Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 23 › Conversation 023-014

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Vietnam War and Public Relations

Tuesday, April 18, 1972 · 9:20 AM–9:23 AM ET · White House Telephone ·2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Rogers, William P.Conversation023-014 onTape 23StartTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 9:20 AMEndTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 9:23 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 023-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers discuss the positive reception of Rogers's recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony regarding Vietnam, noting commendations from Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Lady Bird Johnson. Rogers also recounts his attendance at a well-attended table tennis match accompanied by Tricia Nixon Cox, noting the presence of various protest groups among the crowd. The conversation concludes with a brief update on the improving military situation in Vietnam following a briefing from Admiral Thomas H. Moorer.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Secretary Rogers.
Hello.
Well, I called you last night because Julie gave me a call about 10.30, and she and David had seen that.
She said a special on your testimony, and she called to say she just thought it was great, so I want to pass it on to you.
Isn't that nice?
I don't know what it was.
Apparently they must have run a...
tick-ticked a half hour out and run it as a special.
You know, interesting, you might be interested, Mrs. Johnson called.
LBJ?
Yeah, and said that they'd both watched it and how pleased they were and they congratulated them.
Did they see the news or the special?
I think they saw both.
Uh-huh.
I think they saw it on live television.
You see, I didn't know.
I didn't know that, oh, oh, during the day.
Sure, they could have done that.
But David and Julie had seen it between 10 and 10.30, because she called me at 10.30, and that's when I called you.
So I was glad it was carried in, because you see,
15 times as many would see it on live television, I mean then as on live television.
That's right.
And also they replayed it on educational television the whole three hours.
Good.
I was with your other daughter last night.
How'd it go out there?
I thought it went well.
I didn't see how the... Well, the matches were good.
It's a motley crew, you know, a lot of booing, but you couldn't, they were booing so many different causes, you couldn't tell who was booing what.
Yeah.
I mean, there were Maoists and anti-Maoists and Taiwanese and Indore and McIntyre was out there.
I was glad I was there because it was good and Trish is such a wonderful girl.
Did they have a good crowd for it?
Yeah, very good crowd.
Largest crowd ever to see a ping pong match.
To see a ping pong, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, I thought that...
Otherwise, as you...
I think the testimony's got a good play, don't you think?
Yes, I think so, and I think that the young people seem to even be somewhat impressed.
I've had several calls from young people, and some of my friends here have had calls from people in college that liked it.
Well, I understand why.
Yeah, well, I think the military situation looks a little brighter today, too.
Yeah.
Well, I talked to Moore yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock, and he seemed to feel it was looking better, and I'm just going to go over it now, just to take a look.
Well, I've gone over and had the briefing this morning.
It looks pretty good.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
I appreciate it.
I know you've got to get a little rest.

NARA Description

On April 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 9:20 am to 9:23 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 023-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 23-14

Date: April 18, 1972
Time: 9:20-9:23 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

     [See also Conversation No. 711-3A]

     Vietnam
          -Rogers's testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
               -Julie Nixon Eisenhower's call to the President
                      -Television special
                      -Julie Eisenhower's reaction
               -Television special
                      -Claudia A. (“Lady Bird”) Johnson's reaction
                      -David and Julie Nixon Eisenhower
                      -Audience
                      -Public Broadcasting System [PBS] coverage

     Table tennis match
          -Rogers's attendance
                -Tricia Nixon Cox
          -Demonstrators
                -Maoists
                -Anti-Maoists
                -Taiwanese
                -Antiwar activists
          -Attendance
                -Carl McIntyre

     Vietnam
          -Rogers's testimony
                -Responses
                      -Young people
          -Military situation
                -Thomas H. Moorer's call to the President

Also recorded on April 18, 1972

  • 023-013 9:18 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:20 am.
  • 711-001 9:18 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:20 am.
  • 711-002 9:18 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:20 am.
  • 711-003 9:20 AM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, Manolo Sanchez, Alexander P. Butterfield, Melvin R. Laird, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 10:02 am.
  • 023-015 9:23 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:23 am and 9:27 am.
  • 023-016 9:27 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:27 am.
  • 023-017 9:55 AM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 9:55 am to 9:56 am.
  • 711-004 10:02 AM · 57 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:02 am to 10:58 am.

All 44 conversations from April 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 023-014, April 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-014 (accessed September 18, 2026).