The following declassified records, originally issued between November 1972 and January 1973, are intelligence reports provided by the National Security Agency to the White House in support of American efforts to reach a settlement ending the Vietnam War. These reports, which were published as soon as possible after NSA obtained their contents and sometimes issued several times in a single day, sought to inform American diplomacy at a crucial time in our nation's past. Their release is intended to enhance the understanding of individual citizens, professional historians, and students of intelligence alike with respect to U.S. involvement in Vietnam and how NSA supports our country's most senior policymakers as they face critical decisions affecting our future.
The reports in this release provided National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and other senior American negotiators with unique insights into how their South Vietnamese allies were reacting to developments at the Paris Peace Talks with North Vietnamese envoy Le Duc Tho. They also provided Dr. Kissinger and his colleagues advance notice of positions being taken by Saigon with respect to initiatives put forward by Washington and Hanoi. While the skill of American diplomats, the political landscape at home and abroad, and the military situation on the ground in Vietnam all played vital roles in the outcome, the NSA reports helped ensure U.S. envoys in Paris and their superiors in Washington were informed by the best possible intelligence as they conducted some of the most consequential negotiations in our nation's history.