Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 827 › Conversation 827-010
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Operation Linebacker II
Wednesday, December 20, 1972 · 11:32 AM–12:16 PM ET · Oval Office · 44 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with H. R. Haldeman and Henry Kissinger to discuss the stalled Vietnam peace negotiations and the intense US bombing campaign north of the 20th parallel. The conversation centered on the continued intransigence of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, with the participants evaluating the strategic risks of either forcing Thieu to accept a settlement or pursuing a separate bilateral deal with North Vietnam. Despite mounting casualties from B-52 operations and criticism from some Congressional leaders, Nixon and Kissinger decided to maintain military pressure in hopes of securing a breakthrough in technical talks and achieving a final peace agreement.
- Vietnam War
- Operation Linebacker II
- Nguyen Van Thieu
- Peace negotiations
- B-52 operations
- Foreign policy
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On December 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:32 am and 12:16 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 827-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 827-10
Date: December 20, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:32 am and 12:16 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R.(“Bob”) Haldeman.
Second term reorganization
-Sensitivities
-Changes
-White House staff
-Reductions
-Rate
-Press relations
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Announcements
Henry A. Kissinger entered at 11:33 am.
Vietnam negotiations
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.’s meeting with Nguyen Van Thieu
-Delay
-Letter to the President
-Settlement agreement
-Rejection
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Conditions
-Withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Political framework
-National Council of National Reconciliation and Concord
[NCNRC]
-Coalition government
-Withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-US-North Vietnam’s bilateral deal
-Timing
-Technical talks
-North Vietnam
-Attendance
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-Proposal
-December 23, 1972 meeting
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-B-52s
-Losses
-Sorties
-December 21, 1972 plan
-Hanoi
-Losses
-Hanoi
-Surface to air missiles [SAMs] [SA-2s]
-Congressional relations
-Congressional relations
-Edward M. Kennedy’s speech
-Thieu
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-B-52s
-Losses
-Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
-Kissinger’s conversation with Melvin R. Laird
-Expectations
-Air Force
-Timing
-North Vietnam
-Losses
-Expectations
-21-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Continuation
-Laird’s view
-Tone
-Settlement agreement
-North Vietnam’s position
-Technical talks
-Thieu
-Ngo Dinh Diem
-Cessation of US economic and military aid
-Tenure
-Haig’s schedule
-Key Biscayne
-Thieu
-Bangkok
-Seoul
-Key Biscayne
-Meeting with Thieu
-Delay
-Compared to Thieu’s meeting with Kissinger
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-November 20, 1972
-Changes
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Public relations [PR]
-The President’s and Kissinger’s strategy
-Saigon
-Conditions
-Unconditional surrender
-Changes
-The President’s meeting with Nguyen Phu Duc, November 29, 1972
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-B-52s
-Losses
-Expectations
-Hanoi
-TACAIR
-SAMs
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-North Vietnam
-Reply
-US note
-Technical talks
-North Vietnam
-Statement
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-Proposal
-December 23, 1972 meeting
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-Reaction
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Soviet Union
-Settlement agreement
-North Vietnam
-Thieu
-Kissinger’s view
-October 1972
-1972 election
-Haig’s trip to Saigon
-Letter from the President
-Conditions
-NCNRC
-Withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Provisional Revolutionary Government [PRG]
-Settlement agreement
-Preamble
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Effect on South Vietnam
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Effect on South Vietnam
-Congressional relations
-US aid
-Settlement agreement
-Condition
-Cessation of US aid to South Vietnam
-Communist aid to North Vietnam
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Thieu
-Settlement agreement
-Political settlement
-Motives
-US bombing and mining north of 20th Parallel
-Cessation
-Continuation
-Cessation
-US withdrawal
-Demilitarized Zone [DMZ]
-Congressional relations
-Aid to South Vietnam
-Cut off
-Aid to North Vietnam
-Cease-fire
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-Tenure
-Democracy
-October 1972
-Meeting with the President
-Tenure
-Timing
-Record
-US-South Vietnam relations
-Thieu’s domestic constituency
-Tenure
-Timing
-January 1973
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Charles W. Colson’s view
-George S. McGovern, Michael J. Mansfield
-McGovern
-Unilateral withdrawal
-Cut off of US military and economic aid
-Mansfield
-POWs
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Continuation
-POWs
-Kissinger’s briefing, December 16, 1972
-PR
-Letters
-Tone
-Number
-Communists
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-Haig
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-US-South Vietnam relations
-Laos, Cambodia
-US relations
-Thieu
-Effect on Southeast Asia
-W[illiam] Averell Harriman’s view
-Settlement agreement
