January 2 – President Nixon explains his ordering of bombing within North Vietnam was due to a violation of a 1968 understanding that ceased bombing by the US during a nationally televised interview.[1]
January 3 – Jack Anderson claims that United States Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger complained about President Nixon giving him "hell every half hour" in regards to the India-Pakistan conflict and that Kissinger said this during a December 3, 1971 strategy session.[2]
January 4 – President Nixon pledges the US will become the leading maritime country in the world while speaking at a shipbuilding yard in San Diego, California.[3]
January 11 – President Nixon signs an executive order alongside issuing a memoranda setting ordering pay increases to over 118,000 federal blue collar workers.[4]
January 13 – President Nixon announces the withdrawal of 70,000 American troops over the course of the next three months in a statement during the White House press briefing.[5]
January 20 – President Nixon delivers the 1972 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress.[citation needed]
January 28 – President Nixon announces the creation of an Office of Drug Law Enforcement within the Justice Department for the overseeing of jailing of illicit drug dealers.[6]
January 29 – A White House source discloses that President Nixon was known as "Quarterback" in messages sent to Secretary of State Kissinger during negotiations with North Vietnam.[7]
December 1 – The White House discloses that Treasury Secretary Schultz will remain in his position during the second term of President Nixon with expanded responsibilities.[10]
December 2 – Interior Secretary Morton strips the supervision rights of the three men involved in Indian affairs alongside announcing his taking of personal command of the endeavor.[11]
December 4 – The government announces the withholding of 689 million in federal welfare payments as part of an effort to dislocate those not needing the program from those eligible.[12]
January 1 – The Labor Department states its choice to raise guidelines on income for the determining of who is eligible for federal programs and specifies the raise as US$193 higher.[13]
January 2 – The Pentagon states American bombers possibly damaged a North Vietnam hospital and the a civilian airport in Hanoi following the Hanoi-Haiphong area bombing.[14]
January 3 – Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler states members of Congress should consider the possibility of convincing the North Vietnamese of their interest in acting against peace efforts.[15]
January 4 – President Nixon holds a meeting with military and diplomatic advisors in the Oval Office for discussions on Vietnam and the upcoming Paris peace talks.[16]
January 5 – President Nixon meets with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders for a breakfast to inform them the US should know whether a quick settlement in Vietnam is possible after the Paris peace talks.[17]
January 6 – The House and Senate jointly officiate the re-election of President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew to a second term during a ceremony.[18]
January 9 – The Defense Department denies allegations made in a Saigon report that the US had resumed preemptive reaction air strikes over North Vietnam.[20] The White House announces President Nixon's acceptance of the resignation of Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Miles Kirkpatrick.[21]
January 11 – President Nixon reveals Phase 3 in a message to Congress which eliminates a majority of wage and price controls.[22]
January 12 – The White House says Cabinet members will resume testifying before Congress and their upcoming appearances will be at convenience.[23]
January 17 – White House sources rebuke claims of an imminent cease-fire, citing earlier statements that President Nixon would not address peace negotiations during the week.[27]
January 18 – The Florida White House announces Secretary of State Kissinger will return to the Paris peace talks for a completion of "the text of an agreement".[28]
January 19 – Defense Secretary Laird says he cannot confirm the use of a cease-fire being effective in ending the Southeast Asia conflict during a Pentagon press conference.[29] Press Secretary Ziegler states President Nixon will have more press conference beginning with his second term.[30]
July 18 – The White House Taping system is disconnected for the final time, after its public revelation in testimony by White House Aide Alexander Butterfield
October 10 – Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice President.
October 12 – Nixon nominates House minority leader Gerald Ford for Vice President.
November 5 – The term "Shuttle diplomacy" is first used to describe the efforts of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to facilitate the cessation of hostilities following the Yom Kippur War.[31]
December 4–5 – President of RomaniaNicolae Ceausescu meets with President Nixon for discussions on the development of economic relations between Romania and the United States.[32]
December 4 – President Nixon delivers an address in a formal welcome of President Ceausescu to the White House on the South Lawn during the morning.[33]
December 6 – Following congressional approval, Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 40th vice president of the United States. President Nixon signs H.R. 9474, a veterans disability and death pension bill, during an Oval Office ceremony.[34]
