{"conversationCode":"033-101","tapeNumber":33,"conversationNumber":101,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-033-101","startDateTime":"1972-11-18T17:53:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-11-18T17:54:00.000Z","startDate":"18-Nov-1972","startTime":"12:53 PM","endDate":"18-Nov-1972","endTime":"12:54 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On November 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 12:53 pm to 12:54 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 033-101 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.1","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part I","chronReleaseDate":"11-Jul-2007","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 33-101\n\nDate: November 18, 1972\nTime: 12:53 pm - 12:54 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.\n\n       Second term reorganization\n            -Elliot L. Richardson\n                  -Melvin R. Laird's reaction to appointment\n\n       Vietnam War\n            -South Vietnam\n                 -Amount of US aid\n                       -Helicopter Engines\n                 -Laird\n                       -Possible mission to South Vietnam\n                             -Message to Garcia [Nguyen Van Thieu]\n                             -Timing\n                                   -Settlement agreement\n                             -Knowledge of Military And Congress\n                             -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.","filename":["033-101.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"033-100","nextCode":"033-102","transcript":[{"start":0.32,"end":2.04,"text":"Uh, hello."},{"start":2.06,"end":3,"text":"Dr. Kisner, sir."},{"start":3.02,"end":3.3,"text":"There you are."},{"start":3.6,"end":7.77,"text":"Incidentally, I'm talking to Laird, uh, a couple things."},{"start":8.51,"end":13.74,"text":"He, uh, he's relaxed about Richardson, so I thought that'll work out."},{"start":13.76,"end":14.94,"text":"Oh, good."},{"start":14.96,"end":22.19,"text":"Uh, the second point that, uh, but more important, Laird said that, uh, talked about the amount of stuff we had out there."},{"start":22.21,"end":25.41,"text":"They have 500, for example, uh,"},{"start":26.04,"end":29.34,"text":"extra helicopter engines, you know."},{"start":29.36,"end":33.81,"text":"He says, you just can't believe what we've stuffed into the place."},{"start":34.67,"end":41.16,"text":"And I'm just wondering if Laird might be the guy that we could send out there with a message to Garcia."},{"start":42.36,"end":44.34,"text":"No, Laird is a definite possibility."},{"start":44.36,"end":49.63,"text":"I thought that he could— Well, we shouldn't send anybody— No, no, nothing until you finish the agreement."},{"start":50.01,"end":50.13,"text":"Right."},{"start":50.15,"end":51.09,"text":"The agreement is finished."},{"start":51.13,"end":51.81,"text":"Laird goes out."},{"start":51.89,"end":54.24,"text":"Laird wants to cap his career, and he says,"},{"start":54.49,"end":59.4,"text":"You know, he can be goddamn tough and stonewall it and say, look, I represent the military."},{"start":59.92,"end":60.74,"text":"I know the Congress."},{"start":61.08,"end":61.42,"text":"Bang."},{"start":61.96,"end":62.46,"text":"That's it."},{"start":62.48,"end":66.69,"text":"Now, either you come along here or we're going to go separate."},{"start":66.71,"end":69.13,"text":"You know, we just might do it."},{"start":69.15,"end":69.92,"text":"Well, we'll think about it."},{"start":70,"end":71.9,"text":"But it's a distinct possibility."},{"start":72.28,"end":74.4,"text":"I think Haig should go with him if that happens."},{"start":74.42,"end":75.41,"text":"Oh, by all means."},{"start":75.67,"end":76.53,"text":"By all means."},{"start":77.52,"end":81.58,"text":"But we'll have to see where we... You've got to see what comes out of it."},{"start":81.6,"end":84.14,"text":"Right, but I've thought of him as a possibility."},{"start":84.39,"end":85.59,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":85.61,"end":87.6,"text":"Okay, right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the administration's second-term reorganization, noting Melvin Laird's acceptance of Elliot Richardson's appointment. The conversation then shifted to the surplus of U.S. military aid in South Vietnam and the potential for dispatching Laird on a diplomatic mission to deliver a firm ultimatum to President Nguyen Van Thieu. They agreed that such a mission, to be accompanied by Alexander Haig, should only occur following the finalization of the Vietnam peace agreement.","topics":["Second-term reorganization","Melvin R. Laird","Vietnam War","US military aid","Nguyen Van Thieu","Alexander M. Haig, Jr.","Peace negotiations"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T04:25:04.385Z"},"topicSlugs":["second-term-reorganization","melvin-r-laird","vietnam-war","us-military-aid","nguyen-van-thieu","alexander-m-haig-jr","peace-negotiations"],"audioDurationSec":94,"audioFiles":[{"file":"033-101.mp3","bytes":686411,"durationSec":93.6,"bitrate":58667,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:29.541Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/033-101.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/033-101","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/33/conversation-033-101","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}