Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 443 › Conversation 443-037

Nixon, Phuong & Haig on Vietnam War and Foreign Aid

Wednesday, June 6, 1973 · 6:04 PM–6:12 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Phuong, Tran Kim; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.; Scowcroft, Brent G. (Gen.)Conversation443-037 on Tape 443StartWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 6:04 PMEndWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 6:12 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 443-037 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with South Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Kim Phuong, Alexander Haig, and Brent Scowcroft to discuss the critical need for continued U.S. aid to South Vietnam amidst growing Congressional opposition. Nixon emphasized that he remains committed to supporting President Nguyen Van Thieu but warned that legislative resistance makes securing future appropriations increasingly difficult. The discussion centered on the importance of survival for the South Vietnamese government and the necessity of managing expectations regarding American military and economic assistance.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Tran Kim Phuong, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:04 pm to 6:12 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 443-037 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 443-37

Date: June 6, 1973
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:12 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Tran Kim Phuong, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft.

       Greeting

       Haig’s conversation with Phuong
              -President’s letter to Nguyen Van Thieu
                     -Telegram
                                    -19-

           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                    Conversation No. 443-37 (cont’d)

             -Original to Phuong
       -Congress
             -President’s problem

Congress
      -Washington, D.C. mood
      -Vietnam cease-fire negotiations
             -Communique
                    -Thieu
                            -Blockage

President’s Commitment to Thieu at San Clemente
       -Concerns
       -Aid program [?]
       -Congress
              -Appropriations [?]
              -Cease-fire negotiations
                     -Communique
                             -Thieu

Cease-fire negotiations
       -Thieu
              -Phuong
              -Saigon
       -Narrowing gap
       -Comparison
Show the rest of the log (53 more lines)
       -Improvement [?]

Government of South Vietnam
      -Thieu
      -Survival
             -Aid from Congress
                    -Status
                    -Congressional response to President
             -Thieu
                    -President’s support
                            -Trust in North Vietnam
                                               -20-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 443-37 (cont’d)

                               -Congressional support

       President’s letter to Thieu
              -Intent
              -Communique
                       -Congress
                               -President’s influence

       Vietnam cease-fire negotiations
             -Laos
             -Council of Reconciliation
             -Cease-fire procedure
             -Impairment
             -Importance of South Vietnam’s adherence
                    -Thieu
                    -Henry A. Kissinger
                            -Position
                            -Paris
             -Responsibility
                    -Phuong’s role
                            -US aid to South Vietnam [?]
                            -Importance
                            -Public opinion [?]
             -North Vietnam
                    -Communists
                            -Trustworthiness
             -Thieu’s position
                    -Aid for South Vietnam
             -President’s motives
                    -Support for Thieu
                    -Compared to North Vietnam

       Well wishes
             -Future endeavors

The President et al. left at 6:12 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 54% 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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President, I'm Ambassador Paul.
Yes, of course I do.
I had a talk with the Ambassador, and I required your letter, setting on the President Cuba to give the original to the Ambassador.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It's very important that you convey your personal view.
That my concern is this.
My concern is our ability, my ability to keep the commitment I made to you.
I love to do that.
Ask them, I will never be able to get them.
And then have them say, well, now, why did you go to the computer block?
So that they would be able to communicate, which would give us a chance to survive.
That's where we are.
.
.
.
.
.
I think the important thing is to learn how you must carry life in the strongest possible terms.
A program will not be forthcoming
Markham is a great movie.
If the host read it, it would be a good movie.
They say, no, present you, Markham.
That's where it's going to be.
We'll do whatever we want.
And therefore, I was with Frank, but not the Atlanta.
And I'm more worried than I am.
Well, it doesn't feel that all the way.
I don't trust the Lord anymore that he does.
But I do know that the kind of times that we've had, that we've all received after that time, that all of the things that we're trying to do is
Well, we'll tell you what that is.
That is the mysterious one.
That is the one.
It is the one that I'm trying to bring to you.
We're out of the internet.
We're out of the internet.
We're out of the internet.
We're out of the internet.
We're out of the internet.
Iowa has an impossible task to get support for everybody in this country.
Whether it's true or not, it's an enough point.
That's the situation right now.
And we're coming along with this.
They throw out that level of business about the council of regents and affiliates and so forth.
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
We'll be right back.
.
.
.
Oh, okay then.
Yes, I understand.
It doesn't do it.
Yeah, I think that's a good idea.
Well, you, you, I have actually reconsidered telling that, and you can tell us in the message.
I, I, I'm the expert of confidence driven.
And I don't trust them at all.
Right now, we've got a bigger issue than that's today with the government.
That is what we've got to say.
We don't have this communicated.
We don't have to say it.
So if you feel it that way, I'm doing this, I want this done for him.
I'm not doing it for the Lord.
I, uh, I, uh, that I need to, uh, control the audio, uh, reading, uh, data.
And we hope that the public will
Well, you...
I would actually reconsider in China, and you can tell us in the message.
I'm the expert of confidence driven.
And I don't trust them at all.
But, right now, we've got a bigger...
That's a bigger issue for us than it is for the government.
That is what we've got to say.
We don't have this communicated with the United States.
So if you feel it that way, I'm doing this, I want this done for him.
I'm not doing it for the Lord.
uh, I, uh, said that he was going to get out of here, and I didn't.

Also recorded on June 6, 1973

  • 443-031 5:07 PM · 28 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 5:07 pm and 5:33 pm.
  • 443-032 5:07 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 5:07 pm and 5:33 pm.
  • 039-123 5:33 PM · 1 min — White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 5:33 pm to 5:34 pm.
  • 443-033 5:33 PM · 1 min — Alexander M. Haig, Jr. and President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:33 pm to 5:34 pm.
  • 039-124 5:40 PM · 19 sec — White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 5:40 pm to 5:41 pm.
  • 443-034 5:40 PM · 19 sec — J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. and President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:40 pm to 5:41 pm.
  • 443-035 5:43 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr., and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:43 pm to 6:00 pm.
  • 443-036 6:00 PM · 20 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 6:00 pm and 6:04 pm.

All 85 conversations from June 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 443-037, June 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/443-037 (accessed November 5, 2026).