Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 780 › Conversation 780-001

Nixon, Kissinger & Haig on Vietnam War and Peace Negotiations

Friday, September 15, 1972 · 11:43 PM–1:01 AM ET · Oval Office · 20 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation780-001 on Tape 780StartFriday, September 15, 1972 at 11:43 PMEndSaturday, September 16, 1972 at 1:01 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 780-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig to evaluate the status of ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations following Kissinger’s discussions with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho. The group assessed North Vietnam’s potential willingness to reach a settlement before the 1972 presidential election, while weighing the impact on South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu and domestic political considerations. Additionally, they reviewed progress on various U.S.-Soviet agreements, including trade, maritime, and arms control issues, to ensure timely coordination and public announcement strategies.

Audio

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NARA Description

President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:43 pm on September 15, 1972 and 1:01 am on September 16, 1972. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 780-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 779-3/780-1

Date: September 15-16, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:43 pm, September 15 and 1:01 am, September 16, 1972
Location: Oval Office

[An unknown portion of the conversation was not recorded while the tape was changed]

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

            Vietnam peace negotiations
                -Kissinger’s meeting with Le Duc Tho
                    -Release of US Prisoners of war [POWs]
                        -Perception of US thinking
                        -Reciprocation by US
                        -Peace group
                             -Hanoi
                        -Announcement
                    -Georges J.R. Pompidou
                    -Possible press reaction
                    -Saigon
                    -Peace proposals by North Vietnam
                        -Kissinger’s view
                        -Provisional government
                             -Nguyen Van Thieu’s position
                             -Various approaches
                                  -Territorial control
                    -Future meetings
                        -September 29, 1972
                        -State Department interpreter
                             -W[illiam] Averell Harriman
                    -Possible settlement
                        -Timing
                             -1972 election
                                  -Louis P. Harris poll
                                  -Concessions
                             -October 15, 1972
                        -Scheduling with North Vietnamese
                        -Saigon
                             2

    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

         -The President
         -Domestic opposition

Show the rest of the log (134 more lines)

              -Reaction
         -Prospects
              -Kissinger’s view
         -Le Duc Tho
              -Kissinger’s view
    -International Control Commission
    -Political settlement
              -Two-day meeting
                   -Possible motivations
                   -Effect on 1972 election
              -Publicity
              -The President’s possible re-election
                   -Kissinger’s view
                   -Bombing
                   -Effect on North Vietnamese
                   -Negotiation stance for November
              -Tone
              -Compared to 1971
              -Chou En-Lai
    -North Vietnamese
         -Possible settlement
         -Negotiating tactics
         -Speed of negotiations
         -Changes in demands
              -Saigon’s position
         -Attitude
         -Kissinger’s meeting with Pompidou
         -New US proposal
    -Thieu
         -Negotiating stance
              -Cease fire
    -North Vietnamese
         -Negotiating stance
    -Leonid I. Brezhnev
         -Le Duc Tho
              -Moscow
              -Kiril Mazurov
-Kissinger’s meeting with Brezhnev
    -Kremlin
                                3

        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

        -Politburo
        -Cabinet room
        -The President
        -US visit
        -Camp David
        -Soviet naval base
        -Key Biscayne, Florida
             -Brezhnev’s gift to the President
                  -Hydrofoil
        -Peace talks
        -Soviet Union position
             -Le Duc Tho statement
             -Thieu
    -Peace negotiations
        -Pompidou
        -Edward R.C. Heath
        -Willy Brandt
    -Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
    -Report on negotiations
        -The President’s dealings with Brezhnev
        -Complete peace package

US-Soviet relations
   -Public announcements
       -William P. Rogers
       -Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT]
             -Informing Soviets
             -Possible leaks
       -Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions [MBFR] and European Security
       Conference
             -State Department handling
       -Rogers
             -Date for talks
       -SALT II
             -Timing
       -US-Soviet trade agreement
       -Scheduling
             -Guarantee of all agreements
                  -SALT
                  -Trade
             -Maritime agreement
                                  4

         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                 -Bunkering
        -Trade agreement
            -Progress
            -Rogers
            -Monetary figures
            -Lend-lease
                 -Amounts
    -Trade agreement
        -James T. Lynn
        -Peter G. Peterson
            -The President’s view

Kissinger’s forthcoming press conference
    -Announcement of agreements
        -Actual peace agreement for Vietnam
        -Kissinger’s handling of question
              -European Security Conference
                  -Issues
              -SALT
              -Vietnam peace progress
    -Press report
        -Dan Rather
        -Moscow
        -Blockade’s effect on Hanoi
        -Rather
              -Administration sources
                  -State Department
                  -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
              -Blockade’s effectiveness
                  -Documents leaked
                       -Tonnage delivered to North Vietnam
                       -Delivery of material to South Vietnam
                  -Intercepts
                  -Paris negotiations
                  -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]

Kissinger’s schedule
    -State Department
         -Rogers
    -Meetings with Brezhnev
         -Conversation
                                               5

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Kissinger and Haig left at an unknown time before 1:01 am, September 16, 1972.

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).

He said, why do you think we would object to it?

Of course, make the announcement.

So this set the mood.

Then I presented our proposal.

But then he said, then I told him I had to go to Pompidou.

He said, well, if we don't finish, maybe we can meet tomorrow.

I had said it first, all right, we'll meet tomorrow.

made one of that.

— 3 min 40 s with no transcribed speech —

say he's bringing us along, but if

And that one word that he said,

They are in a panic.

They would like to settle.

They don't know how to do it.

They keep making moves.

For them, they have made huge concessions.

Considering where they started, that in three months they have moved from disbanding everything in South Vietnam to keeping Saigon in charge of the area of control, that's an unbelievable move for them.

That's not enough.

That's right.

— 1 min 42 s with no transcribed speech —

whenever.

— 1 min 23 s with no transcribed speech —

I'll be 25.

— 3 min 3 s with no transcribed speech —

and

They're coming over here, really.

The maritime agreement, they have to come over for some people.

Same on ,, which is the lawyer's job.

But that's done.

That maritime agreement we'll have to announce next week.

We can't hold that, because we needed to get the train loaded.

The train agreement is practically, it's 99% done.

What do you want to go over, right?

— 2 min 32 s with no transcribed speech —

Well, that's the idea, you see, that you're giving U.S. more assets to get them to turn off when it's been a failure.

which made it up.

Also recorded on September 15, 1972

358-002 12:39 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 3:08 pm.
358-003 12:39 PM · 13 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 12:39 pm and 3:08 pm.
778-027 3:08 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:15 pm.
778-028 3:08 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:15 pm.
778-029 3:15 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Patrick J. Buchanan, Stephen B. Bull, Peter H. Dailey, White House photographer, Manolo Sanchez, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 5:27 pm.
779-001 3:15 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 5:27 pm.
779-002 4:49 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John W. Dean, III, Stephen B. Bull, and Clark MacGregor met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:49 pm and 6:17 pm.
779-003 11:43 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:43 pm on September 15, 1972 and 1:01 am on September 16, 1972.

All 41 conversations from September 15, 1972 →

Nixon, Kissinger & Rogers on US-Soviet relations and Jewish exit visas October 2, 1972 · 21 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Ziegler on US-Soviet relations and Vietnam negotiations October 18, 1972 · 6 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Bombing halt December 27, 1972 · 6 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger October 22, 1972 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and 1972 Election October 22, 1972 · 6 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Sanchez on Vietnam War and US-Soviet Relations October 3, 1972 · 20 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 780-001, September 15, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/780-001 (accessed November 2, 2026).