Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 99 › Conversation 099-010

Nixon, Laird & Moorer on Easter Offensive and Vietnam War

Monday, May 1, 1972 · 3:07 PM–11:59 PM ET · Cabinet Room · 1 hr 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Smith, Gerard C.; Rogers, William P.; Laird, Melvin R.; Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.); Helms, Richard M.; Allison, Royal B. (Gen.); Kissinger, Henry A.; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation099-010 on Tape 99StartMonday, May 1, 1972 at 3:07 PMEndMonday, May 1, 1972 at 11:59 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 099-010 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417174327 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his national security team, including Henry Kissinger, Admiral Thomas Moorer, and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, to receive a comprehensive military briefing on the ongoing North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. Admiral Moorer provided a detailed regional analysis of the conflict, noting that while South Vietnamese forces were facing intense pressure and heavy casualties, they were holding key positions with the crucial assistance of U.S. air power and naval support. The President emphasized that the conflict would remain difficult but reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining air support and striking military targets in North Vietnam until the offensive subsided.

Easter Offensive
Vietnam War
U.S. air power
Military strategy
North Vietnamese military logistics

Audio

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part B, 2:00:29

099a.mp3

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NARA Description

On May 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Gerard C. Smith, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Richard M. Helms, Gen. Royal B. Allison, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 11:59 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 099-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 99-10

Date: May 1, 1972
Time: 3:07 pm - unknown before 11:59 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

The President met with Gerard C. Smith, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Admiral Thomas
H. Moorer, Richard M. Helms, General Royal B. Allison, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L.
Ziegler
[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress]

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 57m 33s ]

     STRATEGIC ARMS NEGOTIATIONS

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

******************************************************************************

     The President’s schedule
          -Meeting
               -Ziegler

The President left at 4:08 pm

******************************************************************************

     Vietnamese negotiations

[To listen to the segment (2m38s) declassified on 02/28/2002, please refer to RC# E-590.]

******************************************************************************

Smith, et al. left at an unknown time before 11:59 pm

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

I have to...

I don't know what the hell he did to it, but it goes to very few points.

Very few points, but I understand he's taking care of it.

I don't want to lose him, but I think there's a lot of other things in there.

I think they're going to lose him someplace.

Now, can I see the matchmaker who's actually going to have this copy of the match?

I assume that that was a picture of a building.

A building.

And I handed it over, and he's got it now.

And he's trying to accept the language that was transmitted as I had given it to him.

I don't know what the accuser offered at one thing, but at the other thing, it's transparent.

We'll find out what was actually put to him.

That's the older version, I'd say, is that one was taken this morning.

Also recorded on May 1, 1972

335-001 2:32 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 2:40 pm.
335-002 2:32 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 2:40 pm.
335-003 2:40 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:40 pm to 2:55 pm.
716-001 2:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:55 pm and 3:02 pm.
716-007 3:08 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 4:08 pm.
716-002 4:11 PM · 1 hr 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:11 pm and 5:29 pm.
716-003 5:31 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:31 pm to 5:53 pm.
716-004 5:57 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:57 pm to 6:47 pm.

All 19 conversations from May 1, 1972 →

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War and Easter Offensive April 26, 1972 · 11 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War May 8, 1972 · 14 min
Nixon alone in the Oval Office on Vietnam War and Easter Offensive April 17, 1972 · 7 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Ziegler on Vietnam War and North Vietnamese Invasion April 17, 1972 · 56 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Haldeman on Easter Offensive and Vietnamization April 17, 1972 · 47 min
Nixon, Diem & Haig on Vietnam War and ARVN June 12, 1972

Cite this conversation

Conversation 099-010, May 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417174327). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/099-010 (accessed November 2, 2026).