President demands a swift and forceful American response rather than a measured retaliation. Kissinger acknowledges the directive, agreeing to convey the President's firm stance regarding these breached expectations.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 12:45 pm to 12:47 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 022-053 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 22-53

Date: March 30, 1972
Time: 12:45 pm - 12:47 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

[See Conversation No. 697-28]

     Kissinger’s location

     The President’s morning briefing
          -North Vietnam’s offensive into South Vietnam
               -The President’s view

                     -US reaction
                     -Understanding between the US and the Soviet Union
                          -The President’s correspondence with Leonid I. Brezhnev
                          -The President’s talk with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                          -Kissinger’s response

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I have Dr. Kissinger.

Mr. President.

Yes, I know where you are.

I was going to say that I just read the morning brief and this is said for obvious reasons at this point that I'm very much concerned by what I think is a breach of what we understood was going to be the activity there and that I think you need to know that

As far as I'm concerned, the reaction must be swift and it's going to be very, it has to be, it isn't going to be tit for tat.

And I think that that has to be very clearly understood.

The difficulty with this is that it could seriously jeopardize what I had thought was

a very good understanding that we had.

You know, my correspondence with the chairman and the conversation I had with DeBrennan, and I just think it's very difficult to understand that they would allow this sort of thing at this point to jeopardize what we're trying to do.

Well, this is tremendously helpful, and I'll be sure to make that.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Also recorded on March 30, 1972

697-022 12:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:30 pm to 12:31 pm.
697-023 12:31 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Mike Finamore, Ann Landers, A. Hamblin Letton, Mrs. A. Hamblin Letton, Charles R. Ebersol, Mrs. Charles R. Ebersol, Lane W. Adams, Mrs. Lane W. Adams, Irving I. Rimer, Alan Davis, John Finamore, Mrs. John Finamore, Deborah Finamore, Alice Letton, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:31 pm to 12:39 pm.
697-024 12:39 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
697-025 12:39 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
697-026 12:39 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
697-027 12:39 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
697-028 12:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 12:47 pm.
697-029 12:47 PM · 2 hr 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:47 pm to 2:32 pm.

All 56 conversations from March 30, 1972 →

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and North Vietnamese offensive April 3, 1972 · 28 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Bull on Vietnam War and Anatoliy Dobrynin April 12, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Accords December 28, 1972 · 15 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on psychological warfare and propaganda May 10, 1972 · 9 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Cease-fire agreement March 28, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Accords December 17, 1972 · 6 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 022-053, March 30, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417193071). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/022-053 (accessed November 2, 2026).