Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 421 › Conversation 421-013

Nixon & Haig on Laos and Foreign Policy

Wednesday, March 21, 1973 · 4:23 PM–4:39 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 14 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation421-013 on Tape 421StartWednesday, March 21, 1973 at 4:23 PMEndWednesday, March 21, 1973 at 4:39 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 421-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig meet to coordinate administration messaging and policy regarding ongoing conflicts in Southeast Asia, specifically referencing the withdrawal of forces from Laos. The two discuss the political implications of recent presidential statements and the necessity of maintaining credible warnings to foreign actors despite domestic media scrutiny. The conversation serves as a strategic check-in on foreign policy posture and the management of public perceptions concerning Vietnam-era defense commitments.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 4.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 1.9 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 6 minutes of this recording (about 42% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Well, anyhow, do you have any further thoughts with regard to our .
I'm waiting for .
Yeah, let me say this.
I've been thinking about it.
I've been thinking about it.
Thank you.
Yeah, I want to tell you what I did on that .
The agreement is that we expect them out of Laos then.
That part of the agreement.
But I certainly, I don't think that I can justify this.
At least nine guys were there, they had a right to get arrested.
Every one of them, which is important.
So in other words, when Scowcroft raised this this morning,
Is that sound about right to you?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
What?
They were some.
The eye couldn't sense that.
So at the moment,
American Press, of course, just made something entirely different over the two.
I was just thinking, you know, part of that.
So whatever, I think it doesn't go on that score.
I don't know if it's part of the reaction to your concerns.
I guess another thing to follow up.
Oh, yeah.
I just don't know that.
As a matter of fact, the point is, when you look at my statement last week, even when I was repressed, there's been sort of a claim that there has been some drop-off to the right.
That's true.
Well, that doesn't hurt us, though.
It doesn't hurt us here.
We don't believe in that.
I think the warning was probably worthwhile.
I don't like to make warnings.
I guess it was worthwhile.
They haven't done anything to make me have to do it.
That's the way we look at it.
You've got to figure this.
As a matter of fact, on that score,
... ... ... ... ...
We put a couple of them to the right.
... ... ... ...
I'm a couple of theses.
That's the problem.
You know, we're respectful.
I see what you're saying.
We're respectful of that.
You know, when you start to think of, you know, at this point, you're not the only one.
You know, there's a lot of people out there.
There's a lot of people out there.
Like, there's part of the problem.
I think this is amazing.
Well, we'll see.
Of course, he's sitting down there.
I don't know.
It's a little hard.
It's pretty easy to call him out there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's right.
But what are you doing?
I didn't actually know you made them.
I'm sorry.
The defense is in it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, looking at you.
Thank you.
Okay, I'll wait.

NARA Description

On March 21, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:23 pm to 4:39 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 421-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 421-13

Date: March 21, 1973
Time: 4:23 pm-4:39 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 37-190]

Also recorded on March 21, 1973

  • 037-190 4:23 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 4:23 pm to 4:39 pm.
  • 037-191 4:41 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:41 pm.
  • 037-192 4:41 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:41 pm and 4:43 pm.
  • 421-014 4:41 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:41 pm.
  • 421-015 4:41 PM · 13 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 4:41 pm and 4:43 pm.
  • 037-193 4:43 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 4:43 pm to 4:45 pm.
  • 421-016 4:43 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:43 pm to 4:45 pm.
  • 421-017 4:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:45 pm and 4:53 pm.

All 80 conversations from March 21, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 421-013, March 21, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/421-013 (accessed October 6, 2026).