WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 1973 (UPI) -- President Nixon came to the eve of his second inauguration confident that he has all but secured a treaty ending the Vietnam War.
Ending his stay in Key Biscayne, Fla., Nixon arrived last night where throngs in the Capital already had begun to celebrate his swearing in for a second term.
Nixon has spent several days working on his Inaugural Address, his first public statement to the American people since he made a campaign television appearance on Nov. 6, Election Eve.
Aides indicated that Nixon will assert that the nation is on the brink of a just and lasting peace in Vietnam. He also was expected to stress conciliation in the post-war period for all sides.
He planned to confer today with his chief negotiator, Henry A. Kissinger.
Some top-level officials indicated that Kissinger was unhappy with the way the steps toward peace were being orchestrated and drawn out by White House image-makers.
The sources said that Kissinger felt the agreement, which now both sides openly concede exists, could have been initialed as early as last Friday. One official was said to have described it as "Madison Avenue gimickry."
But Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler told reporters that substantive discussions "still were required" with Hanoi's diplomats.