Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 462 › Conversation 462-021

Nixon, Haldeman & Butterfield on Vietnam War and Laos

Friday, March 5, 1971 · 4:30 PM–4:40 PM ET · Oval Office ·7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  Butterfield, Alexander P.;  Colson, Charles W.;  Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation462-021 onTape 462 (tape position 06:25:31–06:32:02)StartFriday, March 5, 1971 at 4:30 PMEndFriday, March 5, 1971 at 4:40 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 462-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his senior advisors, including H. R. Haldeman and Henry Kissinger, to review administrative priorities following his March 4, 1971, press conference. The discussion focused on managing public and media reactions to the Vietnam War and Laos operations, as well as addressing ongoing Middle East diplomatic developments. Additionally, Kissinger updated the President on his efforts to challenge anti-administration sentiment among the academic and policy "establishment" during a recent appearance at the Brookings Institution.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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We've only got two points to go.
We went up 664 to 22 and a half million shares.
That's 898.
How many shares?
2,430,000.
That's a big day.
Very big day.
What would you see if a ziggler essentially was breathing if he hadn't actually been breathing for five minutes?
After all, it was nine points yesterday, so it's 15 points and two deaths.
I need you to make the changes.
How much is it?
$9.98.
$8.98.
I'm sorry.
$8.98.
That's great.
$2.59.
Yeah.
So, yeah, just wanted to check, and they did this too, how you're getting along out on the press conference.
Are you still getting your reactions all right?
Sure.
and get cover some of the some of the brain yeah
How is it, what was their personal reaction?
Are they all enthusiastic, I hope, or do they see what they realize?
But the main thing is that just the networks, the idea that we find that now I've gotten us to take the offensive on Laos and so forth, and they, yeah.
That's all right.
I'm going to try this according to Ron.
Will that work fine?
Sure.
I'm going to try to enter something on a pen mark and call.
All right.
Good.
Good.
Good job.
Thank you.
Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt you, John.
It's what I had to do.
No, no, that's fine.
No, I've had no news.
It is night now in Vietnam, so I haven't had any news.
Before our meeting this afternoon on the Middle East, there may be a contemplatory statement of Israel, but... News, as you can.
We did use the law.
Oh, that wasn't Matt.
This was the one statement.
Now, you've got to... Well, back then, at least, we always say we won't know.
I mean, we really said it, but I didn't say it again, didn't I?
Well...
I say the same, and so Ron...
The difference is they believe you, and they don't believe Sisto.
Because Sisto, in fact, is imposing it by saying he isn't, and... And... And what...
Yeah, he was in for two minutes before he came in.
He said he was, I gave him a very quick feel.
There's ways to, uh, you know.
And Rhonda, we've got a, at the skin of CBS, they're going to try to run tapes of Howard Smith and Eric Selroy and show him an action in the pavement that the, that CBS has never covered.
It's actually not been negative.
What the hell do they think I was talking about?
That's pretty good.
No, I mean, if they could, they'd say that, and they'd support it, too, whatever they would say.
The miners, the miners, the miners, the miners, the miners, the miners, the miners, the miners,
And actually the newspaper is so dubious as to how vicious it is because the smearing shows and the sort of pictures they select.
I want it.
I want it.
I want it.
So I want to call upon some other leaders, and here's a chance for some of us to be here.
I see a CDS, I need to take it off.
I told them I didn't take it off.
Now they say it's a gas plug.
The President said it clearly, that's what we were talking about.
I didn't say all of it.
You remember my words were generally chosen.
I said many of you in this room, I really do not support it.
The establishment is very defensive right now.
The Brookings Institute had a meeting of foundation executives.
and I had been scheduled for weeks to give a little talk to them, and I really laid into John Gardner.
I said, really, here is a man, you all know him, he's a good friend of mine.
What does he do?
He's on a campaign to get us to do something we're doing already, instead of looking ahead to the year 1980 or something, which we can do here.
And I picked up what you said yesterday, and a lot of them got up and said, well, what can we do?
Well, I said, I said, no, President, I heard that it changed the vision you made.
And I said, no, President, I never had to put up for apology with the whole establishment consistently nagging away at him, insisting that everything he's saying
that he's trying to do exactly the opposite of what he's saying, giving him no moral support, not forming any groups of what he ought to be doing in other areas along the line of where he's going, so he's dropping ahead, which is what outside groups would do.
And I... And I said to them, if you want to help...
Government, you ought to make yourself relevant to the government.
Ah.
They were very defensive.
Ah.

NARA Description

On March 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, Charles W. Colson, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:30 pm and 4:40 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 462-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 462-21
Date: March 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 4:30 pm and 4:40 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

     Stock market
          -Dow Jones average
          -Volume

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 4:30 pm

     President’s schedule
          -Ronald L. Ziegler meeting
          -President’s departure time

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 4:32 pm

     Stock market
          -Previous day’s Dow Jones average
          -Volume
          -Dow Jones average

[The President talked with Charles W. Colson at an unknown time between 4:30 pm and 4:33
pm]

[Conversation No. 462-21A]

     President’s March 4, 1971 press conference
          -Response
                -Colson’s findings
                -Unknown persons (members)
                -Laos
                     -Administration action
                -Ziegler

[End of telephone conversation]

Henry A. Kissinger entered at 4:33 pm

     Kissinger’s schedule

President’s schedule
     -Camp David

Vietnam
     -Developments
          -Reports
Middle East
    -A meeting
    -A statement on Israel
    -President’s statement in March 4, 1971 press conference
          -Possible settlement
    -Joseph J. Sisco’s statement
          -Response

Nelson A. Rockefeller
     -Meeting with President
     -Meeting with Kissinger

Press coverage of Vietnam War
      -A tape of Howard K. Smith and [Arnold] Eric Sevareid
            -Laos (Lam Son) commentary
      -President’s critics
            -White House news summary
                 -Press coverage

President’s schedule
     -Helicopter

Public relations
     -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
            -Comments on Vietnam
                 -Press
     -President’s comments
            -Press

President’s critics
     -Brookings Institute meeting
           -Kissinger’s comments to John W. Gardner
                  -President’s policies
                  -President’s March 4, 1971 press conference comments

                     -President’s policies
                           -Effect of the “Establishment”

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 4:40 pm

Also recorded on March 5, 1971

  • 462-013 11:06 AM · 1 hr 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, George P. Shultz, Paul W. McCracken, Rose Mary Woods, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:06 am to 1:05 pm.
  • 462-014 1:06 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Walter R. Tkach, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:06 pm and 1:17 pm.
  • 462-015 1:17 PM · 1 hr 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John A. ("Jack") Mulcahy, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, John B. Connally, Manolo Sanchez, and William H. Carruthers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:17 pm to 2:20 pm.
  • 462-016 2:20 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 2:20 pm.
  • 462-017 2:20 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:20 pm and 4:20 pm.
  • 462-018 4:20 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:20 pm and 4:28 pm.
  • 462-019 4:29 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:29 pm.
  • 462-020 4:29 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:29 pm.

All 21 conversations from March 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 462-021, March 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/462-021 (accessed September 18, 2026).