Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 407 › Conversation 407-026
Nixon, Agnew & Kissinger on Vietnam Peace Settlement and Cease-fire
Tuesday, January 23, 1973 · 9:05 PM–9:40 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 37 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with bipartisan Congressional leadership, Vice President Agnew, and Henry Kissinger to discuss the imminent Vietnam peace settlement and the subsequent withdrawal of U.S. forces. The participants reviewed key provisions of the agreement, including cease-fire terms, the release of prisoners of war, and the complexities surrounding continuing conflicts in Laos and Cambodia. Nixon coordinated with the congressional delegation regarding the distribution of briefings to broader legislative members and finalized plans for his public address announcing the agreement.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On January 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, William E. Timmons, Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield, James O. Eastland, Carl B. Albert, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr., Gerald R. Ford, Hugh Scott, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, Gerald L. Warren, John P. D'Arcy, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:05 pm to 9:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 407-026 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 407-26
Date: January 23, 1973
Time: Between 9:05 pm and 9:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with William E. Timmons, Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield, James O.
Eastland, Carl B. Albert, Thomas P. (“Tip”) O'Neill, Gerald R. Ford, Hugh Scott, Spiro T.
Agnew, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull.
[General conversation]
-Vietnam settlement
Greetings
Photograph session
-Arrangements
-Kissinger
-Press
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 407-26 (cont’d)
Gerald L. Warren, John P. D'Arcy, the White House photographer, and members of the press
entered at 9:07 pm.
-Vietnam settlement
-Soviet Union [?]
-Signing [?]
-The President's speech
Photograph session
-Arrangements
[General conversation]
Photograph session
-Length
Bull, Warren, D'Arcy, the White House photographer, and members of the press left at 9:11 pm.
Refreshment order
-Manolo Sanchez
Vietnam settlement
-Meeting with bipartisan Congressional leaders
-Release of agreement
-Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Armed Services,
Appropriations Committees
-Other attendees
-Length
-Initialing
-Signing in Paris
-Foreign ministers
-Provisions
-Cease-fire
-Troop withdrawals
-South Vietnamese government
-The President's use of term Indochina
-Laos and Cambodia
-Continuing negotiations
-Confidentiality
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 407-26 (cont’d)
-Briefings
-Timmons
-Bipartisan Congressional leaders
-Other members of Congress
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-William P. Rogers
-Importance
-Timing, location
-Attendees
-Wilbur D. Mills [?]
-Charles H. Percy [?]
-The President’s schedule
-Press briefing
-Lyndon B. Johnson funeral
-Laos and Cambodia
-Provisions
-North Vietnam
-People’s Republic of China, PRC
-Negotiations
-Cease-fire
-Signing
-Laos
-Withdrawal of foreign troops
-Cambodia
-Cease-fire
-Indochina
-Cambodia, Laos
-Military operations
-Laos
-North Vietnamese forces
-Ho Chi Minh Trail
-Cambodia
-South Vietnam
-Supplies
-Laos, Cambodia
-Ho Chi Minh Trail
-Saigon
-Signing
-Withdrawal of forces
-Bombing
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 407-26 (cont’d)
-South Vietnam
-Laos
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-International Commission of Control and Supervision [ICCS]
-Missing In Action [MIAs]
-Cease-fire
-POWs
-Location of return
-Time of return
-Announcement
-North Vietnam
-Compared to October 26, 1972
-Release of text
-Le Duc Tho's press conference in Paris
-POWs
-Laos
-PRC
-The President's conversation
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-John Downey
-PRC
-Cambodia, Laos
-Cease-fire
-Effective time
-Press relations
-The President’s speech
-Broadcast
-Distribution of text
-Laos and Cambodia
-Complexity
-Congressional leaders
-Briefings
-Ziegler
-James R. Schlesinger [?]
-Laos and Cambodia
-Lon Nol
-Khmer Rouge
-Expectations for future
Initial conflict
-Compared to Korea
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 407-26 (cont’d)
-Supervision
-Four Party signing
-Viet Cong
-ICCS supervision
-Nguyen Van Thieu
-Canada, Poland, Hungary [?]
-Regions
-Military equipment
-Commission Report
-Briefings
-Kissinger's schedule
-Haig
-Scheduling
-Kissinger
-Haig
-Kissinger
-Length
-Location
-The President’s speech
Timmons, et al., left at 9:40 pm.Also recorded on January 24, 1973
- 407-019 7:23 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:23 pm and 8:08 pm.
- 407-020 7:23 PM · 15 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 7:23 pm and 8:08 pm.
- 407-021 7:23 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:23 pm and 8:08 pm.
- 407-022 7:23 PM · 22 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 7:23 pm and 8:08 pm.
- 111-002 8:38 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Cabinet officers and staffers, including William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Elliot L. Richardson, Richard G. Kleindienst, Rogers C. B. Morton, Earl L. Butz, Frederick B. Dent, Peter J. Brennan, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, James T. Lynn, Claude S. Brinegar, Roy L. Ash, John A. Scali, Anne L. Armstrong, George P. Shultz, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Peter M. Flanigan, William E. Timmons, Ronald L. Ziegler, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Herbert Stein, William L. Safire, Leonard Garment, George H. W. Bush, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:38 pm to 9:05 pm.
- 036-066 9:14 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:14 pm.
- 839-006 9:51 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:51 pm and 10:15 pm.
- 036-091 10:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 10:44 pm to 10:47 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 407-026, January 24, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/407-026 (accessed October 12, 2026).