Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 700 › Conversation 700-006

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Air strikes

Monday, April 3, 1972 · 10:20 AM–10:23 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.Conversation700-006 on Tape 700 (tape position 01:48:29–01:50:57)StartMonday, April 3, 1972 at 10:20 AMEndMonday, April 3, 1972 at 10:23 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 700-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger discussed the implementation of air strikes in Vietnam, specifically addressing a request made by General Creighton W. Abrams. The President instructed Kissinger to investigate the specific details of the military's requests and the status of ongoing operations. The conversation emphasized the need for a clear assessment and tracking of these military actions following recent logistical concerns.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 44.1 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 01:48:29 into the tape and ends around 01:50:57.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

1:48:28I don't care about me, but did they?

1:48:31There must have been something there.

1:48:35There must have been something everybody's referring to here.

1:48:45Hey, yeah.

1:48:58Yeah, yeah, that's good.

1:49:03Well, I think there was something that came through, I don't know, but I didn't think so after trying to take out the, take out the, the march tape.

1:49:26Well, in any event, that isn't the major problem.

1:49:30I mean, even if it isn't approved, they still have everything.

1:49:34Well, they got the, you better find out what the hell they asked for and what they're doing coming here.

1:49:41If you do that, you better have a table of that over at the time.

1:49:46Now, in the meantime, now let's really get them tracking on this thing and check it out.

NARA Description

On April 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:23 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 700-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 700-6

Date: April 3, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:20 am and 10:23 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Vietnam
          -Air strikes
                -Authority
                      -Gen. Creighton W. Abrams's request
                           -Time
                           -The President's trip o People's Republic of China [PRC]
                           -Kissinger's investigation
                                 -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Implementation

Also recorded on April 3, 1972

700-003 9:18 AM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:18 am to 9:59 am.
022-063 9:33 AM · 1 min — the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, President Richard M. Nixon, and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 9:33 am to 9:34 am.
700-004 9:59 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 9:59 am and 10:06 am.
700-005 10:06 AM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, [David] Kenneth Rush, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:06 am to 10:20 am.
700-007 10:23 AM · 1 hr 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:23 am to 11:35 am.
022-064 11:39 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:39 am and 11:46 am.
700-008 11:39 AM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:39 am and 4:27 pm.
022-065 11:46 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 11:46 am to 11:49 am.

All 31 conversations from April 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 700-006, April 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/700-006 (accessed October 11, 2026).