Nixon White House TapesTape 336 › Conversation 336-062

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

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 6:34 PM–7:14 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation336-062 onTape 336 (tape position 03:12:59–03:13:34)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:34 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 7:14 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-062 ↗

President Richard M. Nixon utilized this session to rehearse his upcoming televised address regarding the ongoing crisis in Southeast Asia. The President practiced delivery techniques and refined rhetoric aimed at maintaining public support for his administration's foreign policy objectives. This preparation served to formalize the language he would use to justify his strategic decisions and appeal for national unity.

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 03:12:59 into the tape and ends around 03:13:34.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

3:12:59Otherwise, the cause of peace, the cause to which we both have so great a stand,
3:13:01to be seriously objectified.
3:13:05Our two nations have made significant progress in our negotiations in recent months.
3:13:10We are here made to agree on what we are on as a nation, trade and coastal ambitions.
3:13:15Let us not slide back through the dark and shadows of the previous age.
3:13:19We do not ask you to sacrifice your principles or your friends, but neither should you permit analyzing pathogens that lot of the prospects weaved together as so patiently prepared.
3:13:29We are on the threshold of a new relationship
3:13:32I ask you for the same strong support you have always given your president and your colleagues.

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 336-062 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 336-62

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]

                                        (rev. Nov-01)
  • 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.
  • 336-056 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 · 7 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.
  • 336-059 6:34 PM · 14 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.
  • 336-060 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 · 25 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.
  • 336-063 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.

Conversation 336-062, 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/336-062 (accessed September 18, 2026).