{"conversationCode":"044-053","tapeNumber":44,"conversationNumber":53,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-044-053","startDateTime":"1973-03-28T20:57:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-03-28T21:00:00.000Z","startDate":"28-Mar-1973","startTime":"3:57 PM","endDate":"28-Mar-1973","endTime":"4:00 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.;","description":"On March 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:57 pm and 4:00 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 044-053 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.4","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part IV","chronReleaseDate":"8-Dec-2010","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 044-053\n\nDate: March 28, 1973\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542\n\nTime: Unknown between 3:57 pm and 4:00 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.\n\n[See also Conversation No. 425-19]\n\n       Kissinger’s memorandum on President’s March 29 speech\n             -Economic aid\n                     -North Vietnam\n                     -South Vietnam\n             -President’s meeting with Nguyen Van Thieu\n                     -Press relations\n             -Wording\n                     -Enforcement of cease-fire agreement\n                     -Aid to North Vietnam\n                     -Subsequent speech on Vietnam\n                           -Stronger language\n                           -North Vietnam\n                           -Cease-fire\n             -Washington Special Action Group [WASG]\n             -Infiltration\n             -Bureaucracy’s attitude to South Vietnam\n                     -Comparison with India and Pakistan\n                     -Possible Communist offensive\n             -Threat to North Vietnam\n             -Aid to North Vietnam\n                     -Cease-fire violations\n                     -Cancellation\n\n       Anatoliy F. Dobrynin\n            -Kissinger’s conversation\n            -Forthcoming meeting\n            -Soviet summit\n                   -Scheduling","filename":["044-053.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kissinger, Henry A."],"prevCode":"044-052","nextCode":"044-054","transcript":[{"start":0.57,"end":1.85,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":3.9,"end":4.78,"text":"Mr. President."},{"start":4.8,"end":5.1,"text":"Hi, Henry."},{"start":5.18,"end":9,"text":"I got your memorandum on Vietnam and so forth."},{"start":9.95,"end":17.74,"text":"Let me tell you one problem I have here and whether we can handle it."},{"start":19.49,"end":26.04,"text":"with going into the aid to North Vietnam and this is very hard."},{"start":26.42,"end":28.4,"text":"I would not recommend it."},{"start":28.52,"end":31.53,"text":"And even aid to the South and that sort of thing."},{"start":31.55,"end":47.69,"text":"My point being that the purpose of saying how we're going to keep the agreement and the rest, I think I can... You see, after my meetings with Chu, I'll have to see the press and I'll just lay it out there, perhaps."},{"start":48.53,"end":78.1,"text":"with hitting it now is it needs more explanation so I've got to put I've got to know I agree with that see my problem no I agree with it I put down everything that might conceivably be what I what I feel in this one I should say is without raising I will raise a little bit of a problem I said that you know the idea that after 25 years of guerrilla war there's still some problems and so forth but we expect compliance but nothing more than that but I mean they used to say look"},{"start":78.85,"end":85.69,"text":"accomplished our goal and that's not, not Pollyannaish, but I'll leave a little bit of a thing."},{"start":85.7,"end":94.26,"text":"I think if I get into the enforcement of the agreement and the aid to the North, that really requires a second, it really requires another speech."},{"start":94.28,"end":94.68,"text":"Do you agree?"},{"start":94.7,"end":95.46,"text":"Do you agree?"},{"start":95.48,"end":96.86,"text":"I agree."},{"start":97.1,"end":101.69,"text":"I think I would have one sentence in there that looked, it sounds threatening to the North."},{"start":101.71,"end":101.93,"text":"Right."},{"start":102.25,"end":102.65,"text":"Okay."},{"start":102.87,"end":105.86,"text":"I mean, that sentence about that, it must be observed."