Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 370 › Conversation 370-027
Nixon, Haig & Sanchez on Vietnam War and Peace Negotiations
Sunday, October 22, 1972 · 12:45 PM–1:05 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 43 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Alexander Haig met to strategize on ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations and the complexities of managing South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's resistance to a potential ceasefire. They discussed the tactical use of bombing halts and the necessity of maintaining a firm U.S. position to ensure North Vietnamese cooperation regardless of the upcoming 1972 election. The primary objective was to coordinate a cohesive message for Hanoi that reaffirmed U.S. commitment to the draft agreement while signaling that the administration remained fully focused on achieving a negotiated settlement.
- Vietnam War
- Peace Negotiations
- Alexander Haig
- Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
- Bombing halts
- 1972 Election
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 15 minutes of this recording (about 34% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.
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NARA Description
On October 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:45 pm to 1:05 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 370-027 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 370-27
Date: October 22, 1972
Time: 12:45 pm - 1:05 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 18s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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Vietnam
-Negotiations
-Message from Henry A. Kissinger
-Options
-Haig’s view
-Kissinger’s possible trip to Hanoi
-Absence of bilateral settlement
-US bombing halt and reduction of bombing
-Possible meeting in Paris
-Haig’s view
-Gen. Nyugen Van Thieu
-1972 election
-Possible bombing halt
-Possible effect on a settlement
-Possible Public Statement
-Possible bombing halt
-Moscow and Peking
-The President’s view
-Possible trip to Hanoi
-Joseph C. Kraft
-Eugene J. McCarthy, W[illiam] Averell Harriman
-Kissinger's Schedule
-Possible trip to Hanoi
-Prospects
-Bilateral
-Thieu
-Cease fire
-Kissinger's Location
-Possible return to Washington, DC
-Hanoi
-Bombing
-Anatoly F. Dobrynin
-Possible Reply
-Bombing
-Military Situation
-Cease-fire
-Thieu’s cooperation
-Possible Responses
-Ending bombing in exchange for return of prisoners of war [POWs]
-US position on Thieu
-Thieu’s position
-US peace settlement offer
-Thieu’s public response
-Possible break with Thieu
-Thieu’s possible veto power
-Compared to a break with North Vietnam
-US Domestic Situation
-State Department
-Melvin R. Laird
-Press
-William P. Rogers
-The President’s view
-Possible Public Statement
-May 8, 1972 condition
-North Vietnamese withdrawal from South Vietnam
-Partition of South Vietnam
-Possible break with Thieu
-Compared to a break with North Vietnam
-Possible public statement
-Refusal to impose settlement
-Progress in negotiations
-North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam
-Haig's possible conversation with Anatoly Dobrynin
-Kissinger's Schedule
-Paris
-Le Duc Tho
-Possible trip to Hanoi
-1972 election
-Pham Van Dong
-Leonid I. Brezhnev
-1972 election
-Bombing
-Possible halt or reduction
-Mining
-20th parallel
-Haig's possible conversation with Dobrynin
-Kissinger’s message to Hanoi
-Laos, Cambodia
-US POWs
-Democratic Republic of Vietnam [DRV] [North Vietnam]
-Saigon, Phnom Penh, Bangkok
-Unilateral action
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Washington, DC
-Arnaud de Borchgrave interview [with Dong]
-Request for no public action by DRV
-US commitment to draft agreement
-Possible bombing halt
-Kissinger's Companions
-William H. Sullivan
-Winston Lord
Liberal establishment
-Kissinger
-The President’s view
-Sullivan
-Lord
-Haig’s view
Helmut (“Hal”) Sonnenfeldt
-Kissinger’s recent trip
Vietnam
-Negotiations
-Kissinger's message
-Soviet Union
-Haig’s possible conversation with Dobrynin
-Possible response
-Timing
-Bombing
-Haig's possible conversation with Dobrynin
-Secrecy
-1972 election
-DRV
-The President’s efforts and goal
-Negotiated settlement
-Haig’s possible conversation with Dobrynin
Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 12:45 pm.
Refreshment
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 1:05 pm.
Haig’s possible conversation with Dobrynin
-The President’s May 8, 1972 decision
-1972 election
-Kissinger
-Brezhnev, Thieu
-Bombing halt
-1972 election
-The President’s view
-Secrecy
Haig left at 1:05 pm.Also recorded on October 22, 1972
- 151-011 10:10 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 10:10 am to 10:16 am.
- 223-021 11:36 AM · 48 sec — William Hirsch and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 11:36 am and 11:47 am.
- 151-012 11:47 AM · 14 sec — William Hirsch and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 11:47 am.
- 370-026 12:15 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:45 pm.
- 370-028 1:05 PM · 13 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 1:05 pm and 3:06 pm.
- 370-029 1:05 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:05 pm and 3:06 pm.
- 032-001 3:06 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:06 pm to 3:10 pm.
- 032-002 3:10 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 7:28 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 370-027, October 22, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/370-027 (accessed October 10, 2026).