Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 377 › Conversation 377-013

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Public relations

Sunday, October 29, 1972 · 10:03 AM–10:07 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation377-013 on Tape 377StartSunday, October 29, 1972 at 10:03 AMEndSunday, October 29, 1972 at 10:07 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 377-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed strategies to manage public perception and media support regarding the potential conclusion of the Vietnam War. They focused on leveraging influential figures such as William F. Buckley and Joe Alsop to shape the narrative within conservative circles. Nixon emphasized that the administration's goal extended beyond merely ending the war to achieving a lasting peace through a successful summit.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 24% 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.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Well, hello.

Hi Henry, how are you?

Hope you got a good night's sleep, good sir.

Ah, well, it didn't show, it didn't show.

Where are you?

Good, good to see you.

We've worked it out, you know.

I'm going to do a little briefing and I just talked to Amy.

We don't want to use the big gun to kill this man.

I'd say 10, go ahead.

That's right.

Absolutely good, good.

Yeah, well, are we getting that knocked down enough?

I don't know.

I've got to hit it hard today, myself.

And if you can get Buckley to hit it, some of the right wing, like,

Joe, Joe Alsop, Joe Alsop, and he was in California.

And, uh, Dick Wilson, you know, quite a few of the ones.

Just so they're recognized by the coalition, I told them.

They asked all of them the same thing.

Or the writing kind of thing, I don't know.

Crafts, I don't know what that is.

Crafts.

I don't know anything.

I know nothing.

All right, let's get back to that.

Just say that we're going to make, that we want the right kind of a summit.

This isn't just ending the war.

We've ended the war before.

We want to build it and win the peace.

Right.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On October 29, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:03 am to 10:07 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 377-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 377-13

Date: October 29, 1972
Time: 10:03 am - 10:07 am
Location: Executive Office Building

Henry A. Kissinger talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 32-85; two items have been withdrawn]

Also recorded on October 29, 1972

032-085 10:03 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 10:03 am to 10:07 am.
377-014 10:07 AM · 1 min — 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 10:07 am and 10:20 am.
032-086 10:20 AM · 10 sec — Charles W. Colson and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:55 am.
032-087 10:20 AM · 18 sec — Charles W. Colson and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:55 am.
032-088 10:20 AM · 34 sec — Charles W. Colson and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:55 am.
032-089 10:20 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 12:24 pm.
032-090 10:20 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 12:24 pm.
377-015 10:20 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:20 am to 10:55 am.

All 35 conversations from October 29, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 377-013, October 29, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/377-013 (accessed October 5, 2026).