Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 190 › Conversation 190-004

Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and Psychological warfare

Wednesday, May 17, 1972 · 5:48 PM–5:57 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation190-004 on Tape 190 (tape position 00:03:40–00:09:47)StartWednesday, May 17, 1972 at 5:48 PMEndWednesday, May 17, 1972 at 5:57 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 190-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss military operations and psychological warfare tactics concerning the conflict in Vietnam. Nixon expresses frustration with the lack of aggressive propaganda efforts and urges Haig to initiate a deception campaign aimed at demoralizing enemy forces through misinformation and exaggerated reports of increased B-52 bomber deployments. Additionally, Nixon suggests retaliatory air strikes in response to recent attacks on American equipment and personnel.

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Position in tape: 00:03:40 – 00:09:47

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Well, what's the report?
No.
Continue to get them there, though, are we?
Yeah.
And they're getting that and they're getting that content area hard to work.
Why does he just put the whole 1200 on that place for him?
I mean, if that's where he is, he does it.
There is intelligence and accurate.
He doesn't feel that he could really give that a walk if they know they're in places, you know, where they are.
Yeah.
Yeah, you told me that, yeah.
The one part, Al, that I'm going to write a little memorandum on it, but I really wish you'd follow up.
I just don't think that Helms is out there, and that means, of course, even in Ireland, we're probably doing the maximum that we should in terms of propaganda.
I mean, in North Vietnam and in South Vietnam with the enemy.
Are we doing anything like, for example, pointing out that more B-52s are coming?
come on over, you're losing, you know, I mean, every kind of a thing, you know, that, I mean, it was commonplace in our work, too, but it helps us out if they ever come up with anything.
I remember I wrote a memorandum on it about a week ago.
And what did they do?
Well, for Christ's sakes, they didn't know anything about that sort of thing.
Yeah, yeah.
Right, right.
But are they playing?
I mean, are they playing, frankly, the dirty tricks game?
You know, that's what you have to do, Alex.
You know, you've got to mislead them.
You don't tell them the truth.
You tell them what is not true and scare the hell out of them.
The point that should be made is to now make a major effort to get prisoners to come.
You say, look, it's all over.
Your homeland is Spain.
You can treat well.
You know, I don't know.
These people have been killed.
They've been killed up in the north.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Give me an apartment of my own.
Yeah.
Good.
Good.
Good.
The north do the reverses in the south in the battlefield.
You see?
They...
You could just tell them to indicate that the President has ordered a doubling number of E52s.
They're on the way.
Let's put that up.
Now we have 100 that the President has ordered, another 100 to come in from Europe.
Put that up.
I just want them to have some imagination.
We don't do anything that, you know, the NSC group...
And that's one place we've been terribly weak throughout this whole time, is for war.
On the propaganda side, it's just because it's in too many hands.
Christ's sake doesn't understand it today.
and all that, and that's just crap.
It's war.
I mean, remember George McGregor in World War I and, you know, even that silly OSS did pretty well at times.
But my point is, I really feel that this is the time now to, if the propaganda, I mean, if the tide of battle is turning, that's the time to pour in the propaganda.
Don't you think so?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
human birthday of our guys are the americans are certainly alert to that now aren't they our forces yeah but the other thing it seemed to me remember you told me about that you could just just just do one thing how about you do one thing you know that c1 what was it c5a they knocked out you know that plane that you said that was carrying ammunition killed seven guys yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why not just put 20 B-52s in that general area there?
I mean, wouldn't that be...
I mean, just to show the guy that if they pull this sort of thing, they're going to be hit.
Or has that been done?
You know, I really feel that when they... What was that, a rocket attack?
Right.
But they were just hitting that area around it.
I mean, if it's under fire... We're just doing everything we can.
Just keep your feet to the fire and tell them on the propaganda side, just tell them that I'm, that I'm, do you pass this word that I'm disappointed that I haven't had any ideas from Helms' outfit, none from the other outfit, and I want to see some, but I really want to see some Friday news before I do.
What the hell are their new ideas on the propaganda front?
When you do that, tell them I expect something.
I don't want a long paper and I don't want a long report, but what new things can they suggest doing at this time, having in mind the fact that the tide of battle may be changing.
and that we want to really portray the hearts of the enemy and the youth.
I want some new ideas.
Just say, now tell them to work all night because I expect them to.
They can do that.
They can do that.
It's not a routine business, you know.
You've got a guy here out there, support guys in that plane or something.
Let these veterans that we have here work overnight for a change.
You know, tell them to go up their ass and think of something, you know.
Yeah.
Okay, fine.
Apparently both are doing a good job.
That's a good move.
Okay, I'll thank you.

NARA Description

On May 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:48 pm and 5:57 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 190-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 190-4

Date: May 17, 1972
Time: Between 5:48 and 5:57 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 131-14]

Also recorded on May 17, 1972

  • 131-042 5:30 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 190-001 5:30 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 190-002 5:30 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 190-003 5:30 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 131-014 5:48 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 5:48 pm to 5:57 pm.
  • 131-015 5:57 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 5:57 pm.
  • 190-005 5:57 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 5:57 pm.
  • 190-006 6:40 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Beverly J. Kaye, and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 6:40 pm and 7:33 pm.

All 63 conversations from May 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 190-004, May 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/190-004 (accessed October 10, 2026).