Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 136 › Conversation 136-026

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on 1972 Election and John B. Connally

Sunday, July 23, 1972 · 2:10 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation136-026 on Tape 136 (tape position 01:50:12–01:58:27)StartSunday, July 23, 1972 at 2:10 PMEndSunday, July 23, 1972 at 2:10 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 136-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman reviewed recent television interviews featuring Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern and former Treasury Secretary John Connally. The discussion focused on comparing their respective performances, with Nixon expressing high satisfaction with Connally's ability to act as a political "lightning rod" for the administration. They analyzed McGovern's vulnerabilities regarding labor support, foreign policy stances on Vietnam, and shifting economic proposals, ultimately concluding that Connally's effective critique of McGovern provided the administration with a significant political advantage.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.
Yes, sir.
Well, I gave John a call.
I told him, I said, you know, you're the best at this anybody ever was.
He really is, isn't he?
They throw all those zingers in there.
I mean, even Terhorst wasn't giving him any softballs.
He gave him one, but the rest of it wasn't.
It's just the contrast is ridiculous.
Yeah.
That's the way it goes.
The press panelists, they do a better job than the other shows.
Well, they dig in more, yeah.
But didn't you think he did what I thought his quotation from Hamlet was really a good one, too?
It was marvelous.
For that kind of an audience, and also his saying that he's going to stay in the Democratic Party.
He's not going to work for Democrats for the House and the Senate.
That's really a zinger.
The Republicans don't like it, but it's exactly the right line.
Well, and his thing about the...
supporting agnew you know if being controversial precludes a nomination and the democrats better reconvene their convention that's right that's right very good how did the other one come out did you watch the other one did they give him any hard ones no uh just follow we anticipated they bobbled around a lot on how you're going to camp well they hit him on the stuff of uh you know your problems in illinois and all that but he it's it's all embarrassing stuff to him in the union question and truman and johnson they they did
They made the point that he has a hell of a lot of problems on lack of support.
And the way he plays that back is that he has no doubt that Daley will support him and that he does want the support of Johnson, although he won't change his position any that they can disagree on certain things.
And their standard line, both he and Eagleton put out on the union thing, is that of the 13.5 million union members, at least 10 million unions representing at least 10 million will
have endorsed them by Labor Day.
And so that's when we can, if they do, if they don't, we'll have a job on that.
I suppose they get 10.
They're not going to get that money.
No, and they hit Eagleton on that.
They didn't follow up McGovern on it, but they did.
Eagleton, they said, well, are you implying that you're going to have 10 million labor people back?
And he said, oh, no, I can't claim who the party endorses.
I mean, who the union endorses is who the members vote for.
They asked him how he explained the Gallup poll, the fact that he lost ground at his convention, and he says, well, you can't measure that soon after the convention, and I don't listen to polls anyway.
And Eagleton said the same thing, said the polls have been wrong on McGovern all year anyway.
And then they got into quite a long thing on Vietnam with McGovern,
Did they hit him in the Greek thing?
Nope.
Never mentioned it.
Jesus Christ.
That's why I was so glad Connolly raised it.
Connolly did it well, too.
He brought it in.
He really murdered him on it.
Well, they didn't raise it with him, either.
He just brought it in twice.
I know.
He brought it in twice.
But you notice how they didn't raise it.
They gave him one answer on defense, at least.
I mean, a little on that, but foreign policy.
Yeah.
They didn't even mention Greece, but they got into the Vietnam thing, hitting the point that Connolly had criticized for sabotaging the peace talks.
Yeah.
All right.
He said that over the last eight or nine years, my assessment's been better than the White House, and I'm skeptical of learning anything, but I will take the briefing, and I'm willing to sit down and talk to Kissinger and see what he has to say.
And he says, but my record's not too bad in predicting things in Vietnam.
Well, we can hang him on that.
Oh, boy, I'll say.
He said they'd have prisoners for...
Right.
And then he made the point that we could have accomplished whatever we're going to do in Vietnam.
We could have done it all four years ago.
He just got rougher than that, and this is a line they're obviously going to use...
uh where he said that that uh he said first of all i'll make a prediction i will predict that president nixon will have all of the troops out of vietnam and the war over by november and he said i am convinced that that's part of his election year plan that he has a very specific plan for this election year and uh
I wish we did.
He had the schedule of his trip to China and his trip to Russia, and he has a plan to pull the troops out at the time that will give him the maximum political advantage.
And then they said, well, if it's over, doesn't that nullify the issue?
And he said, well, no, because then he'll have to explain why he didn't settle it earlier.
Yeah.
Yeah, bounce back on that.
They aren't going to win on that issue, Bob.
No, no.
I mean, that's the line they're going to... Because Connolly really hit the other line, not only the peace talks, but the line that he wants to surrender.
Yeah.
Oh, Connolly was beautiful on that.
Yeah, yeah.
The surrender and the... Yeah.
...an awful good line.
That's right.
They waltzed around on why he would keep troops in Thailand, and he kind of waffled on that.
Did he say he was or wasn't going to?
Well, he said he would, but he said that the reason he would is because there's been no request from Hanoi to remove them.
Did they raise the debate question?
Yeah.
What did he say about that?
Did they raise the point of his change of position on it?
No.
I'm sorry, they didn't raise it with McGovern.
They raised it with... Eagleton?
Eagleton.
Yeah, yeah.
And they didn't get into the... Well, that's right.
What Eagleton says is irrelevant.
It really isn't going to matter that much.
You know what I mean?
He isn't going to make that much news.
As a matter of fact, McGovern isn't going to make much news out of what he said, is he?
No.
They said, would you end all aid to two, military and economic?
And he said, yes, at least temporarily.
but then he said we in the future we would have some responsibility to help rebuild they asked him if his new income redistribution plan was ready and he said no that he's been spending a lot of time studying the failure of the present thing and he's convinced we're in a terrible mess and welfare that this administration's made no progress at all but he's very impressed with the complexity of it he just doesn't have his proposals ready yet and he brushed off his thousand dollars as being just one of several
proposed and he said the tax system might be more practical and that we have to have a fundamental program of taxes mm-hmm well that's all right and uh it uh unfortunately then they didn't uh well from uh from our statement they didn't he goes on they they didn't get any uh what reporters were on did they have anybody that was really uh
He had Schumacher, Broder, and Morton.
Well, Christ, Broder ought to have hit him a few times.
Broder didn't get on very much, and he asked the...
Sort of the softballs?
No, he asked some of the good stuff.
Why has Daley left him?
How are you going to get the Democrats back?
Yeah, yeah, that political question.
You don't have any money.
How are you going to get any money?
Truman and Johnson not being at the convention.
Yeah.
So that's that.
Well, anyway, I think our boy was better.
Oh, no question.
Yeah.
He comes on so much better.
That's right.
Comes on better than McGovern, certainly.
He did an awfully good job on his fall.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, thank you.
Good, good.
So you say it's pretty hot down there, huh?
Yeah, it's awful.
They say it's the worst day.
This is up here.
It's really awfully warm here.
I have scarcely stepped out.
It's so damn hot.
this morning.
I'm going to go swimming, though.
That'll save me.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
That's miserable everywhere.
You know, when you come to think of it, we're just very fortunate, though, to have Connolly, don't we, as the lightning rod for our own people and to keep this prod in there and the Democrats.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, if you haven't done it, you ought to tell Connolly he did well.
I have a call in.
Great.
Good.
Okay.
Fine.
Okay.
Fine.

