Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 336 › Conversation 336-064

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Military Strategy

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 7:14 PM–7:25 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation336-064 onTape 336 (tape position 03:14:16–03:23:55)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 7:14 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 7:25 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-064 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the military strategy for Vietnam, specifically focusing on the upcoming announcement of a blockade and intensified air strikes. They debated the strategic targeting of North Vietnamese petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL) facilities to cripple supply lines, emphasizing the psychological impact of such strikes over other infrastructure targets. Additionally, they addressed the diplomatic fallout with the Soviet Union and managed preparations for briefing Congressional leaders on these aggressive military escalations.

Audio

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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 03:14:16 into the tape and ends around 03:23:55.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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3:15:33Henry, there's just one other point I think I should talk to you about briefly, not just about changing the speech, but you've got an attention to all of them.
3:15:41And maybe we'll talk about it in the next one.
3:15:44...in covering how to advance the possible supply of the handoff of the Soviet Union...
3:17:15The part that I think that's also critical for... What did you say about what happened in the summit?
3:17:26What did you...
3:17:27I don't know.
3:17:28The leadership, the guidance.
3:17:31You want to give it on hand.
3:17:32I'll do it today.
3:17:34Take it back.
3:17:35Take it back.
3:17:38Take it back.
3:17:39Take it back.
3:17:44What I mean is that .
3:18:13I don't know what you mean about that.
3:18:16It was a gift.
3:18:17And as far as we're concerned, it's very exciting to test it for this poem.
3:18:21And so there's a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very
3:18:41Yeah, sure.
3:18:42Thank you.
3:19:16Yeah, I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:22I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:29I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:31I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:34I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:39I don't know what the voice is.
3:19:42I don't know what the voice is.
3:20:15You're absolutely right.
3:20:26The way I look at it, what about the ships in the high seas?
3:20:45at the present time, we can't face that situation.
3:20:48And I would have to say that whatever is necessary, for my dad to put that on the president is what is necessary to stop the military from flying.
3:20:55It's not going to happen.
3:20:56It's not going to be necessary.
3:20:57You're going to stop the bombing tomorrow night.
3:20:59It's not going to happen.
3:21:00It's not going to happen.
3:21:01It's not going to happen.
3:21:02It's not going to happen.
3:21:03It's not going to happen.
3:21:04It's not going to happen.
3:21:05It's not going to happen.
3:21:15I agree.
3:21:15We haven't got much of an air force .
3:21:44Maybe he can't get all the money, but they don't say it's 66, 67.
3:21:51It'd add up if the oil was running, but they're not sure how many years.
3:21:55But I also suggest something else.
3:21:57Do you remember the Wild Bill of William Gantle?
3:22:01William Gantle, the director of war, worked in Britain.
3:22:10He was a good man.
3:22:13He was a good man.
3:22:16and they determined what part of Europe the U.S. would not know.
3:22:25And I strongly urge that instead of trying to do everything, that we do everything P.O.L.
3:22:34In other words, not, I think, I think it's about the standpoint of psychology.
3:22:38The railroad lines haven't been done.
3:22:40But what I see is the P.O.L.
3:22:42surge
3:22:44Find out wherever it is, there it is, and go in and get the P.O.L.
3:22:47Because if you get the P.O.L., it'll stop running.
3:22:49The only argument I would say is that I didn't think that we'd get those power plants.
3:22:55I didn't put the density in there.
3:23:01That's all.
3:23:02That's where we go.
3:23:03P.O.L.
3:23:03of the power plants.
3:23:05And you see, if you concentrate on that,
3:23:10P.O.L.
3:23:10over the place whenever we must have some intelligence on the P.O.L.
3:23:14We've already knocked out 8% of the world on all these.
3:23:17We've got about 30% of the world outside of our control.
3:23:20You see, that's why I don't think they've got four months of P.O.L.
3:23:25left.
3:23:26That's true.
3:23:26There's Ted Harkin and those who are there.
3:23:30There's a number of them.
3:23:31There's a number of people who can't do it because the P.O.L.
3:23:36is not there.
3:23:40So, you're gonna, you then are not gonna be present.
3:23:54No, but I'd be glad if you'd come in at the beginning.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:14 pm to 7:25 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-064 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-64

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 7:14 -7:25 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Vietnam
          -President’s forthcoming speech
                -Soviet Summit
                     -Possible cancellation
                            -US response

                                        (rev. Nov-01)

                       -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
           -Kissinger’s briefing
                 -Handling of questions
                       -Soviet ships on high seas
           -Blockade
                 -Weapons and supplies
           -Air strikes
                 -Time
                 -Comparison to 1966-67
                 -Petroleum, oils, and lubricants [POL]
                 -William Yandell Elliott
                       -World War II
                 -Targets
                       -POL dumps
                             -Psychological impact
                             -Priority
                       -Railroads
                       -Power plants
                             -Destruction
                       -POLs and power plants
                 -Effectiveness to date
                       -Supplies on hand
                       -Melvin R. Laird
                 -Meeting with Congressional leaders
                       -Kissinger
                       -William P. Rogers
                       -Laird
                 -Kissinger’s meeting with Dobrynin
                 -President’s meeting with Congressional leaders
                       -Length
                       -Questions
                             -Rogers and Laird
           -Blockade
                 -Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
                       -Position
                 -Gen. Creighton Abrams
                       -Position
                 -Laird
                       -The President’s view
                       -Political plans

Kissinger left at 7:25 pm.

                                         (rev. Nov-01)

Also recorded on May 8, 1972

  • 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.
  • 336-065 7:25 PM · 50 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 7:25 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 336-066 7:25 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:25 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 336-067 7:25 PM · 23 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 7:25 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 336-068 7:25 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:25 pm and 8:04 pm.

All 94 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-064, 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/336-064 (accessed September 18, 2026).