Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 468 › Conversation 468-003

Nixon & Moorer on Operation Lam Son 719 and Vietnam War

Tuesday, March 16, 1971 · 8:57 AM–9:05 AM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Moorer, Thomas H. (Adm.)Conversation468-003 on Tape 468 (tape position 00:03:26–00:07:22)StartTuesday, March 16, 1971 at 8:57 AMEndTuesday, March 16, 1971 at 9:05 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 468-003 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176181 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Admiral Thomas H. Moorer discussed the status of Operation Lam Son 719, focusing on the tactical challenges posed by poor weather conditions affecting U.S. air support for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Moorer provided updates on North Vietnamese truck traffic in the mountain passes and characterized the ARVN's morale as strong despite recent enemy activity near Khe Sanh. The President emphasized the strategic importance of monitoring the weather to clear the way for continued airstrikes against enemy supply routes.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Adm. Thomas H. Moorer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:57 am to 9:05 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 468-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 468-3

Date: March 16, 1971
Time: 8:57 am - 9:05 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Admiral Thomas H. Moorer

     Laos operation (Lam Son)
          -Military situation
                -Air strikes
                      -Effect of weather
                -Army of the Republic of Vietnam [ARVN]
                      -Duration of operation
                -Airplanes

                -Morale
                -Passes
                     -Truck traffic
                -ARVN morale
                -Other military developments
                     -Khe Sanh attack
                -Passes
                     -Weather

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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There's still no opening in the weather in the north so that we can hit those trees and pass the check.
I stole a lot of those.
Pretty well.
But at least the plant's still coming off where they installed the intermediate stove.
It's up to hanging in there for three or four weeks now.
We've got a new tank that goes to the aircraft.
It's on our aircraft planes.
About a half, seven minutes.
I'll back up when these people listen to me.
You're good?
a lot of other stuff in those passes, right?
Because they had such a... Well, I know of many people talking about the fact that the truck traffic is heavy.
Of course, they've got to get to where they're at.
The question is how heavy it is down below.
Yeah.
The...
The morale of the Vietnamese is very good.
The case on attack, and it was built up, but apparently it was not serious in terms of damage.
Sure.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah, that's right.
Well, keep your eye on those passes.
Every day I try to get her to record that weather a little bit.
Once you've got these, it takes you two days to have the weather clear before you start it.

Also recorded on March 16, 1971

  • 468-001 8:53 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:53 am and 8:57 am.
  • 468-002 8:53 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:53 am and 8:57 am.
  • 468-004 9:05 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:05 am and 9:30 am.
  • 468-005 9:30 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:30 am to 9:50 am.
  • 468-006 9:56 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:56 am to 9:59 am.
  • 468-007 10:02 AM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:02 am to 10:31 am.
  • 468-008 10:31 AM · 22 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:31 am and 11:00 am.
  • 468-009 11:00 AM · 1 hr 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John M. ("Jack") Lynch, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:00 am to 12:20 pm.

All 21 conversations from March 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 468-003, March 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176181). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/468-003 (accessed October 31, 2026).