"During a spring offensive by the North Vietnamese in 1972, Nixon told Kissinger:
''We're going to do it. I'm going to destroy the goddamn country, believe me, I mean destroy it if necessary. And let me say, even the nuclear weapons if necessary. It isn't necessary. But, you know, what I mean is, what shows you the extent to which I'm willing to go. By a nuclear weapon, I mean that we will bomb the living bejeezus out of North Vietnam and then if anybody interferes we will threaten the nuclear weapons.''
A week later, he continued to a somewhat horrified Kissinger:
Nixon: I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that ready?
Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much.
Nixon: A nuclear bomb, does that bother you?... I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ's sake! The only place where you and I disagree is with regard to the bombing. You’re so goddamned concerned about civilians, and I don’t give a damn. I don’t care.
Kissinger: I’m concerned about the civilians because I don’t want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher.[1]
...
"In a 1985 interview, Mr. Nixon acknowledged that he had considered ''the nuclear option.'' He told Time magazine then: ''I rejected the bombing of the dikes, which would have drowned one million people, for the same reason that I rejected the nuclear option. Because the targets presented were not military targets.''"[2]
''We're going to do it. I'm going to destroy the goddamn country, believe me, I mean destroy it if necessary. And let me say, even the nuclear weapons if necessary. It isn't necessary. But, you know, what I mean is, what shows you the extent to which I'm willing to go. By a nuclear weapon, I mean that we will bomb the living bejeezus out of North Vietnam and then if anybody interferes we will threaten the nuclear weapons.''
A week later, he continued to a somewhat horrified Kissinger:
Nixon: I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that ready?
Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much.
Nixon: A nuclear bomb, does that bother you?... I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ's sake! The only place where you and I disagree is with regard to the bombing. You’re so goddamned concerned about civilians, and I don’t give a damn. I don’t care.
Kissinger: I’m concerned about the civilians because I don’t want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher.[1]
...
"In a 1985 interview, Mr. Nixon acknowledged that he had considered ''the nuclear option.'' He told Time magazine then: ''I rejected the bombing of the dikes, which would have drowned one million people, for the same reason that I rejected the nuclear option. Because the targets presented were not military targets.''"[2]
[1] - http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/10/25/nixon-and-the-bomb...
[2] - http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/01/world/nixon-proposed-using...