Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-009

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on George Meany and Presidential travel

Wednesday, November 17, 1971 · 8:05 PM–8:07 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation015-009 on Tape 15 (tape position 00:12:10–00:14:20)StartWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:05 PMEndWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:07 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-009 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417190863 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinate efforts to locate AFL-CIO President George Meany for an urgent meeting. Haldeman secures a standby aircraft to maintain the flexibility of traveling to Florida either that evening or the following morning. They decide to wait thirty minutes to see if Meany can be reached before finalizing departure plans.

Audio

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NARA Description

On November 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:05 pm to 8:07 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-9

Date: November 17, 1971
Time: 8:05 pm - 8:07 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

Haldeman talked with the President.

     George Meany
          -Attempts to reach

     The President's schedule
          -Trip to Florida
                -Airplane

     Meany
         -[Joseph] Lane Kirkland and Willie J. Usery

     The President's schedule
          -Trip to Florida
                -Airplane

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 60% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hello.
And, uh, we've been trying for an hour and we've been tracking down and haven't found it.
Well, I wonder if maybe we should, uh, it'll be, we can still do it tonight if you want to, but we'll have to scramble a plane.
If we're going to go tonight, I ought to scramble a plane now because it takes an hour and a half.
And, uh, I don't think you should go, Bob.
No, sir.
But we may... they... George would expect that they would find me any minute, you know, all along for the last hour.
And, uh... Well, let's wait a half hour.
And then decide if we don't get it in a half hour.
We can go as late as 9, 9.30.
All right, why don't I scramble a plane then?
So that they get the... so that they're set up for us, and then so that they can go at 9.30 if you want to.
I'll have to tell them that now in order to go at 9.30.
Okay, fine.
And, uh... You won't tell anybody else?
No, I won't.
But they know over there because we sent the choppers down there.
Right.
They're working through Kirkland and us are just trying to track him down himself.
He's down there.
Right.
And, uh, we go in the morning.
845.
I'd a little rather go tonight.
Let's wait a half hour.
Okay.
Scramble the plane.
They can have it ready in the morning.
Yes, sir.
Sure.
Either tonight or tomorrow.
Well, we'll tell them to get the guys ready and then we'll scratch them in a half an hour.
Okay.

Also recorded on November 17, 1971

  • 015-006 7:14 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:14 pm to 7:16 pm.
  • 015-007 7:16 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:16 pm and 7:17 pm.
  • 015-008 7:17 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 7:17 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 015-010 8:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:10 pm.
  • 015-011 8:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:10 pm and 8:21 pm.
  • 015-012 8:21 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:21 pm to 8:24 pm.
  • 015-013 8:41 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:41 pm to 8:46 pm.
  • 015-014 8:46 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:46 pm and 9:00 pm.

All 74 conversations from November 17, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-009, November 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417190863). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-009 (accessed October 28, 2026).