Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 386 › Conversation 386-005

Nixon & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger

Tuesday, December 5, 1972 · 6:44 PM–7:35 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 50 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation386-005 on Tape 386StartTuesday, December 5, 1972 at 6:44 PMEndTuesday, December 5, 1972 at 7:35 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 386-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to deliberate on the status of Vietnam peace negotiations and the potential resignation of Henry Kissinger. The discussion focused on evaluating internal and external perceptions regarding a possible departure by Kissinger. No final actions were finalized, but the participants weighed the strategic implications of such a resignation on the ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 5, 1972, 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 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 386-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 386-5

Date: December 5, 1972
Time: Unknown between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

       Vietnam negotiations
            -Haldeman’s message to Henry A. Kissinger
                 -Kissinger’s resignation
                        -The President’s and others’ view

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Thank you very much.
Hei.
Hei.

Also recorded on December 5, 1972

  • 386-003 6:29 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:29 pm to 6:30 pm.
  • 034-148 6:30 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:30 pm and 6:43 pm.
  • 386-004 6:30 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, White House operator, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:30 pm and 7:35 pm.
  • 034-026 6:43 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 6:43 pm to 6:44 pm.
  • 386-006 6:44 PM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
  • 386-007 6:44 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 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
  • 386-008 6:44 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
  • 386-009 6:44 PM · 34 sec — unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.

All 55 conversations from December 5, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 386-005, December 5, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/386-005 (accessed November 13, 2026).