Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 190 › Conversation 190-016
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Propaganda
Wednesday, May 17, 1972 · 7:50 AM–7:59 AM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 1 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger to dictate a formal memorandum regarding the management of U.S. propaganda efforts concerning the Vietnam War. The discussion focused on coordinating the messaging between the White House and the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) to ensure a unified public stance. Nixon explicitly outlined his preferred strategic direction for these communications to maintain consistency in official statements.
- Vietnam War
- Propaganda
- Public relations
- MACV
- Strategic communications
- Foreign policy
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 00:59:20 – 01:00:17
59:18
NARA Description
On May 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 7:50 am and 7:59 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 190-016 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 190-16
Date: May 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 7:50 and 7:59 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire
The President dictated a memorandum to Henry A. Kissinger.
Vietnam
-US propaganda
-The President’s view
-White House statements
-Military Assistance Command, Vietnam [MACV] statementsTranscript (AI-generated)
No speech has been transcribed for this recording. An AI model that listened to the whole recording reported: Heavy buzzing and muffled dictation by President Nixon into a recorder/microphone, mostly unintelligible.
Also recorded on May 17, 1972
- 131-021 7:46 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 7:46 am.
- 190-013 7:46 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 7:46 am.
- 131-022 7:50 AM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 7:50 am.
- 190-014 7:50 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 7:50 am.
- 190-015 7:50 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 7:50 am and 7:59 am.
- 190-017 7:59 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 7:59 am and 8:05 am.
- 190-018 8:05 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 8:44 am.
- 190-019 8:05 AM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 8:44 am.
Related conversations
- Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on SALT and Foreign Policy May 20, 1971 · 38 min
- Nixon, Kissinger & Woods on Vietnam War and Public Relations January 31, 1972 · 3 min
- Nixon, Keogh & Kissinger on USIA and Foreign Policy February 21, 1973 · 32 min
- Nixon, Flynn & Scowcroft on Vietnam War and POWs April 9, 1973 · 1 hr 44 min
- Nixon phone call with Colson on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 30, 1972 · 2 min
- Nixon phone call with Keogh on Propaganda and Prisoners of War April 9, 1973 · 3 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 190-016, May 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 648452968). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/190-016 (accessed November 2, 2026).