-August 1972
-McGovern
-Kennedy’s speech
-Tone
-Robert J. Dole’s statement
-Kissinger’s viewing on television [TV]
-Congressional relations
-The President
-Support
-Kennedy’s speech
-Republican Senators
-Support for the President
-The President’s conversation with Haldeman
-Kennedy’s speech
-Press relations
-Kissinger’s viewing on Today show or Columbia Broadcasting System
[CBS] news
-Support for the President
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Haig’s meeting with Thieu
-Haig’s cable to Kissinger
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-George Carver’s view
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-October 1972
-Hanoi
-US signing
-Protest
-Acceptance
-US signing
-Withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Rejection
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Effect on US “domestic structure”
-Relations with administration
-Press relations
-The President’s relationship with Kissinger
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-B-52s
-Losses
-The President’s conversation with Kissinger
-Timing
-North Vietnam
-Moorer
-Targets
-Hanoi
-Timing
-Kissinger’s conversation with Moorer
-Changes
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-Relations with US
-Post-November 7, 1972
-The President’s meeting with Duc
-Haig’s and Kissinger’s trips to Saigon
-26-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Ellsworth F. Bunker
-US public
-The President
-South Vietnam
-US public, the President
-Condition
-Withdrawal of North Vietnamese troops from South Vietnam
-Military Region [MR] Three
-South Vietnam’s forces compared to North
Vietnam’s forces
-US concessions
-Cease-fire in place
-October 1970; January 1972; May 8, 1972
-Right-wing
-Thieu
-Letter to the President
-Continuation of war
-North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
-DMZ
-Laos, Cambodia
-Supply corridors
-North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
-Meeting with Haig
-Publicity
-Settlement agreement
-North Vietnam
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-Continuation
-Scale
-Three-day strike
-Hanoi
-Attacks on Soviet Union and Polish ships
-Haiphong
-Soviet Union protest
-Tone
-Hanoi
-The President’s May 8, 1972 decision
-PR
-Kissinger’s mail
-27-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-“Doves”
-Kennedy
-Press relations
-Cambodia
-Kent State University
-The President’s May 8, 1972 decision
-World War III
-North Vietnam
-The President’s May 8, 1972 decision
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Thieu
-Haig’s meeting with Thieu
-Strategy
-Kissinger’s instructions to Haig
-Thieu
-Letter from the President
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Refusal
-Publication
-Thieu’s response
-Effect
-Cut off of US aid
-US-North Vietnam bilateral deal
-Thieu’s response
-Resumption of talks
-North Vietnam
-US proposal
-Settlement agreement
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu
-Signing
-Duress
-Moorer, Kissinger, the President
-October 1972
-1968
-1972 election
-Haig’s trip to Saigon
-Demands
-Tone
-28-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-Relations with US
-Tone
-Possible proposal, January 5, 1973
-Possible meeting with the President
-Leak of reply
-Repetition of old propositions
-North Vietnamese strength in South Vietnam
-October 1972
-CIA analysis
-Saigon station chief
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-December 18, 1972
-Effect
-Technical talks
-North Vietnam
-Attendance
-Weakness
-Protest
-Secrecy
-Proposal
-December 23, 1972 meeting
-Breakdown in talks
-Settlement agreement
-Thieu’s acceptance
-Message to North Vietnam
-Prospects
-Tone
-January 1973
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-B-52s
-Losses
-SAMs
-Percentages
-Targets
-SAMs
-Railroads, bridges
-B-52s
-Soviet Union
-Attrition
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 827-10 (cont’d)
-SA-2s
-Age
Second term reorganization
-Air Force
-Army
-Navy
-Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
Vietnam negotiations
-US bombing north of 20th Parallel
-PR
-The President’s conversation with Colson
-Press relations
-Newspapers and TV
-The President’s conversation with Colson
-Mechanism
-Results
-Compared to Air Force
-Debate
-Christmas
-Reply from North Vietnam
-Timing
-Forthcoming report
-Timing
Haldeman and Kissinger left at 12:16 pm.Also recorded on December 20, 1972
- 827-008 11:05 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:20 am.
- 111-001 11:24 AM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the National Commission on Productivity, including George Meany, John H. ("Jack") Lyons, C. L. Dennis, Paul Hall, I[lorwith] W. Abel, Frank E. Fitzsimmons, Pat Greathouse, Peter J. Brennan, George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, and Donald H. Rumsfeld, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:24 am and 11:32 am.
- 827-009 11:24 AM · 15 sec — Stephen B. Bull and United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:24 am and 11:32 am.
- 827-024 11:24 AM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents, unknown person(s), and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:24 am and 11:32 am.
- 392-003 12:18 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:29 pm.
- 392-004 12:18 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:29 pm.
- 392-005 12:18 PM · 4 min — 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 12:18 pm and 12:29 pm.
- 034-139 12:29 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:29 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 827-010, December 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/827-010 (accessed October 13, 2026).