Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 316 › Conversation 316-018

Nixon, Haig & Woods on Vietnam War and Presidential speeches

Tuesday, January 25, 1972 · 5:32 PM–6:32 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose Mary; Acker, Marjorie P.; White House operator; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation316-018 on Tape 316 (tape position 02:55:04–03:00:52)StartTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 5:32 PMEndTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 6:32 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 316-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Rose Mary Woods and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. to finalize the text of an upcoming televised address regarding the Vietnam War. The participants focused on editorial revisions to the speech, specifically clarifying the administration's willingness to implement military withdrawals and prisoner releases while negotiations remained ongoing. The meeting also included brief logistical discussions concerning scheduling and administrative matters involving Wiley T. Buchanan.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:55:04 – 03:00:52

part B, 52:42

316a.mp3

316b.mp3

NARA Description

On January 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Marjorie P. Acker, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 316-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 316-18

Date: January 25, 1972
Time: Unknown between 5:32 pm and 6:38 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

     The President's forthcoming Vietnam speech
          -Changes
               -Henry A. Kissinger's views
               -Public text
               -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Haig
            -Call to the President

                -Interruption of meeting
                      -Marjorie P. Acker

[Woods talked with Acker at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:31 pm.]

[Conversation No. 316-18A]

                           -Request

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's forthcoming speech
          -Date mentioned in text

[The White House operator talked with Woods at 6:31 pm.]

[Conversation No. 316-18B]

[See Conversation No. 19-61]

[Haig talked with the President between 6:31 pm and 6:34 pm.]

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's forthcoming speech
          -Changes

     Woods's schedule
         -Wiley T. Buchanan
         -The President’s forthcoming speech
         -Buchanan’s schedule
               -Denmark
         -Call To Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

     Denmark
         -State funeral
               -Buchanan
               -John S. D. Eisenhower

Woods left at 6:38 pm.

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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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Problem?

Had to add something back in.

I did too big, so I couldn't.

I'll show you what it was.

Oh, good.

The testator said the question, that you have to put it in protection.

That's right.

Unless you have something you want me to write on anywhere.

And we need to take out the word company.

I have to get your company.

No, that is supposed to be it.

Oh, I see.

I know that.

But you're going to say it more.

OK, all right.

It's not in the public text.

Not in this text.

They aren't supposed to see that.

Well, that is public.

I'll take those pages out for you.

I want one thing to be in the name of your record.

I could throw you in a meeting and have him step out and call you.

Or have lunch with you.

Yeah, I'd better take a call.

Would you go in that meeting and have Al take a step out and call the manager?

On November 17th, just three days before, November 20th, yeah.

Hello?

Scott, can you bring that out?

With regard to this thing he wants to put in here, when he says he would be willing to begin implementing certain military aspects of our negotiations and implementation of other issues, such as the question of private and local control, what he means there is that he would be willing to begin implementing certain military aspects such as the withdrawal of our forces and the exchange and the release of prisoners of war.

I didn't want to put that in for any reason.

I'm not saying that.

Willing to begin with, as I said earlier, we need to be willing to begin from a certain level of understanding of the circumstances that draw our forces every turn, whether before, on negotiations, continues, and other issues that we propose in our contractual form, on court, and so on.

But the point that I ask is whether or not I can say that we would be willing to begin from a certain military aspect

Also recorded on January 25, 1972

019-059 4:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
316-011 4:36 PM · 1 min — 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 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
316-012 4:36 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
316-013 4:36 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
019-060 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
316-015 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
316-016 5:32 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.
316-017 5:32 PM · 27 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 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.

All 55 conversations from January 25, 1972 →

Nixon & Stennis on Prisoners of War and Vietnam War March 5, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon & Scowcroft on Vietnam War and Prisoners of War March 21, 1973 · 11 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Nguyen Van Thieu May 25, 1971 · 19 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on POWs and 60 Minutes January 2, 1972 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Kennedy on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Talks December 4, 1972 · 13 min
Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Troop withdrawals April 7, 1971 · 13 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 316-018, January 25, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/316-018 (accessed November 11, 2026).