Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-038

Nixon & Woods on Vietnam War and Blockade

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 5:27 PM–5:30 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation336-038 on Tape 336 (tape position 02:11:10–02:12:13)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 5:27 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 5:30 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-038 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, to refine the rhetoric for his upcoming televised address regarding the blockade of North Vietnam. The discussion focused on carefully adjusting specific phrasing concerning American military restraint and the strategic necessity of interdicting war supplies. The President finalized these editorial changes to ensure the message effectively conveyed his policy shift regarding the conflict.

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 02:11:10 into the tape and ends around 02:12:13.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
2:10:28killing in the first strategy war with Scotland.
2:10:29By simply getting out, we would have won the worst of the election.
2:10:31By relying solely on negotiations, we would get a chance to get ahead of the Chinese and the press's aggression in the battle.
2:10:35There's only one way to stop the war.
2:10:37That is to keep the weapons of war out of the hands of the international outlaws, or Vietnam.
2:10:39Throughout the war with Vietnam, the United States has exercised a superior restraint on the president of the United
2:10:57Yeah, I had a couple of other points.
2:11:13You know, when we go to the business of those three,
2:11:25I mean, I guess we're lucky together.
2:12:02There's not the United States there, and there's not the United States.
2:12:05I think you could leave.
2:12:10You see, there are three.
2:12:12You could say there's not the United States, there's not Vietnam, there's not the United States, there's not Vietnam, there's not the United States, there's not Vietnam, there's not the United States, there's not the United States, there's not the United States,
2:12:29With that, I think we've got it.
2:12:32Related to that, I think that one has to come out.
2:12:40All right.
2:12:44It's the military .

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:27 pm to 5:30 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-038 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-38

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 5:27 - 5:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

     Vietnam
          -President’s forthcoming speech on the blockade
                -Change in wording

Woods left at 5:30 pm.

Also recorded on May 8, 1972

  • 024-016 5:23 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 5:23 pm to 5:27 pm.
  • 336-037 5:23 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:23 pm and 5:27 pm.
  • 336-039 5:52 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:52 pm and 5:54 pm.
  • 336-040 5:54 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:54 pm to 5:55 pm.
  • 336-041 5:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 6:09 pm.
  • 336-042 5:55 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 5:55 pm and 6:09 pm.
  • 336-043 5:55 PM · 9 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 5:55 pm and 6:09 pm.
  • 336-044 5:55 PM · 56 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 5:55 pm and 6:09 pm.

All 94 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-038, 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/336-038 (accessed October 9, 2026).