Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 339 › Conversation 339-023

Nixon, Kissinger & Haig on Vietnam War and Bureaucracy

Friday, May 19, 1972 · 1:58 PM–3:20 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation339-023 on Tape 339 (tape position 03:04:38–03:14:23)StartFriday, May 19, 1972 at 1:58 PMEndFriday, May 19, 1972 at 3:20 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 339-023 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig to express intense frustration regarding the bureaucracy's failure to execute his orders concerning the Vietnam War. He sharply criticized the CIA for a lack of imagination in psychological warfare and denounced the Pentagon for harboring "McNamara-era" personnel who he claimed were sabotaging his policies. To rectify these performance issues, Nixon mandated an increase in B-52 deliveries and announced he would bypass standard command structures by selecting a naval commander to oversee specific bombing operations in North Vietnam.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 108.1 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 03:04:38 into the tape and ends around 03:14:23.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 recording.
3:06:02Chief, we need some tape.
3:06:05Yes, sir.
3:07:12I haven't kissed you in a day.
3:07:13I am thoroughly disgusted with the way... ...you look at me.
3:07:40I have thoroughly discussed the consistent failure to carry on orders that I have given.
3:07:43Over the past three and a half years, particularly, the vast critical increase
3:08:03He didn't use me, of course, to blame the bureaucracy for hurting him, but we always have a problem with bureaucracy.
3:08:16responsibility to rise under the department's guard to see that when I give an order, it is carried out faithfully for that reason, or that I am told as quickly as it is found that it is not being carried out, that that is the case, why it has not been carried out.
3:08:28I refer specifically to the fact that I have ordered on occasion after the occasion,
3:08:47all that we have gotten from has gone into the runaround and sometimes delivered
3:09:12I want it clearly understood that from now on, the moment that I have him, and that I even offer him, that I find another instance where there is such showing in support of the nation.
3:09:18The man who will be held responsible in the present nation will be requested not to be the one to help him.
3:09:47The performance of the psychological warfare field is nothing short of disgraceful.
3:09:49The mountain has labored for seven weeks by introducing critters, not much more than a mile.
3:10:14I may have some program now underway, but it totally lacks imagination.
3:10:38And I have no confidence whatever bureaucracy will carry it out, period.
3:10:48I do not simply blame Helms and the CIA, period.
3:10:50After all, they do not support my policies, because they basically are all Georgetown-oriented, part of the most part, fighting the George, Georgetown Society-oriented.
3:10:56On the other hand, the Pentagon deserves an even greater share of the blame, period.
3:11:17After all, they are supposed to take orders from the commander-in-chief.
3:11:19The trouble is that we left too many of the McNamara people around in a lot of places, and they are constantly sabotaging everything we're trying to do.
3:11:25Finally, I told Henry today that I wanted more B-52s sent to Vietnam.
3:11:47I want this order carried out regardless of how many heads have been rolled and carried out.
3:11:50Even though the bomb load is smaller, until they are, until they can be remodeled, the psychological effect of having 100 more D-52s on the line will be enormous.
3:11:56I eagerly expect this order to be carried out.
3:12:14Or I want to see the head of the man.
3:12:16Or I want the head of the man.
3:12:33insult to all this injury is to have the military whine around to Aiken that they were not getting enough support from the commander-in-chief and giving him tirelessly the hit in North Vietnam.
3:12:39I want you to convey directly to the Air Force that I am thoroughly discussing with their performance in North Vietnam.
3:12:44Their refusal to fly unless the suit is four thousand feet or more is
3:13:10I do not blame the fine Air Force pilots who do a fantastic job in so many other areas.
3:13:12I do blame the commanders.
3:13:38playing, quote, how not to lose, end quote.
3:13:40So long, now can't bring themselves to start playing, quote, how to win, end quote.
3:13:43Under the circumstances, I decided to take it.
3:14:07The order will be given directly from a naval commander whom I will select.

NARA Description

On May 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 339-023 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 339-23

Date: May 19, 1972
Time: Unknown between 1:58 and 3:20 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President dictated a memorandum to Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Vietnam
          -President's orders
                -Responsibility
                      -Departmental bureaucracies
                -Weapons for South Vietnam
                      -Defense Department
                -Consequences
                -Psychological warfare program
                      -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], Richard M. Helms
                             -The President’s view
                -Defense Department
                      -Staff
                             -The President’s view
                             -Robert S. McNamara
                -Meeting with Kissinger
                      -B-52 deliveries
                -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
                      -Trip to Southeast Asia
                -Bombing in North Vietnam
                      -Air Force performance
                             -The President’s view
                             -Responsibility
                      -Hanoi-Haiphong area
                             -Jurisdiction
                      -Targets
                -Discipline
                      -State Department
                      -Defense Department

                         -Air Force
                   -CIA
               -Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
                   -Chiefs of Staff
                   -Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.
                   -Ellsworth F. Bunker

     Instructions to Rose Mary Woods
           -Copies
                -Haig
                -Kissinger

Also recorded on May 19, 1972

  • 024-159 1:58 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-021 1:58 PM · 2 min — 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-022 1:58 PM · 1 min — 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-024 1:58 PM · 1 min — 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-025 1:58 PM · 19 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-026 1:58 PM · 3 min — 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-027 1:58 PM · 1 min — 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.
  • 339-028 1:58 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 1:58 pm and 3:20 pm.

All 47 conversations from May 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 339-023, May 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/339-023 (accessed October 9, 2026).