},{"start":106.6,"end":112.92,"text":"I'm in a room where no one can hear me."},{"start":114.09,"end":117.67,"text":"This infiltration situation is very ominous."},{"start":118.65,"end":121.24,"text":"It's now possible even that they'll start an offensive."},{"start":121.26,"end":124.54,"text":"The bureaucracy is about as bad as they were in India, Pakistan."},{"start":124.56,"end":125.78,"text":"They just want to bug out."},{"start":128.34,"end":133.53,"text":"And I'm trying to browbeat them into taking a more vigilant position."},{"start":134.34,"end":136,"text":"We've got to prevent the offensive."},{"start":136.06,"end":145.11,"text":"And if we give the impression that nothing is being done now, that you can't make an explicit threat."},{"start":145.95,"end":152.96,"text":"But if you could put in something that in the light of your previous thing, it can be just one sentence."},{"start":153.1,"end":155.14,"text":"Dropping the aid, I completely agree with."},{"start":155.82,"end":156.76,"text":"But the hell with the aid."},{"start":156.78,"end":158.24,"text":"We'll just put it in there."},{"start":158.62,"end":164.35,"text":"We expect an agreement has been made that we expect it to be complied with."},{"start":165.57,"end":167.54,"text":"Something like that."},{"start":167.56,"end":174.13,"text":"And we shall not tolerate a failure to strictly comply with the agreement."},{"start":174.89,"end":179.11,"text":"Two sentences like that would be worth more than all the aid garbage we can put out."},{"start":181.92,"end":185.98,"text":"I don't think this is the time even to mention aid to North Vietnam."},{"start":186,"end":186.4,"text":"I agree."},{"start":186.42,"end":189.12,"text":"I agree the hell with them."},{"start":189.15,"end":193.05,"text":"In fact, in May, if this continues, we may have to cancel the whole idea."},{"start":195.51,"end":198.2,"text":"because of their continued violation, you mean?"},{"start":198.24,"end":198.82,"text":"Exactly."},{"start":198.96,"end":199.24,"text":"Right."},{"start":204.21,"end":206.24,"text":"I haven't had a chance to talk to Dobrynin yet."},{"start":206.78,"end":208.94,"text":"I talked to him last night, Mr. President."},{"start":210.15,"end":212.27,"text":"He claims there's no problem about..."},{"start":212.54,"end":213.82,"text":"No real problem."},{"start":214.22,"end":214.88,"text":"What's the date?"},{"start":214.9,"end":217.23,"text":"You are from the other date, too, or just..."},{"start":217.29,"end":220.2,"text":"I'm seeing him at 6 o'clock today, Mr. President."},{"start":220.28,"end":221,"text":"Okay."},{"start":221.02,"end":222.14,"text":"And we'll get into it then."},{"start":222.26,"end":223.01,"text":"All right, fine."},{"start":223.09,"end":227.94,"text":"I would just assume, if we can get ready, have it earlier, but if necessary, either time."},{"start":228.04,"end":228.78,"text":"Okay, good."},{"start":228.8,"end":229.06,"text":"Right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the messaging and content for an upcoming presidential speech regarding the Vietnam War, focusing on the enforcement of the cease-fire agreement. They collectively decided to remove references to economic aid for North Vietnam while incorporating stronger language to threaten consequences for ongoing cease-fire violations and infiltration. Additionally, they addressed the need to pressure the bureaucracy to take a more vigilant stance against potential Communist offensives and coordinated on Kissinger's upcoming diplomatic meeting with Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin.","topics":["Vietnam War","Cease-fire agreement","North Vietnam","Foreign aid","US-Soviet relations","Henry Kissinger","Anatoliy Dobrynin"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T06:49:42.056Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","cease-fire-agreement","north-vietnam","foreign-aid","us-soviet-relations","henry-kissinger","anatoliy-dobrynin"],"audioDurationSec":234,"audioFiles":[{"file":"044-053.mp3","bytes":9357312,"durationSec":233.83,"bitrate":320137,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:30.404Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:44.249Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/044-053.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/044-053","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/44/conversation-044-053","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}