Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 647 › Conversation 647-006

Nixon & Ziegler on Vietnam War and Troop withdrawals

Thursday, January 13, 1972 · 10:34 AM–10:35 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation647-006 onTape 647 (tape position 00:19:55–00:20:38)StartThursday, January 13, 1972 at 10:34 AMEndThursday, January 13, 1972 at 10:35 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 647-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler met to coordinate the public communication strategy regarding upcoming U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam. They established a procedure where Nixon would deliver a brief announcement following an introduction by Ziegler, after which Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird would handle subsequent press questions. Ziegler committed to providing the President with a status report prior to the official announcement.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 33.4 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:19:55 into the tape and ends around 00:20:38.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

20:04be the same procedure as we followed before.
20:09Yeah.
20:11All right.
20:13Yeah, I'll just take a one-minute, half-minute announcement.
20:16Just before you come out, I'll say that you are coming out, then we'll make a brief announcement, then Secretary Laird will take questions.
20:25Okay.
20:25I'll give you a report.
20:28Sure.

NARA Description

On January 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:34 am to 10:35 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 647-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 647-6

Date: January 13, 1972
Time: 10:34 am - 10:35 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     Procedure for announcing US troop withdrawals from Vietnam
          -The President and Melvin R. Laird

           -The President’s comments
                 -Length
           -Introduction of the President
           -Laird’s role
           -Report by Ziegler
           -Timing

Ziegler left at 10:35 am.

Also recorded on January 13, 1972

  • 647-001 10:10 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:10 am and 10:12 am.
  • 647-002 10:12 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:12 am to 10:19 am.
  • 647-003 10:19 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 10:34 am.
  • 647-004 10:19 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 10:34 am.
  • 647-005 10:19 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 10:34 am.
  • 647-007 10:35 AM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Melvin R. Laird, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:35 am to 11:05 am.
  • 647-008 11:05 AM · 43 sec — United States Secret Service agents, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:07 am.
  • 647-009 11:11 AM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:11 am to 11:41 am.

All 54 conversations from January 13, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 647-006, January 13, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/647-006 (accessed September 18, 2026).