Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 338 › Conversation 338-042

Nixon, Kissinger & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Soviet Union

Thursday, May 11, 1972 · 12:04 PM–12:51 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); [Unknown person(s)]Conversation338-042 on Tape 338 (tape position 03:11:47–03:41:18)StartThursday, May 11, 1972 at 12:04 PMEndThursday, May 11, 1972 at 12:51 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 338-042 ↗

President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and H.R. Haldeman met to coordinate strategy regarding the escalation of the Vietnam War and the upcoming Soviet Summit. The discussion focused on the effectiveness of recent U.S. air strikes against North Vietnamese infrastructure, the ongoing blockade of Haiphong Harbor, and the potential impact of these actions on relations with the Soviet Union. The participants decided to restrict public statements from Secretary of State William P. Rogers to avoid undermining the President's peace offer or creating diplomatic confusion as the administration prepared for the Moscow summit.

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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 03:11:47 into the tape and ends around 03:41:18.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
3:12:08Keep up the good work.
3:13:44And file.
3:13:45Not that you can't drive.
3:14:32The two spans are completely down.
3:14:33So was the first span.
3:14:34But they're going to get the other spans tonight.
3:14:35And so they're littering the bridge now.
3:14:36I don't think it'll be possible.
3:14:37And now another bridge over there.
3:14:38So that all the loading stock is now trapped between these two bridges.
3:14:40And they're going to go get open tonight.
3:14:41The bridge on the other side tonight can trap all the loading stock in there.
3:15:45I was just at a convention and they knocked out the manager of
3:16:26April sent a cable and said, General Vogt is the best in the town.
3:16:29He's put in three squadrons of that.
3:16:30And I think that's just Vogt.
3:16:31Oh, no, Vogt knows what we want, Mr. President.
3:16:32We don't let the drum last for that.
3:16:33And he's doing it.
3:16:34I believe so.
3:16:34Newport Newsbook.
3:17:18I think we're going to send them this time, Mr. President.
3:17:19I think we've got these cameras.
3:17:20We've got those laid behind us.
3:17:22I accepted them yesterday.
3:17:23The next time from the press conference, the press conference to set the channel is over.
3:17:27But not if they're like passengers.
3:17:28It's not even our interest to talk to the press.
3:17:53They are absolutely rejecting the theory.
3:18:23That's what I thought, too.
3:18:24It was a question.
3:18:24Did we start with the interference in Chile?
3:18:26Yes, everyone, every expert in the government, you used it so very moderately.
3:18:28The Chinese have been bad at it.
3:18:29What is the situation?
3:18:29I don't know.
3:18:30I don't know.
3:19:06One of the things that's happened to Matt is that Matt and I thought, let's start at 10 hours before our because we do something.
3:19:10Which means, in other words, that our because we just try to respond to hitting something that would run into them.
3:19:13Well, they stick up because we do hitting.
3:19:14And the North Vietnamese were so panicked that they ran.
3:19:38Our guys planned to have knocked out 25 hands here at the club.
3:21:05Now, if they're preparing a massive blow, the reception is so great that it must be overcome.
3:21:08And I can't quite seem to do this, but how will they do it?
3:21:10Have they got the resources, nor have they got the examples?
3:21:12What are they going to get?
3:21:13Unless they have made a secret deal with Hanoi,
3:21:34The public statements on behalf of Hanoi, I believe, Hanoi can not make any comments.
3:21:36We have to get, I'm sorry, I'm wondering if we have to finish your last show.
3:22:29Well, it can't be.
3:22:29He's told specifically what he's supposed to say and what he's not supposed to say.
3:22:32He shouldn't have a dress count.
3:22:33There's nothing but trouble that can come up with a dress count.
3:22:36Well, but the... Well, I don't like to have one, but you...
3:23:09legislation and all that the President's made a very generous peace offer, and Congress should be supporting the President's peace offer.
3:23:13Well, you got it.
3:23:14All right, now, if you don't want to do that, you got to face the fact that he was telling us that, which I already started, that he's got to be told that on an authoritative basis, that the line, right, that we don't want that.
3:23:25The legality of both the foreign and the Russian
3:23:53It is not worth thinking about the issue of what we will never do.
3:23:55I don't think it's necessary either.
3:23:56We might want to have a... And I've said what there needs to be said about the peace office.
3:23:58I think we are now so well positioned that we ought to keep quiet.
3:24:22You can get away with that.
3:24:23I don't think you want to say any more about the peace offer.
3:24:25Because that softens the position.
3:24:26I know Bill.
3:24:27He will interpret the peace offer in such a way that...
3:24:28He will.
3:24:29He'll phrase it to the Scots.
