Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 338 › Conversation 338-023

Nixon & Radford on Vietnam War and Operation Pocket Money

Tuesday, May 9, 1972 · 12:05 PM–12:06 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Radford, Arthur W.Conversation338-023 on Tape 338 (tape position 00:51:46–00:53:08)StartTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 12:05 PMEndTuesday, May 9, 1972 at 12:06 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 338-023 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted Admiral Arthur W. Radford regarding his recent, politically risky decision to escalate military action in Vietnam through the mining of North Vietnamese harbors. Nixon expressed confidence that the strategic move was necessary despite the potential domestic fallout and highlighted the importance of protecting American interests. The discussion centered on the military effectiveness of the mining operation and its broader geopolitical implications.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 96.0 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 00:51:46 into the tape and ends around 00:53:08.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

51:26Hello?
51:29Hello?
51:30Well, I just thought I'd let you know that, uh, when I made this decision, I thought, well, this is what our director would recommend.
51:44It's gonna take time, uh, as all these things do, but, uh, we just couldn't stand by it.
51:52to grow up in South Vietnam and dig for our people.
52:00We risked the election to bring some of the rest, but the election is worth more than the United States.
52:09It's going great out there.
52:10You know, they laid those mines.
52:11They told me I got a report from a later owner.
52:13They didn't.
52:14They lose money and lay it up.
52:18Yeah.
52:26It just helps everyone out, doesn't it?

NARA Description

On May 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Arthur W. Radford met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:05 pm and 12:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 338-023 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 338-23

Date: May 9, 1972
Time: Between 12:05 and 12:06 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Adm. Arthur W. Radford.

[See Conversation No. 24-52]

Also recorded on May 9, 1972

  • 024-051 11:56 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:56 am and 12:05 pm.
  • 024-052 12:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Arthur W. Radford talked on the telephone from 12:05 pm to 12:06 pm.
  • 024-053 12:06 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:06 pm and 12:09 pm.
  • 338-024 12:06 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:06 pm and 12:09 pm.
  • 024-054 12:09 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 12:09 pm to 12:13 pm.
  • 338-025 12:09 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:09 pm and 12:13 pm.
  • 024-055 12:13 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:27 pm.
  • 338-026 12:13 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:27 pm.

All 96 conversations from May 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 338-023, May 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/338-023 (accessed October 9, 2026).