Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 237 › Conversation 237-036

Nixon phone call with Kennedy on Vietnam War and Diplomacy

Friday, December 29, 1972 · 6:49 PM–6:52 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kennedy, Richard T. (Col.)Conversation237-036 on Tape 237StartFriday, December 29, 1972 at 6:49 PMEndFriday, December 29, 1972 at 6:52 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 237-036 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy discussed the strategic importance of excluding Australian officials from receiving advance notice regarding ongoing diplomatic maneuvers. Nixon reaffirmed his belief that recent bombing campaigns were essential to force North Vietnamese negotiators back to the table in a serious manner. The participants also touched upon the intense external pressures influencing their counterparts as they prepared for upcoming meetings.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.2 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 22% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Did you cover Alex Johnson?
Bye.
Yeah.
I hope you told Alex that one thing I want to be sure he understands, and I know it will hurt him, but that under absolutely no circumstances are the Australians, either through their ambassador or their prime minister, to receive any advance notice.
Right.
He felt pretty pleased with it.
Good.
Got to be ready.
Even though it was hard.
That's good.
Because he's basically a very decent fellow who sees these things in perspective.
Even the depression.
Well, the thing they're going to offer, right, is that basically the things we were discussing with Warren today was they're heating him up.
Why?
Why did we do it?
Why did we bomb him?
And all that jazz.
We had too many talks.
We could have talked anyway without bombing.
Of course, they're totally wrong.
You and I know what we found.
We bombed him.
We got him back to the table in a serious manner.
Now they're back.
How did we go?
You and I were here, but we don't.
I'll expose the director.
Alex feels, too, that they're getting it up because they're under enormous stress.
Okay, fine.
Well, then it goes on 10 o'clock in the morning.
Warren, do you think as well?
Right.
All right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On December 29, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 6:49 pm to 6:52 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 237-036 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 237-36

Date: December 29, 1972
Time: 6:49 pm - 6:52 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Col. Richard T. Kennedy.

[See Conversation No. 158-28]

Also recorded on December 29, 1972

  • 158-027 6:44 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 6:49 pm.
  • 158-028 6:49 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy talked on the telephone at Camp David from 6:49 pm to 6:52 pm.
  • 158-029 6:52 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 6:52 pm.
  • 158-030 6:52 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 6:52 pm.
  • 158-031 6:52 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 6:52 pm and 7:02 pm.
  • 237-037 6:52 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 6:52 pm.
  • 237-038 6:52 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 6:52 pm.
  • 237-039 6:52 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 6:52 pm and 7:02 pm.

All 67 conversations from December 29, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 237-036, December 29, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/237-036 (accessed October 14, 2026).