3:24:30He'll say, they'll say, well, does that mean they can stay in place?
3:24:32He'll say yes, or he'll say something close to being free.
3:24:33He gave a map of problems in Saigon last month.
3:24:54People were confused and not confused.
3:24:55And we really don't need it.
3:24:56The next problem is he's got to testify on the Hill.
3:24:57I'm not very much a business counsel.
3:26:45I'm just going to declare this notice.
3:26:47You just got to say no.
3:26:49No, Mr.
3:26:49Ambassador.
3:26:50I think we should say the president is going to campaign for this meeting.
3:26:56He's studying for the summit.
3:26:58And he's going forward.
3:26:59And we're going to do everything we can to avoid incidents.
3:27:04Your ship's serving that sort of mission.
3:27:07I'm actually a victim of the president.
3:27:10The defense that I can do is...
3:27:21summit because of you, to stay at the summit.
3:27:22What you said this morning, that was very powerful.
3:27:23Because it went beyond the big pattern and it showed the reality.
3:27:25The rest of it, I think, having waited three days now, having protested privately on the ships and on the other side, which was the army, I think
3:28:08Well, we have to stop noise of the 20 paddlers for a week.
3:28:11I would say.
3:28:12That's no problem.
3:28:12But we'll have to work.
3:28:14We have knocked out most of the bridges by then.
3:28:16We'll take them a week, and then we start again after the day.
3:28:19My God.
3:28:19I mean, just reach.
3:28:20When you're talking about this, I'd say, where do you want to go?
3:28:22Where do you want to go?
3:28:39I just don't like to go spend my waste my time every other
3:29:07Because basically the thing that kept it from being ratified is that Brown couldn't produce a medical issue.
3:29:11But if you want it.
3:29:12But Brown's position was that the Americans don't want to graduate.
3:29:14But so said, how do you know?
3:29:36No, but you see, another move we can make, Mr. President, which I thought of, or thought of today, was to meet you in Moscow.
3:29:38We could call for a plenary, Harry, to present you to a plan.
3:29:39I don't know if it was prepared, but it is.
3:29:40I have something in mind in Moscow.
3:30:13I don't know, I meant it.
3:30:14Well, I don't think you do that, because I think people will think you did something and will just let you try to discuss it.
3:30:17Well, if you have a plenary that week, you can have that.
3:30:19But we'll present it on Friday.
3:30:45without instructions.
3:30:46He didn't directly talk about the summit.
3:30:48He was very careful.
3:30:49It was implied throughout.
3:30:50But all of what you said is going to be done at the summit.
3:30:52You know, Sam, we're not going to be ready to direct until they cancel the summit.
3:30:55And that's for sure.
3:30:56None of this can happen on that same summit.
3:31:55And if the Russians were mining the harbors of Iraq, and an American minister was sitting there smiling along with Russia, I don't think the Shah of Iraq would get the sense of very support from us.
3:32:00If they're mining the harbors, if we start yakking about it, it should succeed.
3:32:25We had a regular, we had, I don't know, Thursday lunch with Landry Summers, and I told him, you know, I'm going to have a good time.
3:32:28He said, yeah.
3:32:29He said, really, I have a lot of business we're going to go over, the communique and the principles, and a lot of odds and ends.
3:32:31Why don't you get Rodgers in and just tell him that we,
3:32:51Well, he wants to know what's the line that he wants to know.
3:32:53All right.
3:33:18That president is going to give you credit.
3:33:20Well, we've got everything out in town now.
3:33:21That's where you want to leave it.
3:33:22Then they'll say that I just turned this up.
3:33:24By Monday or Tuesday, they'll have this thing.
3:34:21They're going to cancel it.
3:34:23They would want to do it with the maximum humiliation for you.
3:34:27Because they're going to hurt you.
3:34:30They know they're going to screw up their own position anyway.
3:34:32Get the most out of the place.
3:34:34I think we have a problem going from now on.
3:34:47I think you can take the hard action, but not because of the science.
3:35:17They're trapping themselves.
3:35:18They have trapped themselves into racing everything you've done up to.
3:35:42You need a sub-insert if your whole building is structured for sub-insertions.
3:35:45And they can freeze the hell out of them because they think the more they build out, the more they hurt you by saying, do rapid.
3:35:49In the process, they're pointing out that you build them too.
3:35:52So, if it stays on, there isn't going to be any big acclaim for the fact that it stays on.
3:35:55But if it builds,
3:36:12except that it will really strike consternation in the minds of our critics.
3:37:25Either that or he's letting his friend work for Williams, which he's probably more likely to do in his position.
3:37:27He went, he had Bob Semple in and told him all this stuff about how he was the guy that did the consulting with you on the side.
3:37:31That's a big problem.
3:37:32He doesn't, I can't believe he did that to them.
3:37:33I'm sure Semple asked him to do it again.
3:38:20I don't know.
3:38:20I don't know.
3:38:20I don't know.
3:38:21I don't know.

