Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 246 › Conversation 246-030

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War and Vietnamization

Wednesday, April 7, 1971 · 5:40 PM–5:50 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation246-030 onTape 246 (tape position 05:06:55–05:14:50)StartWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 5:40 PMEndWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 5:50 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 246-030 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon rehearsed a televised address to the nation regarding the ongoing American involvement in the Vietnam War. He practiced articulating the administration's policy of Vietnamization and the goal of achieving a total withdrawal that would leave South Vietnam with a reasonable chance of survival. The speech emphasized the need for a principled exit that would honor American sacrifices while pressuring Hanoi to release prisoners of war and engage in serious negotiations.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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As you can see from the progress we've made today, by this announcement, the American involvement in Vietnam is coming to an end.
The South Vietnamese can take over their own defenses in sight.
Our goal is a total American withdrawal from Vietnam.
And we will reach that goal through our program on civilization.
We would infinitely prefer to reach it even sooner.
I again call on Hanoi to engage in serious negotiations to speed the end of the war.
I especially call on Hanoi to agree to the immediate end of the unconditional release of all prisoners of war who are under attack.
On the other hand, on the end of our very use of our purpose as negotiators and pawns, to join us in a humane act that will freeze their name as well as ours.
And now we'll move to the first glance at a great deal of appeal to the matter.
So confident, you know, that we can control all forces.
I want to announce a date now for the end of our call.
The difficulty of making such an announcement to the American people is that I would also make the announcement to the United States.
We are the enemy's purpose on our own.
We will quit regardless of what the enemy does.
In a way, our principle barred the encounter with the police of the United States during World War II.
We would remove the enemy's strongholds and send them to end the war as children by negotiation.
People have given enemy commanders the exact information they need to marshal their attacks against our remaining forces at them at the momentable time.
The issue, very simply, is this.
We leave Vietnam in a way that by our own actions consciously turns the country over to the country.
So we leave it in a way that gives the South Vietnamese a reasonable chance to survive and free people.
The land will end American involvement in a way that will provide that chance.
I would have it presented with a good victory or not.
It presents two days of choice in editing our involvement in this war on another despair or another hope.
Thank you, Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
America will always choose hope over despair.
And in our power, they lead Vietnam in a way that offers a brave people a realistic hope for freedom.
And in our power to prove to our friends in the world that America's sense of responsibility remains the world's greatest symbol of hope for peace.
We have in our power to close the difficult chapters in America.
We need them, but no one.
So each one of us can come out of this serious experience with a measure of pride in our nation.
We would abandon ourselves.
We would budge from the anguish of war to a nightmare of incrimination.
We would lose respect for this nation, respect for one another, respect for ourselves.
... ... ... ... ... ...
soldiers who build schools, roads, hospitals, clinics, and help us act in general readiness, kindness, and helping people.
We saw it in Vietnam.
And we should be very proud of what we've done.
Not our son, but our appreciation and our deep respect for America.
The President's appreciation is to the dead America's participation in this conflict, not in failure or defeat, but in the achievement of the great goals in which they saw it.
It will redeem the sacrifices of the world.
I do not ask you to take what I say on paper.
Look for it.
Look again at that child.
Is it in me to accomplish what I set out to do?
I have to do something.
I have to do something.
I have to do something.
I have to do something.
I have to do something.
I have to do something.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this celebration.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this celebration.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this celebration.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this celebration.
One.
Two.
One.
Two.
One.
Two.

NARA Description

On April 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 246-030 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 246-030
Date: April 7, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:40 pm and 5:50 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President rehearsed a speech
[A transcript of the final version of this speech appears in Public Papers of the Presidents,
Richard M. Nixon, 1971, pp. 522-527]

Also recorded on April 7, 1971

  • 246-027 5:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:05 pm and 5:22 pm.
  • 246-029 5:22 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:22 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 246-031 5:50 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:50 pm to 5:55 pm.
  • 246-032 5:55 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 6:01 pm.
  • 246-033 6:01 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Mark I. Goode met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:01 pm to 6:10 pm.
  • 246-034 6:10 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 7:09 pm.
  • 246-035 6:10 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 7:09 pm.
  • 246-036 6:10 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 7:09 pm.

All 42 conversations from April 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 246-030, April 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/246-030 (accessed September 18, 2026).