{"conversationCode":"385-018","tapeNumber":385,"conversationNumber":18,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-385-018","startDateTime":"1972-12-11T22:42:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-12-12T00:10:00.000Z","startDate":"11-Dec-1972","startTime":"5:42 PM","endDate":"11-Dec-1972","endTime":"7:10 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;","description":"On December 11, 1972, 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 5:42 pm and 7:10 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 385-018 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.2","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part II","chronReleaseDate":"2-Dec-2008","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 385-18\n\nDate: December 11, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 5:42 pm and 7:10 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n\n       Vietnam negotiations\n             -Henry A. Kissinger\n                    -Location\n             -Haig’s schedule\n                    -Return\n             -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin\n                    -Breakdown\n                            -Publicity option\n                                   -Kissinger\n                                   -The President’s possible television [TV] statement\n             -US bombing of North Vietnam\n                    -Duration\n             -December 12, 1972 schedule\n             -North Vietnam’s position","filename":["385-018.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haig, Alexander M., Jr."],"prevCode":"385-017","nextCode":"385-019","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":26.93,"text":"Hi, Al."},{"start":26.95,"end":27.65,"text":"Are you able to get over there yet?"},{"start":27.67,"end":27.75,"text":"Yep."},{"start":27.77,"end":27.93,"text":"Yep."},{"start":43.84,"end":44.16,"text":"Right."},{"start":90.89,"end":118.2,"text":"Right."},{"start":118.22,"end":118.32,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":118.34,"end":118.46,"text":"Right."},{"start":118.48,"end":118.58,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":131.71,"end":149.69,"text":"Well, yes."},{"start":153.99,"end":154.09,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":154.11,"end":154.21,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":154.23,"end":154.33,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":154.35,"end":157.47,"text":"Well, particularly in view of what he had had the day you returned."},{"start":157.85,"end":160.52,"text":"I mean, that was the only thing that concerned me all about your return."},{"start":160.6,"end":161.58,"text":"And I wondered why the hell you were coming back"},{"start":167.99,"end":194.74,"text":"Well, there's no reason to pass this on to the brain, is there?"},{"start":194.76,"end":194.96,"text":"All right."},{"start":194.98,"end":195.18,"text":"All right."},{"start":195.2,"end":196.22,"text":"Do you realize, though, Alice, the option as well"},{"start":196.69,"end":206.87,"text":"Black boy and lady throwing down a briefcase, and now we'll have to go public."},{"start":208.73,"end":211.88,"text":"Just so you know, that is not a viable option."},{"start":211.9,"end":212.74,"text":"That's all I want you to know."},{"start":212.76,"end":213.8,"text":"There is a hell of a viable option, I'm sure."},{"start":213.82,"end":214.34,"text":"There's a hell of a lot."},{"start":214.36,"end":217.49,"text":"And what we do, I'm willing to do a hell of a lot, but I'm not going to do a lot of things without that help."},{"start":240.6,"end":260.17,"text":"That's right."},{"start":260.19,"end":262.05,"text":"But then we ought to be prepared during this period to remove half of the dark from the land."},{"start":262.07,"end":263.71,"text":"And at this time, not for land, but for the world."},{"start":263.73,"end":264.43,"text":"What's your direction on that, Jim?"},{"start":264.45,"end":264.63,"text":"Go ahead."},{"start":289.94,"end":304.49,"text":"I don't think it's that bad."},{"start":323.8,"end":335.15,"text":"Alright, I'm fine."},{"start":335.17,"end":335.35,"text":"I'm fine."},{"start":335.37,"end":335.75,"text":"I'm a little weird."},{"start":335.77,"end":335.99,"text":"I love you."},{"start":336.01,"end":336.35,"text":"I love you a lot."},{"start":336.37,"end":336.59,"text":"I love you."},{"start":336.61,"end":337.23,"text":"There's nothing to worry about."},{"start":337.25,"end":337.96,"text":"There ain't nothing to worry about."},{"start":360.02,"end":366.39,"text":"fire, if they were concerned, they'd back off their recent decisions."},{"start":366.41,"end":367.35,"text":"There's no deal we could accept, is that right?"},{"start":408.15,"end":418.04,"text":"All right."},{"start":418.06,"end":418.4,"text":"Thanks very much."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander Haig discussed the stalled Vietnam peace negotiations and the potential for a diplomatic breakdown with North Vietnam. The two reviewed the possibility of taking the stalled talks public, though Nixon expressed skepticism about such an approach. Nixon emphasized the need for a firm military response to North Vietnamese intransigence, suggesting an escalation of the bombing campaign should a negotiated settlement remain out of reach.","topics":["Vietnam War","Henry Kissinger","Peace negotiations","Anatoliy Dobrynin","Military strategy","Bombing campaigns"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T17:47:08.617Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","henry-kissinger","peace-negotiations","anatoliy-dobrynin","military-strategy","bombing-campaigns"],"audioDurationSec":423,"audioFiles":[{"file":"385-018.mp3","bytes":10158286,"durationSec":423.11,"bitrate":192070,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:45.437Z","transcriptGapSeconds":119,"transcriptGapShare":0.28,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/385-018.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/385-018","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/385/conversation-385-018","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}