Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 336 › Conversation 336-050

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War and Prisoners of War

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 6:14 PM–6:22 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation336-050 onTape 336 (tape position 02:31:13–02:31:58)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:14 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:22 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-050 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard M. Nixon practiced the delivery of his televised address concerning the escalating crisis in Southeast Asia. The rehearsal focused on articulating the justification for military actions, specifically framing them as necessary measures to secure the return of prisoners of war and ensure regional security. Nixon refined his rhetoric to emphasize American resolve and the conditions under which he would order a cessation of hostilities.

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 02:31:13 into the tape and ends around 02:31:58.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.

2:30:30That was our responsibility as a break-taking nation, to make sure this America evolved in at least five times.
2:30:36However, when a nation abandoned all its friends, broke its forearms in the battle of the territory of the Savior, and refused to go to shoot, we had to make a new mission.
2:30:47And these were the chances that the 60,000 American men and women that they would have decided to do the greatest job in this country could possibly achieve.
2:30:57I was there to vote for food, and everyone must be denied the weapon to supply them with food security and security.
2:31:05Local and Asian, Republican and non, I walked with all of the majors to be independent.
2:31:08I worked with all of the majors, particularly the men of the 19th century.
2:31:15All of the majors in our field, in sports and the mind, provided access to the sports and our field to be able to operate strong and strong.
2:31:22These actions are not directed against the U.S.
2:31:43These actions I ordered to cease under following conditions.
2:31:44First of all, we're in a prison for more than a year.
2:31:46Some of our field members have been living in almost filled with degrading circumstances for over eight years.
2:32:11Also, on page 12, there's another line that I used as a book description, so that page 12, the bottom of the page, the actions I organized, were what I was describing.

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 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-050 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-50

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 6:14 and 6:22 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

  • 336-041 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.
  • 336-049 6:09 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:09 pm to 6:14 pm.
  • 336-051 6:14 PM · 24 sec — 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 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
  • 336-052 6:14 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
  • 336-053 6:14 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 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
  • 336-054 6:14 PM · 13 sec — 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 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
  • 336-055 6:14 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
  • 336-056 6:22 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:22 pm to 6:34 pm.

All 94 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-050, 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/336-050 (accessed September 18, 2026).