Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 737 › Conversation 737-005

Nixon, Scowcroft & Coffey on John Paul Vann and Press management

Friday, June 16, 1972 · 12:33 PM–2:38 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Coffey, Vernon C., Jr.; Scowcroft, Brent G. (Gen.)Conversation737-005 on Tape 737 (tape position 02:42:07–02:51:21)StartFriday, June 16, 1972 at 12:33 PMEndFriday, June 16, 1972 at 2:38 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 737-005 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417181495 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with staff and General Brent Scowcroft to finalize arrangements for a medal presentation ceremony honoring the late John Paul Vann. The discussion centered on managing potential press coverage and coordinating the participation of the Vann family members. Nixon explicitly directed staff to prevent a anticipated political gesture involving the presentation of a draft card by Vann’s son to ensure the event remained dignified and free of media-staged incidents.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Vernon C. Coffey, Jr., and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:33 pm to 2:38 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 737-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 737-5

Date: June 16, 1972
Time: 12:33 - 2:38 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull and Vernon C. Coffey, Jr.

      The President's schedule
           -Ceremony for John Paul Vann
                -The President's remarks
                -Vann's wife
                -John A. Vann
                -Press
                -The President's remarks
                -Arrangements
                       -Family
                       -Melvin R. Laird
                       -William P. Rogers
                       -Joseph W. Alsop
                 -Presentation
                 -Press

Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft entered at 12:33 pm.

      Vann's funeral
          -Press
          -The President's remarks
                -Presentation of medal
          -Vann's son
                -Draft card
                      -Presentation
                          -Press coverage
                                 -Ronald L. Ziegler
                          -Family reaction
                          -The President’s view

Bull, Coffey and Scrowcroft left at 12:38 pm.

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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Excuse me, Mr. President.
With regard to the ceremony, you know, I don't have a chance to deal with it before this time.
The people are here.
That's good.
All right.
Stay right here.
Oh, they want remarks, it is true.
Well, they provided you with some remarks, as it might happen, and it helps to keep you, you know, wishing you'd be fine.
His wife is not going to be here.
His wife is here, sir.
She is a new gentleman.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Or presents.
Yes.
I can be here.
I can talk.
Oh, there, I just picked up.
This is about an exchange.
His wife is here, sir.
I just don't want the goddamn crescent here.
That was all optional.
But I might suggest that if you'd like to have to really .
I'm here to introduce people and to be presenting this to John Hayden.
After you pre-lit one, where are we going to stand?
So you'll stand right here, so pre-lit, and I'll get the family, put them all over here in center service.
Larry and Rogers, Joe Hudson will be here also.
Yeah, right.
He's over here.
He's over here.
He's coming from the county.
He has to come out by now.
He has to represent us.
All right.
And then we'll get to John A. Mann and the rest of the family, just as you read the citations and present the medal.
And as soon as you've given that to John A. Mann, the son, let's get the rest out of here.
What is this?
Well, the rest of the family doesn't want to be a part of it.
Well, if this is the case, you can't have a son that cares when he presents a draft card.
Any of that, sir?
I would imagine that if the press is here, people will do it in front of the press.
Of course, of course.
So we're not going to have them either exclude the son or exclude the... Have they announced this to the press?
Yes, yes, yes.
I don't think it's excluded, Sonny.
That's the question, too.
I don't think the press would think that.
Well, if you like the press, the thing we should do is exclude them.
No, no, no, no, no.
The best thing to do is to have them all come in and give you the card, and then I'll have the press in.
I'll talk to him first.
We can have the son come in by himself, because I don't think the rest of the family wants to be associated with it.
All right.
If he wants to hand you his draft card, then we can go along with this.
I'm not going to let him come in.
If he can't come in and hand it, I can give it to you.
All right.
Because otherwise, we're going to make that the incident.
No, he's not going to come to this office.

Also recorded on June 16, 1972

  • 737-002 10:18 AM · 1 hr 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Clark MacGregor, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Thomas C. Korologos, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:18 am and 11:18 am.
  • 737-003 11:18 AM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:18 am and 11:22 am.
  • 737-004 11:22 AM · 1 hr 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Luis Echeverria Alvarez, Emilio Rabasa Mishkin, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Donald F. Barnes met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:22 am to 12:26 pm.
  • 025-071 12:20 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms talked on the telephone from 12:20 pm to 12:33 pm.
  • 737-006 12:38 PM · 57 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:44 pm.
  • 737-007 12:44 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, John A. Vann, John A. Vann, Thomas Vann, Peter Vann, Frank Vann, Eugene Vann, Dorothy Vann Cadorette, Dorothy Vann Cadorette, Mary Jane Vann, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Ronald L. Ziegler, Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft, Vernon C. Coffey, Jr., John K. Andrews, Jr., and Joseph W. Alsop met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 12:53 pm.
  • 737-008 12:53 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 737-009 12:56 PM · 35 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, John D. Ehrlichman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 1:35 pm.

All 11 conversations from June 16, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 737-005, June 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417181495). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/737-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).