 Vietnam preoccupied Laird as it had McNamara and Clifford.Right from the moment he entered office, Laird clashed with the National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger over access to the president.Kissinger as much as possible tried to exclude Laird from the decision-making process, in order to ensure he and he alone was the man advising the president on foreign affairs, which created much tension between him and Laird.