Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-063

Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Vietnam War

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

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]Conversation336-063 on Tape 336 (tape position 03:13:34–03:14:16)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:34 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 7:14 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-063 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with an unknown individual to rehearse or review the substance of his upcoming televised address to the nation regarding the Vietnam War. During this discussion, Nixon emphasized the necessity of achieving a peace with honor rather than a premature withdrawal. The conversation served to solidify the President's public messaging strategy concerning his decision to escalate military pressure on North Vietnam while maintaining domestic support.

Audio

part B, 1:10:14

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 players above hold the full tape, shared with neighbouring conversations. By the archivists' log it runs from 03:13:34 to 03:14:16 into the tape; their log often drifts a minute or two from the audio, so listen for the subjects in the finding aid.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, 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. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-063 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-63

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: Unknown after 6:34 and before 7:14 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with an unknown man.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 33s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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The unknown man left at an unknown time before 7:14 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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; click one to play the tape from there.

I ask you for the same strong support you have always given your president and your colleagues.
We assume, most of all, that the world will be watching.
I know how much you want to bring our men home.
I think you know from all that I have said in the past three and a half years how much I, too, want to end the war and bring our men home.
You want peace.
I want peace.
But you also want honor.
I agree.
You want a genuine peace, not a peace that is just a trade with the war.
At this moment, we must stand together for the purpose of this honor.
As so often in the past, we Americans do not choose our people.
It has been forced upon us by an enemy that has shown utter contempt for every order we have made for peace.
That is why tonight I ask for your support of this decision, a decision which has only one purpose, not to expand the war, not to escalate the war, but to end this war and to win the kind of peace that will last.
With God's help, with your support, we will achieve that goal.

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.
  • 336-059 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 · 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.

All 118 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-063, 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/336-063 (accessed November 2, 2026).