Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 27 › Conversation 027-064

Nixon, Haldeman & Agnew on Thomas F. Eagleton and 1972 Presidential Campaign

Tuesday, July 25, 1972 · 6:24 PM–6:34 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); United States Secret Service agents; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Agnew, Spiro T. (Vice President)Conversation027-064 on Tape 27StartTuesday, July 25, 1972 at 6:24 PMEndTuesday, July 25, 1972 at 6:34 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 027-064 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman coordinated with Vice President Spiro Agnew to establish a unified White House stance regarding the news of Senator Thomas Eagleton’s health issues. The President issued explicit instructions for all campaign associates, including Robert Dole and Clark MacGregor, to refrain from making any public comments on the matter. Haldeman confirmed that the administration would avoid involvement, allowing the Democratic campaign to manage the emerging crisis independently.

Audio

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NARA Description

On July 25, 1972, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, United States Secret Service agents, President Richard M. Nixon, and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:24 pm and 6:34 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 027-064 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 27-64

Date: July 25, 1972
Time: Unknown Between 6:24 pm and 6:34 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with a Secret Service agent.

[See Conversation No. 753-8H]

**************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Agency Statute]
[Duration: 1s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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Haldeman conferred with the President.

*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 40s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

*****************************************************************

Haldeman talked with Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.

[Conversation No. 753-8I]

     Thomas F. Eagleton
         -Announcement about health
               -The President's instructions regarding campaign

                       -Robert J. Dole, Clark MacGregor
           -Letter from unnamed man from hospital
                  -Status
                  -Media
           -Press knowledge of story

[End of telephone conversation]

Transcript (AI-generated)

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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Mr. Haldeman?
Yeah.
I have the Vice President calling.
Oh, good.
Mr. Vice President?
I hold for the Vice President.
Thank you.
Hello?
Mr. Vice President?
Yeah.
Hi, it's Bob Haldeman.
Hi, Bob.
How are you?
Very good, sir.
Have you seen the story on Eagleton?
Yes, I have.
Okay, bye.
Just wanted me to check with all of our key people and to be sure you covered with all of your people the point that we make absolutely no comment on any personal matter, you know.
I had figured that out.
I'm sure you had, but he wanted to be sure we got the word to all of our people, you know, so that nobody makes any inadvertent statement of any kind saying, well, you know, they've got to rethink this or anything else.
Okay, we will follow that.
Good.
We've covered, you know, Dole and McGregor and all of them out of here, too.
I had a letter I had turned over to be checked out from the chief of psychiatry.
Right.
And I don't know what the situation is on it.
stimulus from us.
That's right.
They were already on it, which is why he had to make this move today anyway.
All right.
So all we can do on this one is let them take care of themselves.
Yeah.
How's everything else going?
Very good.
Very good.
All right.
I'll see you later.
Very good, sir.

Also recorded on July 25, 1972

  • 027-057 5:35 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jack D. Maltester talked on the telephone from 5:35 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 027-058 5:40 PM · 26 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 027-059 5:41 PM · 39 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:41 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 027-060 5:41 PM · 26 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:41 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 027-061 5:41 PM · 18 sec — the White House operator and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:41 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 027-062 5:45 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Clark MacGregor talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:54 pm.
  • 027-063 5:55 PM · 55 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Robert J. Dole talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 5:57 pm.
  • 027-065 6:34 PM · 14 sec — The recording device engaged on an unknown date, sometime between 6:34 pm on July 25, 1972 and 7:45 pm on July 26, 1972, but the conversation appears to be blank.

All 50 conversations from July 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 027-064, July 25, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/027-064 (accessed November 3, 2026).