Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 332 › Conversation 332-028

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War and Foreign Policy

Tuesday, April 25, 1972 · 10:05 AM–10:40 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation332-028 onTape 332 (tape position 02:57:14–03:03:03)StartTuesday, April 25, 1972 at 10:05 AMEndTuesday, April 25, 1972 at 10:40 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 332-028 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictated notes and drafted portions of a speech aimed at justifying continued American involvement in the Vietnam War amidst the North Vietnamese spring invasion. He focused on framing the conflict as a critical test for global peace, arguing that a withdrawal would embolden future communist aggression while undermining the credibility of U.S. power. The President sought to contrast his administration's generous peace offers and troop withdrawals against North Vietnam's reliance on Soviet-supplied weaponry and battlefield escalation.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.7 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 111.8 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 02:57:14 into the tape and ends around 03:03:03.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

2:56:49in its efforts to win over the people of South Vietnam.
2:56:52General Abrams believes that the enemy will fail in its efforts to conquer South Vietnam with a terror.
2:56:59Terror.
2:56:59The enemy's last hope to win in Vietnam.
2:57:01The last, the enemy's last hope is to win in the Congress of the United States and among the people of the United States the victory they cannot win among the people of South Vietnam or on the battlefield of South Vietnam.
2:57:20Great question, which only, which we must answer.
2:57:27The great question is, how will we, the American people, respond to this challenging question?
2:57:37I understand the bitter frustration, the popular opposition, that this long
2:57:49Difficult war caused among Americans, many, many, many loyal Americans.
2:58:12The case for doing nothing to stop this new communist invasion of South Vietnam is a compelling one.
2:58:21Like this.
2:58:29We've done enough, question mark.
2:58:35The Vietnamese can defend their country without our help.
2:58:43Let's get out.
2:58:48The President should do is to order the evacuation of all American forces.
2:58:56Let the communists take over.
2:59:08The thing for anchors on the first page of the paper that I did, the first two paragraphs, you could send it over to me and say where the anchor is.
2:59:26It goes even further than that.
2:59:28The first four paragraphs go after the words I realize that some say.
2:59:50What he failed to realize is that partisan state is not just the future of the 17 million people of South Vietnam, but the future of peace in the world for the states.
3:00:14That's a great nation which will always use its power
3:00:23to keep the peace, and never to break it.
3:00:36In the past, when we have withdrawn 5% of our horses, although we have withdrawn 5% of our horses, we have cut our air sorties in half.
3:00:51We have ordered the most generous peace terms in history.
3:00:55The only thing that we have refused to do is to accede to the enemy's demand to overthrow the government of South Vietnam and to oppose the communist government in this place.
3:01:07Their answer to our efforts to bring peace has been a massive escalation of the war.
3:01:16Let us look at the back.
3:01:22One.
3:01:46We went to South Vietnam in the region in order to help the people of South Vietnam defend themselves against the foreign-supported aggression.
3:01:58The North Vietnamese could not have launched their invasion, their spring invasion, without massive aid from the Soviet Union and tanks and guns and the most modern weapons.
3:02:11However, if one country, with the assistance of a major colony, invades another and succeeds in conquering, other countries will be encouraged to do exactly the same thing that Haiti and Europe and other international nations do.
3:02:29The communist win in Vietnam, the risk of war,
3:02:38in other parts of the world, would be about the same criticism today.
3:02:49But we will offer the most generous peace terms

NARA Description

On April 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:40 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 332-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 332-28

Date: April 25, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:05 am and 10:40 am
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President dictated notes for a speech draft.

     Vietnam

           -Stakes of war
                -People of South Vietnam
                -World peace
                      -Power of the US
           -US policy
                -US withdrawals
                -Air sorties
                -Peace offers
                      -North Vietnamese response
                            -Invasion of South Vietnam
                            -War escalation

The President replayed portions of the recording.

           -Stakes of war
                -World peace
                      -Power of the US

The President resumed dictation.

           -US policy
                -Aid to South Vietnam
           -North Vietnamese invasion
                -Aid from Soviet Union
                -Consequences of success
                      -Future invasions
                      -Risks of war elsewhere
           -Negotiations
                -US peace offers
                      -Respect for independence
           -The President's speech
                -Instructions
           -US policy
                -Determination
                -Consequences of North Vietnamese success
                      -Risks of war
                      -Conditions for peace
                            -Success of US policy
                                 -Withdrawal of US troops
                            -Resistance to aggression
                                 -Air and Naval forces
                -1972 election
                      -Peace in Vietnam

                 -Possible failure
                      -Impact on the President's successors

Also recorded on April 25, 1972

  • 332-023 10:05 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:40 am.
  • 332-024 10:05 AM · 35 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 10:05 am and 10:40 am.
  • 332-025 10:05 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:40 am.
  • 332-026 10:05 AM · 19 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 10:05 am and 10:40 am.
  • 332-027 10:05 AM · 21 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 10:05 am and 10:40 am.
  • 332-029 10:40 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:40 am to 10:45 am.
  • 332-030 10:45 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:45 am and 10:50 am.
  • 332-031 10:45 AM · 12 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 10:45 am and 10:50 am.

All 54 conversations from April 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 332-028, April 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/332-028 (accessed September 18, 2026).