On May 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:04 pm and 12:51 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 338-042 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 338-42

Date: May 11, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:04 and 12:51 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President dictated a memorandum for the files.

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 32s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

**********************************************************************

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 12:51 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Air strikes
                -Report
                -Bridges
                      -Damage
                -Soviet Summit
                -Haiphong Harbor
                      -Instructions
                            -Soviet ships

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 12:53 pm.

                -Damage
                      -Bridges
                      -Petroleum, oils, and lubricants [POL]
                      -Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. cable
          -USS Newport News
                -Shelling
          -Air strikes
                -POL
                -Power plants
                      -Destruction
                -Impact
                      -Le Duc Tho (?)
          -Blockade
                -Soviet protests
                -Mines
                      -Soviet shipping
                -People's Republic of China [PRC]
          -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
                -Propaganda efforts
                      -Leaflets
          -North Vietnam offensive
                -An Loc
                      -Casualties

                -Kontum
                -An Loc
                -Tanks
                     -Destruction
                     -Number

An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 12:53 pm.

     Refreshments

The unknown person left at an unknown time before 1:12 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Air strikes
                -Intensity

     Soviet Union
          -German treaties
          -Relations with Hanoi
               -North Vietnam public statements
                     -Tone

     Vietnam
          -William P. Rogers
                -Public statements
                      -Contents
                      -Kissinger’s view
                -Press conference
                      -Meeting with the President
                            -Purpose
                      -Advisability
                      -Purpose
                            -Legality of blockade
                                 -Soviet reply
                            -Legislation on Vietnam
                                 -President's peace offer
          -Soviet statements
          -Melvin R. Laird
          -Rogers
                -Public statements
                      -Legality
                      -Criticism of Soviets

            -Peace offer
                  -Interpretation
                        -Kissinger’s view
      -Forthcoming testimony on Capitol Hill
      -Business Council
      -Press conference
-Blockade
      -Soviet ships
            -Kissinger’s previous conversation with Jerzy Michalowski
      -Soviet public statements
            -Tone
-President's Soviet trip [Soviet Summit]
      -Warsaw stopover
            -Approval
                  -Significance
      -Announcement
      -Kissinger meeting with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
            -Summit
                  -Camp David
                  -Possible incident concerning Soviet ships
      -President's meeting with Nikolai S. Patolichev
      -Soviet response to President's previous speech
      -US air strikes
            -Limitations
-Air strikes
      -Damage
-Soviet Summit
      -Cancellation
            -Likelihood
      -German treaties
            -Ratification
                  -Willy Brandt’s role
      -Plenary sessions
      -US position
      -President's meeting with Foreign Trade Minister [Patolichev]
      -Cancellation
            -Likelihood
      -President's meeting with Patolichev
            -Leonid I. Brezhnev
            -Significance
            -Soviet Union, Iran comparison
                  -Mohammed Reza Tahlavi [Shah of Iran]

                -Kissinger meeting with Dobrynin
                     -Purpose
           -Rogers
                -Public statements
                     -Administration line
                     -Soviet response
                     -Advisability
                            -Kissinger’s view
                     -Effect

Kissinger left at 1:12 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Soviet Summit
                -Cancellation
                      -Timing
                -Soviet intentions
                -President's position
                -Cancellation
                      -US reactions
                            -Public opinion
                            -President's critics
                                  -Haldeman’s view
          -President's press conference
                -Scheduling
                -Timing
          -Soviet summit
                -News reports
                      -Robert B. Semple, Jr.
                      -John B. Connally
                      -New York Times
                      -John F. Osborne
                      -Wall Street Journal
                      -Effect

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 44s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5

**********************************************************************

     President's schedule
          -Camp David
          -Meeting with Rogers
          -Meeting with Wilbur D. Mills
          -Camp David

     Vietnam
          -Support for the President

Haldeman left at 1:29 pm.
  • 024-074 11:34 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 11:34 am to 11:35 am.
  • 338-039 11:34 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:34 am and 11:35 am.
  • 338-040 11:35 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:35 am and 11:43 am.
  • 024-075 11:43 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:43 am and 11:49 am.
  • 338-041 11:43 AM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:43 am to 12:40 pm.
  • 024-076 11:49 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Hugh Scott talked on the telephone from 11:49 am to 11:51 am.
  • 024-077 11:51 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:51 am and 11:56 am.
  • 024-078 11:56 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert P. Griffin talked on the telephone from 11:56 am to 11:57 am.

Conversation 338-042, May 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/338-042 (accessed October 14, 2026).