Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 467 › Conversation 467-028

Nixon & Stratton on Vietnam War and Laotian Operation

Wednesday, March 17, 1971 · 3:25 PM–3:29 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Stratton, Samuel S.Conversation467-028 on Tape 467 (tape position 02:04:16–02:08:00)StartWednesday, March 17, 1971 at 3:25 PMEndWednesday, March 17, 1971 at 3:29 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 467-028 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176147 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Representative Samuel S. Stratton to express appreciation for his public support of the administration's Southeast Asian policies. The two discussed the ongoing Laotian operation, with Nixon emphasizing that the mission’s goal was to disrupt North Vietnamese supply routes rather than occupy territory. Nixon also addressed the challenges of maintaining public and congressional support, noting that the ultimate political perception of the operation would depend on its final outcome.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Samuel S. Stratton met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:25 pm to 3:29 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 467-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 467-028

Date: March 17, 1971
Time: 3:25 pm - 3:29 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Samuel S. Stratton

     Vietnam
          -Stratton’s support
          -President’s knowledge compared with press

     Laotian operation (Lam Son)
           -Military situation
                 -Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
                 -Army of the Republic of Vietnam [ARVN]
           -Purpose
                 -Effect on North Vietnamese supply routes
           -A vote in Congress

                  -A troop withdrawal announcement
            -Outcome
            -US foreign policy
            -Public opinion
                  -Laos news
            -Stratton’s support

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I don't have a mind to ask you to do, but thank you for your support on our Southeast Asian operations.
I know it's a little hard for some of you, particularly for you folks who sort of ignore your part of the country to step up and hit these hard ones, but I appreciate it.
And I think you should know, as you can imagine, I know a little bit about Mars that's going out there and some of the commentators, and it's going very well.
The, uh, the, uh, the, uh, I'm dislodging more, excuse me, let's go on the phone.
South Vietnamese movements are just according to, you know, they're moving from, the purpose of this operation is not to occupy the territory, but the purpose of it is just to rob, disrupt the climate.
They're moving from base to base and just tearing it all out of place, and that's what we want to do.
You didn't have a rope?
I thought I put me up so I had it.
No, you didn't have a cord?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, good.
uh, the Lake Ocean thing will be, we will have had other troops that have drawn on us, but the Lake Ocean thing will accrue us.
The main thing, too, Sam, is that, you know, it all happened.
I mean, nobody can keep God here.
Nobody can be sure what the men are going to do under stress out there and face all spots.
Uh, we, we believe that it's going to come out right at the end.
The important thing is we simply can't have 40,000 Americans back or nothing out there.
That's
That's what I do.
They say, well, that's judoism.
All right, follow what you will.
That's what made this country.
All right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
As far as the public is concerned, the public support erodes as the time goes on.
But also, you want to remember, they've been grilled on this motivation thing hard for about three weeks without an answer.
And so now some of the good news is starting to come in early, or trickle through.
My view is that the public support will depend on how it comes out.
And I just, we just stand on a rock.
It's probably one thing that happens.
But anyway, you, without a doubt, are going to do a great job.
Thank you.
Bye.
I appreciate it.
Thanks a lot.
Good luck.
Bye.

Also recorded on March 17, 1971

  • 467-024 3:17 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 3:21 pm.
  • 467-025 3:17 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 3:21 pm.
  • 467-026 3:21 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William M. Colmer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:21 pm to 3:23 pm.
  • 467-027 3:23 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:23 pm and 3:25 pm.
  • 467-029 3:29 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:29 pm and 3:31 pm.
  • 467-030 3:31 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:31 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 467-031 3:36 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:36 pm.
  • 467-032 3:36 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:43 pm.

All 31 conversations from March 17, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 467-028, March 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176147). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/467-028 (accessed November 2, 2026).