Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 737 › Conversation 737-007

Nixon, Vann & Alsop on Presidential Medal of Freedom and Vietnam War

Friday, June 16, 1972 · 12:44 PM–12:53 PM ET · Oval Office · 11 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Vann, John A.; Vann, John A.; Vann, Thomas; Vann, Peter; Vann, Frank; Vann, Eugene; Cadorette, Dorothy Vann; Cadorette, Dorothy Vann; Vann, Mary Jane; Rogers, William P.; Laird, Melvin R.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Scowcroft, Brent G. (Gen.); Coffey, Vernon C., Jr.; Andrews, John K., Jr.; Alsop, Joseph W.Conversation737-007 on Tape 737 (tape position 02:53:15–03:04:19)StartFriday, June 16, 1972 at 12:44 PMEndFriday, June 16, 1972 at 12:53 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 737-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted the family of John Paul Vann, a distinguished military and civilian advisor in Vietnam, to formally present the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During the meeting, which included key administration officials and journalist Joseph Alsop, the President lauded Vann’s dedication and selfless service, comparing his contributions to those of the Marquis de Lafayette. The event served to honor Vann's legacy following his recent death and to highlight his critical role in the efforts to secure South Vietnamese sovereignty.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 6% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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I thought everybody was from Colorado.
Yes.
Yes.
or three boys
Joe, how are you?
Before we come in and tell you how this is going to work, it's very simple.
I think what we will spend, I don't think we've done it the best we could.
I think you'd be interested to know that the last time I saw Mr. Van Ham was in this room.
I had seen him in Vietnam, because I was very many trips there.
And I did not see him when he was on the military side.
I saw him after 1965, 1965, 1966, 1967.
And like Joe Alsop, who's gone out there,
many good men, good leaders, all of them trying.
But once in a while, you come across one who's just head and shoulders above the rest.
And when I say that, I'm speaking of the fact that he had that unique combination of having a splendid military man and then working on the civilian side.
But he worked with such dedication, such
selflessness, gave so much of himself.
He never asked his men, his associates, to do anything that he wouldn't do.
That's why he was in the helicopter.
I remember the last time we were here, it was here, it was in a rather rough time in Vietnam, and he never lost confidence in it.
He had a very strong hand-shake there.
He stood here in front of me, he swiped right where we are, and I said goodbye to him.
I tried to deceive him again.
But I think you, as members of the band, should know that when I read about his death, I was at Camp David working on some matters that had to do with my Soviet trip.
And I immediately got a link with General Haig to see what we could do to at least honor him.
I can tell you that had he been in the service at that time,
even though it would have been an exception.
But I think the kind of disservice, the totality of the disservice was such as to American congressional mail, because it was beyond the call of duty in the military, and beyond the call of duty in the fire department, and the civilians as well.
The highest thing we can give to this government, for people that are not in the military service, of course, is the Medal of Freedom.
I've given as many as previous presidents have, so it's perhaps worth a little more.
But I wanted the members of this family to know before the press came in that if I could have done it, if the law would have allowed it, that this is one man who would have the congressional medal.
Because the country, this country, is in its debt for its example.
Vietnam, which we all hope will end in a way that will serve peace rather than war in the future.
When it's over, to the extent the South Vietnamese have any chance to survive without having the oppression of a communist government imposed upon them, he will deserve a lot of credit.
I think in the years ahead, as this citation will read, that South Vietnamese children may read about John Vann.
As we read about Lafayette, you've got to have a man.
You've got to dress your man.
was tremendously
of a difficult cause, a left cause, for the United States and for me personally.
And this citation tries to put it in words, but we all know about it, and I'm certain these words reflect that.
I feel a lot of individualism when I'm reading so well over these years.
The President of the United States of America awards his presidential medal of freedom to John Paul Madison, soldier of peace,
His military and civilian service in Vietnam spanned the decades, marked throughout by
with LaBelle in that gallery of heroes who have made another brave people's cause their own.
Yeah, right here on the side.
All right, fine.
Well, I wish you the best of luck.
I'd like to give you a little tour of the hotel.
Are you feeling all right?
Well, he was obviously a little way out.
It wasn't difficult to identify which was the one.
I don't know why they like to wear such a mark.
That's it, they wear their uniforms.
I'm not controlling them in these cases, but it's an amazing difference in attitude.
Well, he was obviously a little...
misguided by so many of these people, by their so-called teachers and professors.
He probably got into school.
And his father was away, that's another thing.
You just need to turn around and come down, please.

NARA Description

On June 16, 1972, 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. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 737-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 737-7

Date: June 16, 1972
Time: 12:44-12:53 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull, John A. Vann, Justus Vann, Thomas Vann, Peter Vann,
Frank Vann, Eugene Vann, 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.

     Greetings

     Introductions
          -Family size

     Medal of Freedom presentation
         -John Paul Vann
               -Previous meeting with the President
                    -Oval Office
                    -Vietnam
                 -Alsop
                 -The President’s view
                 -Personal qualities
                 -Death
                      -The President's reaction
                      -Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                 -Congressional Medal of Honor
                 -Vietnam
                 -South Vietnamese
                      -Objectives of war
                      -Marquis de Lafayette
           -Press coverage

Members of the press entered at an unknown time after 12:44 pm.

      Presentation
           -Introductions
                 -Rogers
                 -Laird
           -Vietnam
                 -War
           -John Paul Vann
                 -Meeting with the President
                 -Personal qualities
                 -Citation statement

      Farewells

Members of the press and John A. Vann, et al., left at 12:53 pm.

      Ceremony for Vann family
          -Vann's son
               -Attitudes
                     -Sources

      The President's schedule
           -Meeting with John D. Ehrlichman

Bull left at 12:53 pm

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.
  • 737-005 12:33 PM · 5 min — 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.
  • 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.
  • 737-008 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 737-007, June 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/737-007 (accessed September 30, 2026).