Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 23 › Conversation 023-039

Nixon, Kissinger & Buchanan on Vietnam War and Spiro Agnew

Wednesday, April 19, 1972 · 3:27 PM–4:41 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsKissinger, Henry A.; Buchanan, Patrick J.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation023-039 on Tape 23StartWednesday, April 19, 1972 at 3:27 PMEndWednesday, April 19, 1972 at 4:41 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 023-039 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Patrick Buchanan coordinated on the development of a speech for Vice President Spiro Agnew regarding the Vietnam War. The discussion focused on drafting rhetoric to sharply criticize Ivy League university presidents who opposed the administration's bombing campaigns against North Vietnamese military targets. Nixon directed his staff to emphasize themes of North Vietnamese aggression and to explicitly attack the perceived lack of patriotism and moral courage among academic leaders.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Henry?
Yeah.
I was talking to the president about this Agnew speech.
Right.
And we think you ought to touch up the Ivy League presidents who are coming out against the bombing of the North a bit.
Hit them?
Yeah.
Okay.
And one of the general themes you should hit is what sort of thinking is it?
that condemns a bombing of military targets of the aggressor, that condemns America when a country has 13 of its 14 divisions in the territories of its neighbors, engages in a massive invasion, breaks every understanding and agreement they have had with us and towards the international community.
And then when we bomb the military targets, they condemn us and not the aggressor.
Okay.
Fine.
That's in there generally, or a lot of it specifically, but I think we can get a paragraph that makes that point, okay?
Can you do it?
Sure.
It'll be right on up there.
I've sent the V for the third draft of the thing.
Good.
I'll send this one up and say the president wants this, okay?
Right.
The president wants to talk to you for a minute.
Okay.
This, of course, will, I mean, his attack on the Democratic candidates will get him, but this, of course, will get him some headlines, too, which, in other words, because they think they're hurting him.
Right.
But on the other hand, he's on the right side of it this time, you know.
Okay.
In my view, you know, he may not want to use it.
But the point is that I think that he ought to say, when, pray God,
are these great leaders, the presidents of the great universities, just once going to speak up for America rather than speaking up for the enemies of the United States.
Lay it right to them.
And what an example they're setting for their students.
We can't blame, and he should say, we can't blame the students.
the few students who, for, you know, their activities here, when they are led by spineless, spineless, soft, woolly-headed faculty and university people with no courage, no guts, and no patriotism.
Put it to them like that.
Okay?
Okay, sir.
All right.
Right, sir.
I don't know whether you can write it mean enough or not.
I think so.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
Bye.

NARA Description

On April 19, 1972, Henry A. Kissinger, Patrick J. Buchanan, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:27 pm and 4:41 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 023-039 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 23-39

Date: April 19, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:27 and 4:11 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Henry A. Kissinger talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.

[See also Conversation No. 713-1B]

     Vietnam
          -The Vice President’s speech
               -Objections of Ivy League presidents
                    -Bombing
                          -General themes

Kissinger conferred with the President at an unknown time.

[See Conversation No. 713-1B]

[End of conferral]

     Vietnam
          -Military divisions
                -Massive invasion
                     -Breaking of agreements
                           -North Vietnamese aggression
                           -Draft
                                -The President's additions

The President talked with Buchanan at an unknown time.

          -The Vice President
               -Speech
                    -Example for students
                    -Role models of university presidents

Also recorded on April 19, 1972

  • 023-035 2:11 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:11 pm to 2:16 pm.
  • 023-036 2:16 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:16 pm and 2:17 pm.
  • 331-031 2:16 PM · 6 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 2:16 pm and 2:17 pm.
  • 023-037 2:17 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:17 pm to 2:18 pm.
  • 331-032 2:17 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:17 pm to 2:18 pm.
  • 023-038 3:27 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:27 pm and 4:41 pm.
  • 713-001 3:27 PM · 1 hr 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, Patrick J. Buchanan, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:27 pm to 5:01 pm.
  • 023-040 4:41 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:41 pm and 4:58 pm.

All 56 conversations from April 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 023-039, April 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-039 (accessed October 1, 2026).