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Conversation 160-015

TapeTape 160StartSaturday, January 6, 1973 at 3:39 PMEndSaturday, January 6, 1973 at 3:44 PMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Recording deviceCamp David Study Table
AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss the status of ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations and the psychological state of Henry Kissinger amid intense congressional and media criticism. Nixon justifies the recent bombing campaign as a necessary strategic leverage, and both men express cautious optimism that North Vietnam will seek a settlement by the end of the month. The conversation concludes with a directive for Haig to prepare for a potential mission to South Vietnam to present an ultimatum to President Nguyen Van Thieu regarding the final settlement terms.

Vietnam WarParis Peace AccordsHenry KissingerNguyen Van ThieuMilitary StrategyUS Congress
AudioNARA Description

On January 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 3:39 pm to 3:44 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 160-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 160-15

Date: January 6, 1973
Time: 3:39 pm - 3:44 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table
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                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                       (rev. August-08)

                                                          Conversation No. 160-15 (cont’d)

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 240-6]

       Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
            -Schedule
                 -Henry A. Kissinger’s trip to Paris
                       -Kissinger’s demeanor
                              -Congress
                              -Press
                       -Conversation with the President

       Vietnam negotiations
            -Press reports
                  -Negotiations
                        -Kissinger
                  -The President’s decision to bomb
            -Prospects for settlement
                  -The President’s view
                        -Effect of bombing
                  -Haig’s view
                  -US Congress
                  -The President’s view
                  -North Vietnamese position
            -Haig's possible trip to South Vietnam
                  -Nguyen Van Thieu
                        -The President’s view
                        -US Congress
                               -Funding
                               -Prisoners of War [POWs]
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Hello.
General Hanks on the line.
Yeah.
Hello?
Hi, Al.
Yes, sir.
How do you like your new job?
Like a fish out of water here at first.
Yeah.
I was thinking that...
If you haven't done so, you might give Henry a call before he leaves and, you know, buck him up a little.
Oh, right, sir.
As a matter of fact, I have just spoken to him.
Oh, good.
He's all right.
I mean, I saw him this morning, but, you know, he's carrying a heavy load and he's more susceptible to the congressional actions and also the damn columns and so forth, some of which he's...
They're pretty vicious these days.
Yeah.
He's in pretty good shape.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, yeah, sure.
We had a good talk today, and he knows what our options are and so forth.
And also, despite all the yakking around, it seems to me that we have followed the only course of action we could.
And you having been over there, all this nonsense which has been written to the effect that
that Henry wanted to continue negotiating, and I drew him off and decided to bomb.
Of course, that's just the other way around, as you know.
But nevertheless, he was right.
And my own feeling is that I'm utterly convinced that had we not done what we'd done, we'd just have no bargaining chip at all at this point.
What do you think?
We would have been stalled out.
Don't you agree?
Don't you think so?
That's right.
Whether this is going to produce a settlement remains to be seen.
It could.
It could.
What's your guess at this moment?
Well, I'm inclined to think they're going to settle.
It may be a couple of false starts, but I think by the end of the month we'll have a settlement.
That's my own judgment.
Yeah.
Well, they...
I think they want it.
Frankly, they either have to settle or we just have the thing...
where they have to settle or take some consequences for it.
That's what they've got to think in their own minds.
That's right.
Despite the shenanigans of the Congress, they know we've gone through that before.
At least I would think they would remember that.
Well, I think they know it.
There's nothing the Congress could do in the immediate sense in any event.
That's right.
And I don't think they'd ever get around to doing it in any event.
given the situation provided if they if they've stolen all that's right and then we just have to go out and lay it out that's right that's right well my feeling is too that uh i've never been as you know much of an optimist about settlement but i think at this point the chances are much better for settling than they were when he went over there in uh in uh in uh late november yes sir don't you think so i think so because then i think they they were sort of a
floating along there with the assumption that uh we sort of had to and they didn't exactly they weren't hurting too much now i think they realize that the way these congressional things are turning they're going to end up with a purely military option which they don't want yeah that's true that's true if if they don't want a military option
uh al uh dale dan will better settle now because that's the way the congress would force us to move that's exactly right and of course as you know it's the way we will move too on our own without telling him any event we'll keep him uh bucked up and hope for the best as you know if we uh do uh get any kind of a breakthrough you'll have to get in your horse and go out and see brother q again yes sir this time
At this time, though, there's no nonsense.
And I think he'll be in a different mood, too.
That's my guess.
We've had some indications, apparently, as you know, that he's changing his mind.
Well, that's the benefit of this activity.
If there is any, he at least learned a lesson.
But when he sees the Congress jumping up and down, he knows that after the stop of all military activity, the next is to stop all aid to South Vietnam in order to get the prisoners back.
That's the next step.
And you know that's exactly where that road's going to lead.
That's the reason it isn't a very good one for us either.
No.
Because...
But in any event, when we go this time, if it comes to that point, whatever the settlement is, we're just going to put it right to him.
That's it.
And then he takes it or leaves it.
I think that's the only alternative.
Don't you agree?
Yes, I do.
And even if we have to go public... Oh, we will.
You'll know.
All right.
Okay.
We hope you'll take the trip.
Okay.
Bye.
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
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