Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 395 › Conversation 395-019

Nixon & Kennedy on Vietnam War and Peace Negotiations

Friday, January 12, 1973 · 8:19 AM–8:28 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·9 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kennedy, Richard T. (Col.)Conversation395-019 onTape 395StartFriday, January 12, 1973 at 8:19 AMEndFriday, January 12, 1973 at 8:28 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 395-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Colonel Richard T. Kennedy discussed the logistics and messaging surrounding an upcoming high-stakes public announcement regarding ongoing peace negotiations. Nixon emphasized the importance of managing the timing of the release to avoid internal conflict and unnecessary involvement from congressional leaders. The conversation focused on ensuring that administration officials, specifically Secretary of State William Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, were appropriately informed to maintain a unified front following the development.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Thank you.
I don't want that.
Thank you.
The way this schedule is working now,
Every now and then,
Is there a purpose for that?
What I'm thinking actually is that what I'm getting from it is that it depends on the announcement.
But it's not understandable.
Because the agreement is supposed to go back to Monday night.
So yeah, that shouldn't have too much to add.
Yeah.
So what you say is that I'll leave it to you.
Well, it's just as well, having had the
Thank you.
Yeah, of course, but the following morning is when he's going to announce it.
Okay, and then, of course, the informing the senators, and the Rogers and Laird, seems to make the impression, practically, it has to be something like that.
And that's all these Rogers and Laird have been talking about.
That would be one advantage.
I don't want to call any problems.
I don't want any arguments.
But you can go.
You can just drop over and say you're great.
You see, tomorrow the announcement will come.
It's coming back.
It's going to make a great speech.
It's going to make a great speech.
It's going to make a great speech.
Right, and you should do that.
And this is the way you're going to have those things right beside us.
And that's that.
Now, we've got time.
Oh, you don't, oh, he's over six in the morning.
He is over there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, I don't think I've mentioned that that's the model.
I see.
That would be all right.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I guess that's what you have to do.
But I've got leaders.
I don't want any leaders involved.
I mean, uh, yeah.
I suppose that the market wants to tell us that they don't want them to be in the market.
I guess you can't even believe it.
There have been developments that have been going on right now.
Right now.
And that is very important.
And therefore, very important.
We don't want to tell that story to the president.
I think that will be announced, I don't think, before they're going on.
I believe that there will be an announcement before then.
Oh, I see.
That's right.
I do just say there have been some developments in the president's judgment.
Only the honorary president.
The president's doctor said he had any adjustments, only that he had not heard the rest of the developments.
At this point, the president's very important.
They're part of the negotiations.
are underway in a serious way.
Serious.
There is a chance.
That's right.
Okay.
Yeah.

NARA Description

On January 12, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:19 am to 8:28 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 395-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 395-19

Date: January 12, 1973
Time: Between 8:19 am and 8:28 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President Talked With Col. Richard T. Kennedy.

[See Conversation No. 35-151]

Also recorded on January 12, 1973

  • 035-150 8:07 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:07 am and 8:19 am.
  • 395-016 8:07 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:07 am and 8:17 am.
  • 395-017 8:07 AM · 8 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 8:07 am and 8:19 am.
  • 035-151 8:19 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy talked on the telephone from 8:19 am to 8:28 am.
  • 395-020 8:28 AM · 15 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 8:28 am and 8:55 am.
  • 395-021 8:28 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:28 am and 8:55 am.
  • 395-022 8:28 AM · 45 sec — 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 8:28 am and 8:55 am.
  • 395-023 8:28 AM · 16 sec — 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 8:28 am and 8:55 am.

All 27 conversations from January 12, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 395-019, January 12, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/395-019 (accessed September 18, 2026).