Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 777 › Conversation 777-005

Nixon & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Foreign Policy

Thursday, September 14, 1972 · 6:05 PM–6:08 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation777-005 on Tape 777StartThursday, September 14, 1972 at 6:05 PMEndThursday, September 14, 1972 at 6:08 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 777-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman reviewed the status of Vietnam peace negotiations and upcoming foreign policy engagements, including visits from Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home. The discussion touched upon the congressional vote to end the war and the evolving media perception of Secretary of State William Rogers. Nixon and Haldeman further evaluated Henry Kissinger’s negotiation progress, contrasting his effectiveness with the perceived limitations of the State Department.

Audio

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NARA Description

On September 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:05 pm to 6:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 777-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 777-5

Date: September 14, 1972
Time: 6:05 pm - 6:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”)Haldeman.

             Vietnam War
                 -Negotiations
                     -Interim agreement
                 -House of Representatives action

                     -End the War vote
                         -Tally

            The President's schedule
                -Andrei A. Gromyko visit
                     -Office appointment
                     -Dinner
                -Sir Alexander F. (“Alec”) Douglas-Home
                     -Dinner

            Foreign policy
                -William P. Rogers
                    -Media's perception
                -Henry A. Kissinger
                    -Negotiations
                    -Results
                    -Secretary of State's function

Haldeman left at 6:08 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Oh, I think that's...

Yeah, we had that .

I like it so much.

You know, he shouldn't punish himself by reading all the columns.

Well, now he can't change it.

Now they're not downgrading him.

They're not writing him.

For a while there was a vicious thing.

Everybody kept saying that he was a laughingstock to the cocktail circuit and that kind of stuff.

But not saying that anymore.

What Henry's doing is so far, the results and all have been so

I think nobody expects that the Secretary of State could do it.

Also recorded on September 14, 1972

359-011 2:39 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:39 pm and 2:44 pm.
359-013 2:44 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Wayne N. Aspinall met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:45 pm.
359-014 2:45 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 2:50 pm.
359-015 2:50 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:50 pm to 3:41 pm.
777-001 3:41 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:41 pm and 3:49 pm.
777-002 3:49 PM · 2 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, George P. Shultz, Arthur F. Burns, John B. Connally, Herbert Stein, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:49 pm to 5:59 pm.
777-003 6:00 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 6:00 pm.
777-004 6:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:00 pm and 6:05 pm.

All 29 conversations from September 14, 1972 →

Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Nguyen Van Thieu October 2, 1972 · 5 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Butterfield on Andrei Gromyko and USSR Summit September 29, 1971 · 10 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on 1972 election and Vietnam War September 30, 1972 · 28 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Sanchez on Vietnam War and US-Soviet Relations October 3, 1972 · 20 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on William P. Rogers and Henry Kissinger September 29, 1971 · 5 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Safire on Vietnam War and Speechwriting January 24, 1972 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 777-005, September 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/777-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).