Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-084

Nixon phone call with Richardson on Prisoners of War and Military Morale

Wednesday, February 14, 1973 · 5:29 PM–5:33 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Richardson, Elliot L.Conversation043-084 on Tape 43StartWednesday, February 14, 1973 at 5:29 PMEndWednesday, February 14, 1973 at 5:33 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-084 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417194879 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of Defense Elliot L. Richardson discussed plans for a presidential visit to the Pentagon to bolster military morale following the return of American prisoners of war (POWs). They coordinated the meeting's logistics, including the invitation list of military and NSC officials and the public messaging strategy to frame the event around honoring the heroes of the Vietnam War. Nixon emphasized that the visit was specifically intended to boost national and military pride in the wake of the ceasefire agreement.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.8 MB

NARA Description

On February 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Elliot L. Richardson talked on the telephone from 5:29 pm to 5:33 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-084 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-84

Date: February 14, 1973
Time: 5:29 pm - 5:33 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Elliot L. Richardson.
                                             -46-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                              Conversation No. 43-84 (cont’d)

       Prisoners of War [POWs]
             -Heroes

       The President’s schedule
            -Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
            -Visit to the Pentagon
                  -State Department
                  -Commerce Department
                  -POWs return
                  -Vietnam War cease-fire agreement
                  -Press
                  -Attendees
                         -Department of Defense employees
                         -Chiefs of Staff
                         -Deputy Secretary of Defense
                         -Service Secretaries
                         -Brent G. Scowcroft
                               -National Security Council [NSC]
                  -Military morale and public morale

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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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

Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
Hi, Elliot, how are you?
Fine, how are you?
Fine, fine.
You should be feeling great satisfaction in the achievement of a... Aren't you proud of your new clients?
I certainly am.
Isn't that something?
Really great, yes.
They are the most... Best thing that's happened to the military services.
Well, it makes the country proud.
A war has to have even one like this, some heroes, and there they come.
Yeah.
Not only the ones that...
But they behaved absolutely magnificently.
Yeah, and they...
where they came off that plane and everything.
That is really something.
Yeah, what I, did you talk to Moore?
Did he tell you?
How does that idea sound to you?
Oh, I think it would be great.
I think it would be a great thing for the services and for the department.
Well, you know, I can't go to all the agencies and will not, but I thought we could, I'm just trying to think of how we position this so that it, what do you think we should say?
I don't want to get it in a position where if I go here, they expect me to go to state and the rest.
You know what I mean?
And commerce, et cetera, because I just haven't got the time.
Should we say that I'm going over to get a report on what?
Well, you could come over to get a report on the progress toward...
the homecoming of the POWs and the status of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
But also, I think the idea I got from Tom's account of his conversation with you was that you also wanted to consider how appropriately to recognize these men.
And I think that's the lead, really.
Let's have it sort of handled that way so that we can, so that the press will realize there's a special purpose.
Yeah.
All right, and then you, your fellows can discuss it.
I'll discuss some other things, too, naturally, you know, just sort of have, so that they sort of have a feeling.
You see, the chiefs and the service secretaries figure you've got to have a feeling they participate.
And you should, you can have anybody you want, but I assume you would have your deputy participate
and then service secretaries.
Does that sound all right?
I would have the, yes, I would have the deputy service secretaries, the chiefs.
Now, it's fine with me if you want to add people.
I would add about three or four others.
My top military assistant.
Fine, fine, fine.
Well, that's your... And the assistant secretary for public affairs.
It's your call, and you do it.
Well, we're really very delighted, and I think it would be a very refined thing for the...
Yeah.
I will bring, incidentally, I'll bring along Scowcroft with me, General Scowcroft, who is so that he can cover for the NSC crowd.
Great.
Okay, so you can figure just two of us and... Well, we're really very...
I'm very proud to have you here.
Well, I really think it's important for us to use this, Elliot, to build the military a bit, their morale, I mean, make them proud.
And their own and the country's.
That's right.
The country needs it.
Absolutely.
Okay.
It's a great idea.
All right.
I'll see you about 1 o'clock.
Is that all right?
That would be great.
I'll be there.
Good.
Thanks a lot.

Also recorded on February 14, 1973

  • 043-083 5:06 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 5:06 pm to 5:07 pm.
  • 856-002 5:29 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Elliot L. Richardson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:29 pm to 5:33 pm.
  • 043-085 5:33 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:33 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 856-003 5:34 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 6:06 pm.
  • 856-004 5:34 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 6:06 pm.
  • 856-005 6:06 PM · 28 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.
  • 856-006 6:06 PM · 10 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.
  • 856-007 6:06 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.

All 59 conversations from February 14, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-084, February 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417194879). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-084 (accessed November 15, 2026).