Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-009
Nixon & Ziegler on Vietnam War and Blockade
Monday, May 8, 1972 · 2:33 PM–2:35 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met briefly to coordinate public messaging regarding the upcoming blockade of North Vietnam. The discussion focused on the timing and strategic delivery of the President's public announcement on the decision. They specifically addressed how the administration would handle press inquiries concerning whether the policy had been previously questioned.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 49.5 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 01:32:54 into the tape and ends around 01:33:41.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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
NARA Description
On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:33 pm to 2:35 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-009 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 336-9
Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 2:33 - 2:35 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.
Vietnam
-Blockade
-President’s speech
-Timing of the President’s decision
Ziegler left at 2:35 pm.Also recorded on May 8, 1972
- 024-003 1:35 PM · 12 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:35 pm and 2:10 pm.
- 024-004 1:35 PM · 2 min — Henry A. Kissinger and [David] Kenneth Rush talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:35 pm and 2:10 pm.
- 336-010 2:35 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 2:35 pm and 3:45 pm.
- 336-011 2:35 PM · 16 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 2:35 pm and 3:45 pm.
- 336-012 3:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:45 pm to 3:46 pm.
- 336-013 3:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 3:58 pm.
- 336-014 3:46 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 3:58 pm.
- 336-015 3:46 PM · 37 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 3:46 pm and 3:58 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 336-009, May 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/336-009 (accessed October 9, 2026).