Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-059
Nixon alone in his EOB office on Vietnam War
Monday, May 8, 1972 · 6:34 PM–7:14 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 14 min
AI Summary
President Richard Nixon met with his staff to rehearse his televised address to the nation regarding the escalation of the Vietnam War. During this session, he reviewed the justification for ordering the mining of North Vietnamese ports and intensified air and naval strikes in response to the communist Easter Offensive. The President emphasized his refusal to abandon South Vietnam and outlined the specific conditions required to end the conflict, including the release of American prisoners of war and an internationally supervised ceasefire.
- Vietnam War
- Mining of North Vietnamese ports
- Easter Offensive
- Prisoners of War
- Public Address
- Foreign Policy
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 02:58:39 – 03:12:16
part B, 5:20
336a.mp3
336b.mp3
336c.mp3
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 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-059 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 336-59 Date: May 8, 1972 Time: Unknown between 6:34 and 7:14 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]
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Well, that's the way it is.
And frankly, if, under these circumstances, it's wrong, then we just want to get rid of it.
Exactly.
The other thing is that you've got all the going on on acid, and all that stuff, and all that sort of coverage over there, portions of the .
I don't know how we'll do that, but I hope it's good enough.
Good evening.
Five weeks ago on Easter weekend, the Communist armies of North Vietnam launched a massive invasion of South Vietnam, an invasion that was made possible by tanks, artillery, and other advanced defensive weapons deployed at Hanoi by the Soviet Union and other communist nations.
South Vietnamese have fought bravely to repel the brutal assault.
Casualties on both sides of Vietnam.
Most actually, there have been over 20,000 civilian casualties
to the women and children of the city, which the North Vietnamese have shown, not disregarding Vietnam.
As I announced in my report to the nation 12 days ago, the role of the United States in resisting this invasion has been limited to air and naval strikes on military targets in northern South Vietnam.
As I also pointed out in my report, we have responded to North Vietnam's massive military offensive by undertaking wide-ranging new peace efforts aimed at ending the war with the Vietnamese.
I sent back to Moscow for four days to meet with General Secretary Gresham and his Soviet leaders.
I instructed him to emphasize our desire for a rapid solution to the war and our willingness to look at all possible approaches.
At that time, the Soviet leaders showed an interest in bringing the war to an end and made a suggestion for both sides.
They heard presumption of negotiations in Paris and indicated they would use their constructive influence.
Based on these assurances,
I authorize our prosecutor to meet privately with the top committee of police negotiators in October on Tuesday, May 2nd, in Paris.
Ambassador Porter will resume the public peace negotiations in Paris on April 27th and Thursday, May 4th.
At those meetings, public and private
All we heard from them was fantastic reverence and great pleasure for their demand for the ground.
For example, at the May 2nd secret meeting, I offered up our opinion to talk about every conceivable avenue for our peace.
Anarchy and peace back refused to consider any of these proposals.
They refused to offer any new approach to their home.
Instead, they simply reprobated their previous public demands.
Here is where over three years of public and private negotiations with NRIs come down.
The United States,
We have offered a de-escalation of the fighting.
We have offered a de-escalation of the fighting.
We have offered a ceasefire to the deadline for withdrawal of all American forces.
We have offered a de-escalation of the fighting.
We have offered new elections to be international supervised with the Communists participating both in the supervisory bodies and in the elections themselves.
President Thieu has offered to resign one month before the elections.
We have offered an exchange of prisoners and a ratio of 10 North Vietnamese prisoners for every one American prisoner.
North Vietnam has met each of these offers with insolence and insolence.
They have flatly and arrogantly refused to negotiate an end to the war on British peace.
Their answer to every peace offer we have made has been to escalate the war
In two weeks alone, since I offered resume negotiations, Hanoi has launched three new offensives.
In these two weeks, the risk to the communist government may be as low as 70 to 50 feet for South Vietnam as in Greece.
And the communist offensive has now reached the point that it greatly threatens the lives of 60,000 American troops still in Vietnam.
There are only two issues left for us in this war.
First, to face the massive invasion, we stand by.
Debride the lives of 60,000 Americans or leave South Vietnam so long for the term.
This will not happen.
We should do whatever is required to safeguard American lives and our lives.
Second, in the face of continuing transitions at the Congress table, if we join with our enemy to install a communist government in South Vietnam, this too will not happen.
We will not cross the line.
We now have a clear, hard choice on three courses of action.
To immediately draw the war on our forces, continue the types of negotiations, or decisive military action in the war.
I know that many Americans favor the first course of action.
