Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 890 › Conversation 890-028

Nixon & Woods on Vietnam speech and POWs

Friday, March 30, 1973 · 1:05 PM–1:10 PM ET · Oval Office · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation890-028 on Tape 890StartFriday, March 30, 1973 at 1:05 PMEndFriday, March 30, 1973 at 1:10 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 890-028 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and personal secretary Rose Mary Woods discussed administrative details, including scheduling, gift logistics for Vietnam POWs and their families, and the potential for a visit with Norman Chandler. The conversation also focused on the President's ongoing work on his upcoming Vietnam speech, with Woods praising his decision to write the address personally to ensure the language remained direct and accessible. Nixon concluded the meeting by emphasizing his commitment to refining the speech through his own direct involvement.

Audio

Download MP3 · 3.1 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).

And I'm going to read what I really think.

Then, uh, hey, like, grab a picture.

Now, we can do it.

If you're okay, or maybe you want to do it yourself.

Amen.

Thank you.

He always did.

And that's always, it's so good, you know, to, I think, to have somebody be able to be with them.

It's great.

Everybody I heard today, you know, Pat had called me, and the men, the hair dressers, and everyone that I've talked with, thought it was just excellent.

Vow for a sense of difference.

It's a very good looking thing with the nails, but you aren't interested in anything like that to give the POWs, are you?

I don't want to go that far.

They really ought to give it to the wives and mothers of the $45,000 guy also.

I think I just want to give it to the customers.

I don't want to give it to anybody else.

Oh, they will.

There's no doubt about it.

But he had another special one fixed up.

That's why I didn't want to bother.

I didn't think they couldn't bother anyone with it.

And now you don't want to...

I had already talked to the... to see whether Norman was up to having the company.

I think not right now.

Let me just feel about it next week.

I don't want to go there.

Well, he may be out of Dana Point.

If he is, it would be just a nice drive.

Well, he can see people because he came down to the office one day.

But Waller Taylor told me tonight that he's spending part of the time at Dana Point at that beautiful, I think that beach there is gorgeous.

And you might think, that would be a pleasant place.

of surrounding, if he did.

But I was supposed to talk to Bucks, so I'll call her and we'll get there and get it done.

Now, I'm going to study.

I think I'm 12, Vietnam, so you can check that.

13, I think.

14, you're right.

But that, you know, that was a lot of work.

I don't know if you got that word in there.

No, it's a challenge.

Oh, that.

I think you could tell, as we said at the end, you could tell.

It has to be, the main thing about it is that it's not just about getting on, but I think that I'm able to work on it myself, because I can have it in a more simple, understandable, logical way than when I had to.

Maybe I was wrong.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but when you do it yourself, you have worked on it yourself.

You get it into, you always put things in very understandable, direct language.

But also, because you have written it, you don't, you don't really have to, you didn't look like you had to read very much, so that's not at all.

Okay.

NARA Description

On March 30, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:05 pm to 1:10 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 890-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 890-28

Date: March 30, 1973
Time: 1:05 pm - 1:10 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

       Woods's schedule
           -Meeting
           -Handwritten item [?]

       Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
            -Inscribed picture request
                                              -45-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                               Conversation No. 890-28 (cont’d)

       [Pause]

       President's speech
             -Patrick J. Buchanan [?]
             -Paul W. Keyes
             -Favorable comments
                    -Telephone call to Woods from Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
             -Vietnam dead
                    -Prisoners of war [POWs]
                    -Relatives
                          -Gifts
                                 -Cuff links

       President's schedule
             -Meeting with Norman Chandler [?]
                    -Ability to have visitors
                    -[Unintelligible name] Point
                          -Beach
             -Vietnam speech
                    -Number
                    -Work by President
                          -Value of President's working on it himself
                                 -Direct language
                                 -Reading

Woods left at 1:10 pm.

Also recorded on March 30, 1973

044-098 12:58 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:58 pm.
044-099 12:58 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:58 pm.
044-100 12:59 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:59 pm and 1:00 pm.
890-027 12:59 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:59 pm to 1:00 pm.
044-101 1:00 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:05 pm.
044-102 1:09 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:09 pm and 1:22 pm.
890-029 1:10 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:10 pm and 1:22 pm.
890-030 1:10 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:10 pm and 1:22 pm.

All 60 conversations from March 30, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 890-028, March 30, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/890-028 (accessed October 5, 2026).