Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 274 › Conversation 274-013

Nixon & Haig on Vietnam War and Peace Negotiations

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 3:01 PM–3:37 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation274-013 on Tape 274 (tape position 00:19:53–00:22:37)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 3:01 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 3:37 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 274-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig met to discuss ongoing Vietnam War negotiations, specifically focusing on the status of the Demilitarized Zone. Nixon expressed concern regarding the duration of potential talks, cautioning against being drawn into an unproductive dialogue that might leave the administration vulnerable to military provocation. The discussion centered on the necessity of Henry Kissinger’s involvement and the strategic timing required to maintain leverage during the negotiation cycles.

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.4 MB

This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 00:19:53 – 00:22:37

part A, 19:59

274a.mp3

274b.mp3

274c.mp3

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:37 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 274-13

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:01 pm and 3:37 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Vietnam
          -Negotiations
              -Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
              -Henry A. Kissinger
              -Duration

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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).

All right.

Oh, well, yeah, they need to develop the check.

All right.

Oh, sure.

I think they probably just had another thing.

Well, that would indicate that they weren't good.

Well, if that's the way they're going to play, then you've got to play it under DMG, so...

There's Hellwood.

I'd like to see Henry go rushing over there.

There you go.

You've got to go over there.

I'm all... You've got to go over there.

Anyway, we'll see, guys.

I guess you've just got to be sure, though, that you don't get a little long here, too long here.

I don't want them to be in a position where they think we're going to be talking, and they bang us, and they bang us, you know, a lot of times before they watch us.

That's what I'm talking about.

I'll hang up.

Also recorded on August 16, 1971

274-006 2:43 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:43 pm.
274-007 2:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:49 pm.
274-008 2:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
274-009 2:49 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
274-010 2:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
274-011 2:59 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
274-012 3:01 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm.
274-014 3:01 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:37 pm.

All 66 conversations from August 16, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Kennedy on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 9, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon & Haig on Vietnam War and Peace negotiations December 11, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger October 17, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 4, 1972 · 13 min
Nixon phone call with Kennedy on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 4, 1972 · 9 min
Nixon phone call with Kennedy on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 5, 1972 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 274-013, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-013 (accessed November 2, 2026).