Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-036

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War and Public Address

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 4:57 PM–5:23 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation336-036 on Tape 336 (tape position 02:04:51–02:08:11)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 4:57 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 5:23 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-036 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard Nixon met to rehearse his upcoming televised address to the nation regarding the escalation of the conflict in Southeast Asia. During the session, he reviewed the administration's failed diplomatic efforts, highlighted North Vietnam's refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations, and outlined the United States' previous peace proposals. The rehearsal served to finalize his narrative regarding the justification for continued military action and the necessity of responding to the North Vietnamese invasion.

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 02:04:51 into the tape and ends around 02:08:11.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
2:03:52Five weeks ago, Mr. Lee and the Congress departments of North Vietnam launched a massive invasion of South Vietnam and invaded the most big possible.
2:03:56My tanks are delivering an under-advantaged defensive weapon supplied by the Anaheim Soviet Union and other communist nations.
2:03:59The South Vietnamese have fought bravely to repel this brutal assault, attacking from both sides of the Anaheim.
2:04:02It was tragic.
2:04:03There have been over 20,000 civilian casualties, including women and children.
2:04:04The citizens of North Vietnam and these countries
2:04:21As I announced in my report to the nation 12 days ago, the role of the United States in consistent miscegenation has been limited to air and naval strikes on military targets in the province of Vietnam.
2:04:26As I also pointed out in that report, we have responded to part of Vietnam's massing of other targets by undertaking wide-ranging new peace efforts aimed at ending the war and the negotiation.
2:04:50I sent our minister to Moscow for four days to meet with the General Secretary of Russia and other Soviet leaders.
2:04:56I instructed them to decide our desire for a rapid solution to the war, and I wrote to them to look at all possible approaches.
2:05:02At that time, the Soviet leaders showed interest in bringing the war to an end on a basis of justice for both sides.
2:05:07They urged resumption of negotiations in Paris, and indicated they would use their constructive efforts.
2:05:11Based on these insurances, I authorized our minister
2:05:19to meet privately with the top North Korean peace negotiators in October, on Tuesday, the second of March.
2:05:23Ambassador Porter, she co-leads all the peace negotiators in Paris on Thursday, April 27th, and on Thursday, May 4th.
2:05:27At those meetings, the public can identify all we heard and what the Ambassador's record generally reflects on their demands across America.
2:05:31For example, from May 26th,
2:05:47I authorize our business to report about fairly conceivable battle through tortures.
2:05:52The North Vietnamese faculty refused to consider any of these approaches.
2:05:55They refused to offer any new approach to their home.
2:05:59Instead, they simply read verbatim their previous public demands.
2:06:03Herefore, over three years of public and private negotiations have now come down.
2:06:06The United States, with full concurrence of our sovereignty and its allies, has offered the maximum of what any president could offer.
2:06:15We have offered de-escalation of crime.
2:06:17We have offered de-escalation of crime.
2:06:19We have offered a ceasefire with a deadline to withdraw all American workers.
2:06:22We have offered two elections between the nation's superlatives.
2:06:24The Congress participated both in the superlatives' body and the elections themselves.
2:06:27The other two have offered to resign one month before the election.
2:06:29We have offered an exchange of prisoners of war and racial, and a ten-part fee of the age limit for every one of our American prisoners of age groups.
2:06:44North Vietnam has met each of these offers with insults and insults.
2:06:48They have flatly, flatly, arrogantly refused to negotiate another war agreement.
2:06:51It is not the United States, North Vietnam, which sought military victory or escalated the war.
2:06:55It is not the United States, North Vietnam, which submitted another pact.
2:06:58It is not the United States, North Vietnam, which demanded surrender.
2:07:12North Vietnam, North Vietnam alone, did all these things.
2:07:13Their answer to every peace offer we have made has been to escort the war.
2:07:16Two weeks alone, as I offered to do a negotiation, the man on his watch prayed for us.
2:07:18Doctor, can you hear me?
2:07:19Hello?
2:07:42Dr. Kendrick.
2:07:43Now he wants three.
2:07:44Now he wants three for anesthesia.
2:07:45In those two weeks, the rest of the accomplished government may be in full perception that your people saw the good odds for this.
2:07:50And I want you to message the challenge to the ones that agree with you, rather than to the ones that you love.
2:07:55And I encourage you to show them your love.
2:07:57There are only two issues left for us in this war.
2:07:58First, in the face of a massive invasion, we stand by.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-036 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-36

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 4:57 and 5:23 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President rehearsed his “Address to the Nation on the Situation in Southeast Asia”.

[This is a continuation of Conversation No. 336-34]

[See Public Papers of the Presidents, Richard M. Nixon, 1972, pp. 583-587]

Also recorded on May 8, 1972

  • 336-031 4:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:50 pm to 4:55 pm.
  • 024-013 4:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 4:55 pm to 4:57 pm.
  • 336-032 4:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:55 pm and 4:57 pm.
  • 024-014 4:57 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm.
  • 024-015 4:57 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm.
  • 336-033 4:57 PM · 55 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 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm.
  • 336-034 4:57 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm.
  • 336-035 4:57 PM · 17 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 4:57 pm and 5:23 pm.

All 94 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-036, 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/336-036 (accessed October 9, 2026).