Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 240 › Conversation 240-006

Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Accords

Saturday, January 6, 1973 · 3:39 PM–3:44 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation240-006 on Tape 240StartSaturday, January 6, 1973 at 3:39 PMEndSaturday, January 6, 1973 at 3:44 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 240-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss the ongoing Paris Peace negotiations and the need to bolster Henry Kissinger's resolve amidst external pressures from Congress and the media. Nixon expresses concern that Kissinger is becoming overly susceptible to these influences, emphasizing the necessity of maintaining a firm bargaining position regarding Vietnam. Ultimately, Nixon insists that if a diplomatic settlement cannot be reached, the administration must be prepared to pursue a decisive military course of action.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 14% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Hi, Alan.
How are you liking your job?
Hi.
Yeah.
I was thinking that you might give Henry a call before he leaves and bump him up a little.
Yeah.
Good.
He's all right.
I mean, he's eyes wide and smart, but you know, he's turning his head a little.
He's smart.
susceptible to the congressional actions and also the damn columns and so forth, some of which he shouldn't.
Well, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, yeah, sure, he was, we had a good talk today, and he knows what our options are and so forth.
And also, despite all the, you know, the yanking around, I, uh,
It seems to me that we had followed the only course of action we could.
And nonsense, which has been written to the effect that I threw him off.
He set up a bomb, of course, and just got way around me.
But nevertheless, he was right.
And my only feeling is that...
utterly convinced that we've not done what we've done.
We just have no bargaining chip at all at this point.
What do you think?
Don't you think so?
No.
Now whether this is going to produce a settlement remains to be seen.
It could.
What's your guess at this moment?
Okay.
Frankly, they either have to settle or we just have to
They have to settle or take some consequences for it.
That's what they've got to think in their own minds.
Despite what the geneticists in Congress say, we've gone through that before.
At least I would think they would remember that.
If they've shown all that trust.
The only thing is, too, that I've never been, as you know, a bunch of an optimist.
They were when he went over there and laid the record.
Don't you think so?
Because then, I think they were sort of floating along there with the assumption that we sort of had to, and they weren't hurt too much.
It's true.
If they don't want a military option,
Al, the old man will better settle down, because that's the way to accomplish your forces and move.
And of course, as you know, it's the way we will move, too, on our own.
As I'm telling you.
We'll keep him bucked up.
Hope for the best, as you know.
If we do get any kind of a breakthrough, we'll have to get him a horse and go out and see Brother Q again.
This time, this time, though, there's no nonsense.
He's, uh,
And I think he's going to have to deal with it in a different way, too.
That's my guess.
We've had some educations there.
We know that it's changing his mind.
But seeing the Congress jumping up and down, he knows that after he stopped the ball of military activity, the next time he stops the ball, he'll sell 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 very good for us either.
And he says, we're going to 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.
We hope you had a good trip.
Okay, bye.

NARA Description

On January 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 3:39 pm to 3:44 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 240-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 240-6

Date: January 6, 1973
Time: 3:39 pm - 3:44 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 160-15]
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                       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on January 6, 1973

  • 160-014 2:59 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:59 pm and 3:39 pm.
  • 160-015 3:39 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 3:39 pm to 3:44 pm.
  • 240-007 3:44 PM · 15 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.
  • 240-009 3:44 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.
  • 240-010 3:44 PM · 15 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.
  • 240-011 3:44 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.
  • 240-012 3:44 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.
  • 240-013 3:44 PM · 15 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 3:44 pm on January 6, 1973 and 4:40 pm on January 7, 1973.

All 37 conversations from January 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 240-006, January 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/240-006 (accessed October 11, 2026).