Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 450 › Conversation 450-008

Nixon & Walters on Operation Lam Son 719 and Vietnam War

Tuesday, February 16, 1971 · 9:35 AM–10:10 AM ET · Oval Office · 37 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Walters, Vernon A.Conversation450-008 on Tape 450 (tape position 00:18:59–00:55:46)StartTuesday, February 16, 1971 at 9:35 AMEndTuesday, February 16, 1971 at 10:10 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 450-008 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417175865 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Lieutenant General Vernon A. Walters to discuss regional military strategy and evaluate potential career assignments for Walters. The conversation focused on the progress of Operation Lam Son 719, particularly the strategic situation regarding the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the role of U.S. air support. Nixon explored various future deployment options for Walters, including potential roles within the White House, the Army, or the CIA under Director Richard Helms.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Vernon A. Walters met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:35 am to 10:10 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 450-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 450-8

Date: February 16, 1971
Time: 9:35 am - 10:10 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Lieutenant General Vernon A. Walters

     Greetings

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number LPRN-T-MDR-
2014-020. Segment exempt per Executive Order 13526, 3.3(b)(1) on 04/30/2019. Archivist:
MAS]
[National Security]
[450-008-w001]
[Duration: 29m 30s]

     SPAIN

Marjorie P. Acker entered at 9:45 am

Acker left at 10:00 am

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

******************************************************************************

     Lam Son
         -Walters’ view
              -Ho Chi Minh Trail
              -South Vietnamese Army
         -Background
         -Bombing

     Walters’ future
          -Possible assignments
                -White House
                -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
                     -Richard M. Helms
                -Army
                -CIA

     [General conversation]

Walters left at 10:10 am

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 6% 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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Go ahead, man.
All right.
All right.

— 29 min 36 s with no transcribed speech —

It's just beyond any concept.
There isn't even a war in South Vietnam anymore.
The war is outside the borders of South Vietnam.
Sure.
I have never been to any of the wars in Paris.
It's only been six months ago that I've been there.
I've been there since Kobe.
I used to go there to get down there to get to the army.
I used to fight there.
Now they're raiding our hands and wondering where it's going to stop.
It's pretty wonderful in South Vietnam.
I've been in office here, I don't know, maybe four years in Paris.
I just think if you stay 40 years, you will realize there's a little problem.
You lose your ability to look at the truth and you run off with no activity.
I just think if you stay 40 years, you will realize there's a little problem.
You lose your ability to look at the truth and you run off with no activity.
The local people would have had a little bit of interest in the U.S. Air Force if you were here.
So, uh, well, we would like to, uh, I don't know what to do about it.
Give us a thought on what kind of a cycle you think you'd like to ride in a racing car.
Well, there's a kind of rear-on test.
I'm prepared as I can go, but I've got to ask the person.
I didn't tell you so fast.
I get this as long as I can run it.
Long as I can get it up to the airport.
I'd like you to do some other questions, though.
Yes, very much so.
You know, I said, you know, you just stay down there, sir.
I've been thinking about all the negative thoughts you've got.
I've been thinking about you.
I've been thinking about you.
I've been thinking about you.
I've been thinking about you.
I've been thinking about you.
Yeah, I don't see a negative here.
I don't see any dirty bits here.
And this is all a place where I told myself, you know, I'm just dying to see what I'm doing, whether I'm staying or whether I'm, you know, obviously I'm not getting something on the outside.
I don't recognize this place.
What would you think about coming here for a while?
It wouldn't, frankly, be bad for you to spend a year here.
Well, I don't know if that's going to be good for me if you go back to what I was doing as a tech guy.
No, no.
I think it would be good to know you as a tech guy.
Probably in the 90s.
Yeah, well, even then, I'm getting more and more scared.
I'm in my 20s.
I'm going to be better than you.
You prefer to talk to me.
You're real.
If I were a tech guy, then I'd be a bad guy.
You see, we've got a bit of it.
I've got a sense of the sort of thing as a tech guy.
Do you ever want to make that assumption?
That's the point.
You'd be very good with that.
I'm wondering if there's any technology involved in the, uh, does it be translated?
Well, you know, we're trying to find out.
But the fact is, on the way to Johnson, I've been making a good year of facing Johnson.
There's other things we've got in the way.
Sure.
Well, you know, we might find some other sign of that, sir.
Good afternoon, I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.
I'd like to talk to you.

Also recorded on February 16, 1971

  • 450-003 8:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 8:58 am.
  • 450-004 8:58 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:58 am and 9:17 am.
  • 450-005 9:17 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Mrs. B. Everett Jordan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:17 am to 9:19 am.
  • 450-006 9:19 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:19 am and 9:35 am.
  • 450-007 9:19 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:19 am and 9:35 am.
  • 450-009 10:10 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:10 am and 10:28 am.
  • 450-010 10:28 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:28 am to 10:49 am.
  • 450-011 10:49 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:49 am to 11:03 am.

All 20 conversations from February 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 450-008, February 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417175865). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/450-008 (accessed November 2, 2026).