Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 810 › Conversation 810-001

Nixon, Ziegler & Bull on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Accords

Tuesday, October 31, 1972 · 11:04 AM–11:10 AM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation810-001 on Tape 810StartTuesday, October 31, 1972 at 11:04 AMEndTuesday, October 31, 1972 at 11:10 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 810-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Ronald Ziegler discussed the messaging strategy regarding ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations, specifically addressing premature media reports of an imminent agreement. Nixon emphasized that the administration would not be pressured by deadlines or the upcoming election to finalize a deal, prioritizing the attainment of a durable peace that guarantees South Vietnam's right to self-determination. They coordinated on how to publicly dismiss unauthorized reports while maintaining that negotiations with Henry Kissinger would conclude only when the terms were satisfactory.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Al said on the coalition government part, he said, if we get into this, he said it's going to be, he feels open on a lot of questions about the whole subject, but also could, according to Al, be detrimental to some of the things they're doing with Chew.

So he wants to say everything that we've discussed except the

We have always insisted on it.

And we want a peace that, as the President said, will give the people of South Vietnam the right to determine their own future.

An agreement to be one that guarantees the right of the people of South Vietnam to determine their own future.

Fine, I'll keep that in mind.

Just put that in that column.

Correct.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Obviously, on the part about us kissing, they're going to see you this morning, being signed this weekend.

I'm not going to say anything from here, though.

Tribute to those extra questions.

That's right.

That we, I see that you can say that we don't, that when there's anything to announce, it will be announced.

Anything else will be announced.

Tribute to those extra questions.

You see, Dave, there's an AP wire service out there.

This will be in states Latin, according to the Reformed American officials.

He will go this week, and then the agreement will be signed this weekend.

I think we want to... Well, knock that down.

Knock that down.

I can't.

If any deadlines, that's the one that's a great idea, that's my opinion.

Will we agree that we, the important thing is, the important principle is, the agreement must be the right agreement.

Is that any deadline?

We are not.

We have no deadline.

Our deadline, the only deadline we are looking at is the right kind of agreement.

peace that might lead to another war, to a reduction of the war.

You get that, Mike?

I'm going to have a hasty peace.

Not properly.

It's got to be, and that there's no, that I would, that it'd be very unwise, especially that my disagreement will be reached when it's one that...

I'm going to use the word sanctity.

Sanctity.

But the point is, it must be a peace to the last.

And we're not, and there's no deadline.

That is, we're not negotiating against the deadline.

We're negotiating for the right.

We're not negotiating to meet the deadline.

We are not negotiating to get the right kind of peace.

And the deadline is, what's the problem here?

It's inconsistent.

The only deadline that we have that we're open to is that the disagreement will be signed when we have the right kind of agreement, but the right kind of agreement

We're not going to allow a deadline, not this weekend, or the deadline of an election day, to stampede us into a Senate agreement, which would bring only temporary

NARA Description

On October 31, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:04 am to 11:10 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 810-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 810-1

Date: October 3l, 1972
Time: 11:04 am - 11:10 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler at 11:04 am.

[This recording began at an unknown time while the conversation was in progress.]

        Statement on possible Vietnam settlement
             -Coalition government
                 -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.’s view
                      -Nguyen Van Thieu
                 -Preservation of South Vietnam’s right to choose its own government
             -Expectations of agreement
                 -Henry A. Kissinger’s schedule
                      -Timing
                      -Signing of agreement
                      -Associated Press [AP] wire story

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:04 am.

        The president's schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:10 am.

             -Deadline
                 -Deliberate pace of negotiations
                     -Avoidance of resumption of war
                 -The President’s meeting with Kissinger

Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:04 am.

        The President’s schedule
            -Kissinger’s office

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:10 am.

                  -1972 election
                  -Quality of peace
                      -Details of agreement
                           -Compared to 1968 agreement
                           -Compared to 1962 agreement

Ziegler left at 11:10 am.

Also recorded on October 31, 1972

378-005 11:00 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:00 am and 11:04 am.
810-002 11:10 AM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Nelson A. Rockefeller, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:10 am to 11:36 am.
810-003 11:36 AM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:36 am and 11:43 am.
810-004 11:36 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:36 am and 11:43 am.
810-005 11:36 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 11:36 am and 11:43 am.
810-006 11:43 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:43 am and 11:53 am.
810-007 11:43 AM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:43 am and 11:53 am.
810-008 11:53 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:53 am and 11:54 am.

All 45 conversations from October 31, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 810-001, October 31, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/810-001 (accessed October 5, 2026).