Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 389 › Conversation 389-005

Nixon & Rogers on Vietnam War and Peace negotiations

Saturday, November 4, 1972 · 8:52 AM–9:00 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation389-005 on Tape 389StartSaturday, November 4, 1972 at 8:52 AMEndSaturday, November 4, 1972 at 9:00 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 389-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers met to discuss the status of ongoing peace negotiations regarding the Vietnam War just days before the 1972 presidential election. Nixon emphasized his commitment to achieving 'peace with honor' while ensuring that ceasefire terms were durable and enforceable. The discussion touched upon the necessity of maintaining a unified team approach to these diplomatic challenges and briefly addressed the President's upcoming campaign activities.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 25% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Yeah.
Hello?
Are you getting work started, Mark?
Yeah.
Alright.
Talk about what they call it.
I feel I'm just going to stay right on the line.
I've been on and on and on.
Let me pray for you.
However, there are details and issues
Right.
I was going to say, I never tried to coach.
I expected him to.
I'm still interested.
I know very well what the coach is.
But what is your feeling with that?
I don't know, frankly, how much attention you can give to it.
I mean, I'm not going to give anything to it.
I gave three times today, huh?
But I... No, no, no, no television today.
Well, I have, but it won't be an opportunity to do this because it's the place I like to be.
Please propose.
But all day today, I'll be speaking in ways I'll never even do.
I don't think I caused any attention to him.
I have said we're not going to make any mistakes.
We're going to have peace with honor and not surrender.
I always need to throw that in with honor because that's the most important thing.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
We didn't, we didn't pick them up.
We didn't blow the cover on the same thing.
The points they raised really are to assure that there will be a ceasefire, and that there will be a last, and that it will last, and that the war will start again, and that's all we're trying to get from it.
And that those points should be worked out, and they can be, and will be.
So I'd be very confident that we'll be in agreement on these points.
I think it's, uh, I think the more you can be attacked, the better.
I mean, the more that you can be, you know, I mean, not attacked for, I think, a person, it's, uh, it comes with filtration somewhat, often.
... ... ... ...
But I think we should be very confident that we've got to agree on the big issues.
But we have to do it.
You know, he's starting to become a part of the team.
It's natural.
It's natural.
But, you know, he doesn't have the problems that we have.
He's very good.
I think he's on the team.
He's got a whole team.
He's really, really good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, well.
Well, today I do, yeah, I...
Monday is, well, I go to a little campaign headquarters in the morning, you know, and I meet, you know, and I do a television time, which is mainly, however, not a, not a, not a, not a, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Oh, another thing I need my government to do is go to that party.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to live.

NARA Description

On November 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:52 am to 9:00 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 389-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 389-5

Date: November 4, 1972
Time: 8:52 am - 9:00 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

[See Conversation No. 33-7]

Also recorded on November 4, 1972

  • 033-004 8:40 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 8:40 am to 8:45 am.
  • 033-005 8:45 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at 8:45 am.
  • 033-006 8:45 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:45 am and 8:52 am.
  • 389-003 8:45 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 8:45 am.
  • 389-004 8:45 AM · 10 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 8:45 am and 8:52 am.
  • 033-007 8:52 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 8:52 am to 9:00 am.
  • 033-008 9:00 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:06 am.
  • 389-006 9:00 AM · 11 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 9:00 am and 9:06 am.

All 59 conversations from November 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 389-005, November 4, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/389-005 (accessed October 11, 2026).