Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 405 › Conversation 405-002

Nixon & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Peace with honor

Thursday, January 25, 1973 · 7:54 AM–8:38 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 11 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation405-002 on Tape 405StartThursday, January 25, 1973 at 7:54 AMEndThursday, January 25, 1973 at 8:38 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 405-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with H. R. Haldeman to dictate a memorandum regarding the framing of the Vietnam peace settlement. The discussion focused on establishing a public relations strategy to define the agreement as "peace with honor" and secure support against political opposition. They emphasized the importance of managing congressional relations and clearly communicating the impact of the administration's policies on South Vietnam's future and the return of prisoners of war.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 44% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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All right, I'm going to talk to you as well.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There's no water water today.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
We might have to go into a new part of the country.
We might have to go into a new part of the country.
We might have to go into a new part of the country.
We might have to go into a new part of the country.
I really want to get a settlement.
That's where I have the most respect I've ever had.
Most respect I've ever had.
I don't know about you, but, uh, I'm sorry for all the stuff you've done for me.
And, uh, I want to, uh, make sure that a lot of the stuff you've done for me, I'm going to be able to get out of it.
And I'm going to be able to work on it.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Thank you.
The government is, the government is fighting on this matter.
It's a war for love.
It's a war for, it's a war for the good of the people and the country.
It's just a fucking hell of a country.
It's not actually a good country.
It's not a good country.
It's one that I hate so much.
It's one of the better countries.
The government's decision.
uh... uh... uh... uh...
I'd like you to find out if there's anything I could do to help you.
I'd like to thank you for everything.
Thank you for your support.
I'd like to thank you for the time you've given me.
I'm looking forward to it.
Power off.
Power off.
And also, why is it that hard for students, when they're selling packages, to buy them and sell them to other students?
How are they going to manage to get them out of the country now, that way?
Who's going to manage to get them out of the country now, when they're not going to be able to buy them and sell them to other students?
That's my favorite thing.
uh, hammering my stuff, you know, flat-blading, uh, construction, I had to get to the other side.
Uh, thanks to the reparations, I haven't had a hard time.
Uh, and, obviously, uh, over the last, over the years, it's been difficult.
And, uh, by the cold times, thank you, man.
I belong to war.
You know, I'm fired.
You know, I'm not commonly fired.
It's a long accident.
You know, it's just kind of, you know, it's what we do in this world.
That's what I'm trying to do, I think.
I was pregnant.
Yeah.
several points that you may have heard.
And then, our point, in the context of the United States, one of them, the war in the United States did not, did not, and one of our views is, on aspects of the rest of the United States,
There are a lot of ponds.
You know, after the war, in a way, it was just whenever there was less people in America, it was very easy for the communists and the soldiers to come and force them to come, or at least those who come to try to prevent them from coming.
Uh, we got, uh, kind of an open area.
I'm sure it's got to be on the right.
We've got to be on the right.
We're on the right.
It's a pretty good announcement.
It's about to go up.
It's just that there will be no comments or questions.
It's not going to be a lot.
It's going to be a good announcement.
I don't want to take the place that it's going to be.
I'm tired.
I don't want to talk.
There's all kinds of other countries.
We're only going to be moving to the United States.
We're going to be moving to the United States.
We're going to be moving to the United States.
We're going to be moving to the United States.
We're going to be moving to the United States.
In other words, he's the one who meets with the, you know, in the chemistry of the amount, you know, he's the one who meets with the, you know, he's the one who meets with the, you know, he's the one who meets with the, you know,
I don't see any questions today.
We are without questions.
... ... ... ... ... ...
I don't know.
I don't know.

NARA Description

On January 25, 1973, 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 7:54 am and 8:38 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 405-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 405-2

Date: January 25, 1973
Time: Unknown between 7:54 am and 8:38 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President dictated a memorandum to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

       Vietnam settlement
            -Conversation with Henry A. Kissinger and Charles W. Colson
            -Kissinger
                  -Congressional relations
                                             -2-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 405-2 (cont’d)

                  -Support for President
                         -“Doves”
            -Public relations [PR]
                  -Surrogates
                  -“Peace with honor”
                  -Coalition government
                  -South Vietnam’s rights
                  -End of war
                         -50 million people of Indochina
                  -Prisoners of War [POWs]
                  -US withdrawal
                  -October 1972 agreements
                  -Kissinger
                  -Congressional resolution
                         -Vote
                         -December 1972 bombing
                               -Effect
                  -President's opponents
                         -Surrender
                  -Future of South Vietnam
                  -Communist government
                  -“Peace with honor”
            -Kissinger
                  -Congressional relations
                         -Briefing

Also recorded on January 25, 1973

  • 036-110 7:54 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:54 am and 8:38 am.
  • 405-001 7:54 AM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:54 am and 8:38 am.
  • 405-003 7:54 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:54 am and 8:38 am.
  • 405-004 7:54 AM · 8 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 7:54 am and 8:38 am.
  • 036-111 8:38 AM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 8:38 am to 8:39 am.
  • 405-005 8:38 AM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:38 am to 8:39 am.
  • 405-006 8:39 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:39 am and 9:01 am.
  • 405-007 9:01 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:01 am to 9:03 am.

All 40 conversations from January 25, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 405-002, January 25, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/405-002 (accessed October 9, 2026).