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Conversation 709-016

TapeTape 709StartMonday, April 17, 1972 at 12:02 PMEndMonday, April 17, 1972 at 12:06 PMTape start time03:24:18Tape end time03:30:36ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Rice, Donald B.;  Weinberger, Caspar W. ("Cap");  Shultz, George P.;  Bull, Stephen B.;  White House photographerRecording deviceOval Office
AudioNARA Description

On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Donald B. Rice, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, George P. Shultz, Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:02 pm to 12:06 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 709-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 709-16

Date: April 17, 1972
Time: 12:02 pm - 12:06 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Donald B. Rice, Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger and George P. Shultz;
Stephen B. Bull and the White House photographer were present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Rice's next job
           -Locaiton

     Photographs

     Rand Corporation
          -Rice's job
          -Experience
                -Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
                      -Shultz
                -Press office
          -Location
                -Work
                -Home
                      -Rice's family

     Presidential gifts
           -Money clip
                -Cuff links
           -Wife
                -Compact
           -Golf balls

     Best wishes

Rice and Weinberger left at 12:05 pm.

     Vietnam
          -Bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong
          -Troop withdrawals
          -Negotiations
               -US peace offers
               -US bombing
                     -Soviet Summit
                          -Possible cancellation
                           -Toughness
           -Blockade
                -Implementation
           -North Vietnamese invasion
                -Number of divisions
                      -Lyndon B. Johnson's Administration
                      -Defense of South Vietnam
                           -Odds
                -Ground forces
                -Press reports
                      -US Marines

Shultz left at 12:06 pm.
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

All right, all right, all right.
Well, I understand you're going to California?
Yes, sir.
All right, all right, sir.
I'm sure everyone's going to be in here.
That's right.
We'll be enjoying it.
Say, listen, that's it.
That's it.
That's it over here.
All right.
All right.
Do you think you can handle a think tank now if you're having the OSB?
We're going to try and change some of this.
Are you?
It needs a little more attention for security.
Have you been with the ground before ?
Well, the committee of trustees went through a search process that looked through a lot of people, and somehow they settled here.
I happen to have had a background here with George and working on areas.
Right.
And before that, .
They're not a tech group.
No, we lived in Monterey for two years.
Monterey, yeah.
Now you lived here in Santa Monica?
Santa Monica.
Santa Monica.
Santa Monica.
Well, you probably lived in the city of Palisades, probably around in that area.
Yeah, we lived in the city of Palisades.
Yeah, well, that's that church.
That's all the country.
If you can send him to public school, there are no problems.
All right.
He's losing everything.
You've got money left.
That's the best thing we have.
It's more expensive than the compensation.
You already have compensation.
You've got compensation.
Well, I did a couple things I did for my dad.
Thank you.
For your wife, that's a little compact.
Thank you.
She had to give it to somebody else.
You have one of these little things.
Your dad had one of these.
I do have one of these.
I wish you the best out there.
It's a great place to live.
I miss the excitement here.
Yes, indeed.
I hope the work gets supported.
Well, the work gets supported, sure.
But we will be kind to each other that way.
Thank you very much.
Don't write it down.
No, you want to leave.
George doesn't want to go back to Chicago.
He's done.
Yeah, no problem.
Sometimes you have just choices.
You're always drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
made a peace offer and my answer of the massive invasion of the south and so on.
People say we're going to jeopardize the summit.
We're not saying anything about this topic.
We're in total contact with the Russians.
And we're very tough on them.
I'm not going to go to the summit.
We may blockade at the end of the week.
I mean, by winning an army, not losing it.
Now, what else can you do?
Now, if we're like Johnson, where we have a half a million men out there, and we were protecting the ground, that'd be different.
But, George, this is the poor, damn little South Vietnamese who aren't very good fighters, fighting a massive invasion by 15 North Vietnamese divisions, and the United States just can't run out there.
I'm joking.
I just held it very well.
We can't because the papers are already wrong about this situation.
They're totally wrong about it now.
Or total.
Okay.
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