NARA Description

On July 23, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David at 2:10 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 136-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 136-26

Date: July 23, 1972
Time: 2:10 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table (telephone)

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

[See Conversation No. 196-23]

       President's previous call to John B. Connally
             -Questions during Connally’s interview
                  -Jerald F. (“Jerry”) terHorst
                  -Meet the Press
                  -Quotation from Hamlet
                  -1972 Election
                       -Connally's support for Democrats
                       -Spiro T. Agnew

       George S. McGovern
            -Television interview questions

              -Lack of support
                   -Union support
                   -Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson
                        -McGovern’s view
                            -Richard J. Daley
          -Thomas F. Eagleton's television interview
              -Union support
          -Television interview questions
              -Labor support
              -Polls
                   -George H. Gallup
              -Vietnam
              -Greece
                   -Connally's interview
              -Vietnam
                   -Negotiations
                        -McGovern’s view
                        -Henry A. Kissinger
                        -Political manipulation by President
                            -The President’s previous trip to the People’s
                                Republic of China [PRC] and the Soviet Union
                   -Connally's statement on McGovern's policy
              -Thailand
                   -Presence of US troops
                        -McGovern's position
              -Debates with President
                   -McGovern's change of position
                   -Eagleton's statement
              -Vietnam
                   -US aid to Nguyen Van Thieu
              -Income tax redistribution plan
                   -Welfare reform
                   -Tax reform
              -David Shoumacher, David S. Broder, Bruce Morton
                   -Broder's questions
                        -Daley
                        -Finances
                        -Truman, Johnson
          -Compared with Connally's interview

      Weather

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

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 04/11/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[136-026-w001]
[Duration: 40s]

       Weather
             -Heat
                     -President’s plans to go swimming

       John B. Connally
              -President’s opinion
                     -Serve as a lightning rod for Administration
              -President’s request for H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                     -Pass along message to John B. Connally
                             -Interview

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

Also recorded on July 23, 1972

  • 196-023 2:01 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:01 pm to 2:10 pm.
  • 136-027 2:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:10 pm and 2:14 pm.
  • 196-024 2:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:10 pm and 2:14 pm.
  • 196-025 2:14 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:14 pm to 2:35 pm.
  • 136-028 2:35 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David at 2:35 pm.
  • 136-029 2:35 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 3:08 pm.
  • 136-030 2:35 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 3:08 pm.
  • 196-026 2:35 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 3:05 pm.

All 52 conversations from July 23, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 136-026, July 23, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/136-026 (accessed September 18, 2026).