They believe that the way to end the war is for the United States to get out and remove the threat of our remaining troops by simply withdrawing them.
The political standpoint of this would be an easy choice for me to accept.
I did not accept over one half.
Over one half.
I have about 500,000 homes in Vietnam, as I can promise.
But abandoning our commitment to Vietnam here and now would mean turning 17 million South Vietnamese over in Hong Kong's territory.
It would mean leaving hundreds of American prisoners in communist hands with no bargaining language to get their release.
An American defeat in Vietnam would encourage this kind of aggression all over the world.
Aggression in which smaller nations, armed by their neighbor allies, could be tempted to attack neighboring nations as well.
World peace would be raged up.
The second course of action is to keep on trying to negotiate a settlement.
This is the course we have preferred to begin.
We shall continue to pursue it.
We shall continue to pursue it.
And of course, we concurred in the end.
We shall continue to do so.
We have made every reason of the law, tried every possible path for having this war in the Congress of Vietnam.
The problem is that it takes two to negotiate.
And now, as throughout the past four years, that our Vietnamese arrogantly refuse to negotiate anything but an imposition by the United States, a covenant between the 70 million people of South Vietnam who do not want a Congress of Vietnam.
It is plain what appears to be a choice among three persons of action in the United States to be no choice at all.
The killing in this tragic war must stop.
By simply getting out, we would only worsen the situation.
Our armed soldier negotiations would give any transitive enemy the time he needs to suppress aggression and battle.
Only one way to stop the killing.
That is to keep the weapons of war out of the hands of the international outlaws in our people.
Throughout the war, we have fought.
The United States has exercised the degree of restraint unprecedented in the Amazon War.
That was our responsibility as a great nation, a nation which is interested as America is always interested in peace, not war.
However, when the enemy abandons all restraint, throws its whole army into battle with Jerry Perkins' neighbor, and refuses to negotiate, we face a new situation.
Under these circumstances, the 60,000 American Trump and any president who failed to act precisely would have betrayed the trust of this country and the cause of peace.
I therefore conclude that Hamlet must be denied the weapon, supplies, and needs to continue the aggression.
Full constant coordination.
In the Republic of Vietnam, I have ordered to follow the measures which are being implemented as I have spoken to you.
All entrances to North Vietnam's ports will be mined to prevent access to these ports and North Vietnam's naval operations from these ports.
United States forces have been directed to take appropriate measures within the internal and plain territorial waters of North Vietnam to litigate the delivery of salami.
Rail and all other communications will be cut off to the maximum extent possible.
air and naval strikes against military targets in North Vietnam.
These actions are not directed against any other nation.
Countries with ships presently in North Vietnam's ports have been notified that their ships will have three daylight periods to leave for phase eight.
After that, the mines will become active and any ships that have to leave or enter these ports will resort to no arrests.
The war will cease.
following conditions for that.
First, all American prisoners of war must be returned.
Second, there must be an international supervised ceasefire throughout the country.
Once the prisoners of war are released, and once the international supervised ceasefire has begun, we will stop all acts of military force throughout the country.
At that time, we will proceed with a complete withdrawal of all American forces to be adopted into war lines.
These are terms which would not require the surrender and humiliation of more than any other.
They would permit the United States to withdraw the honor.
They would end the killing and bring our POWs home.
They would allow negotiations on a political settlement between the Vietnamese themselves.
They would permit all the nations which have suffered in this long war, Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, to turn at last to the urgent works of healing and peace.
They deserve immediate acceptance by North Vietnam.
Your people have already suffered too much in their pursuit of confidence.
Do not compound their agony with continued arrogance.
Choose instead the path of
the redeems of sacrifices, guarantees true independence, and a hero of reconciliation.
To the people of South Vietnam, you shall continue to have our firm support in your resistance against aggression.
It is your spirit that will determine the outcome of the battle.
It is your will that will shape the future of Vietnam.
To other nations, especially those which are allied with North Vietnam, the actions I have announced tonight are not directed against you.
Their sole purpose is to protect the lives of 60,000 Americans who would be gravely endangered in the event that the communist domestic continues to rule over them under the empty imposition of a communist government by brutal aggression among nations of the United States.
Also recorded on May 8, 1972
- 336-050 6:14 PM · 48 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.
- 336-057 6:34 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
- 336-058 6:34 PM · 2 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 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
- 336-060 6:34 PM · 18 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 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
- 336-061 6:34 PM · 28 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 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
- 336-062 6:34 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
- 336-063 6:34 PM · 42 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 6:34 pm and 7:14 pm.
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Cite this conversation
Conversation 336-059, 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/336-059 (accessed November 2, 2026).