Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 336 › Conversation 336-055

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

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

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation336-055 onTape 336 (tape position 02:38:25–02:39:09)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:14 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:22 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-055 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon utilized this session to rehearse his upcoming televised address regarding the status of the Vietnam War. This preparation focused on refining his rhetoric and delivery to effectively communicate administration policy to the American public. The brief meeting served as a final executive review before the formal announcement of his administration’s strategy in Southeast Asia.

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 02:38:25 into the tape and ends around 02:39:09.

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

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 336-055 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-55

                                         (rev. Nov-01)

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 6:19 and 6:22 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

[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.
  • 336-050 6:14 PM · 45 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.
  • 336-051 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.
  • 336-056 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 336-055, 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/336-055 (accessed September 18, 2026).