Donald E. Johnson served as the Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the duration of the Nixon administration, from 1969 to 1974. During the White House taping period, he was responsible for an agency with a budget of over $7 billion, dealing with the needs of a growing veteran population resulting from the Vietnam War. Appointed by President Nixon, his role focused on expanding benefits and promoting the GI Bill for Vietnam veterans.
On February 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Cooper Holt, Chief Herbert R. Rainwater, Donald E. Johnson, Charles W. Colson, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:09 pm and 1:39 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 452-014 of the White House Tapes.
On April 27, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and members of the Cabinet, including John N. Irwin, II, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., Rogers C. B. Morton, Clifford M. Hardin, James T. Lynn, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, George P. Shultz, George H. W. Bush, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Robert J. Brown, Robert J. Dole, Arthur J. Sohmer, Donald E. Johnson, and Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:04 am to 9:43 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 055-003 of the White House Tapes.
On July 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles M. Teague, Olin E. Teague, George P. Shultz, Donald E. Johnson, Clark MacGregor, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:05 am to 11:48 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 551-004 of the White House Tapes.
On September 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Michael ("White Antelope") Naranjo, Mrs. Larry Underwood, and Donald E. Johnson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:23 pm to 12:32 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 578-009 of the White House Tapes.
On July 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Cabinet officers and staffers, including William P. Rogers, George P. Shultz, Melvin R. Laird, Ralph E. Erickson, Rogers C. B. Morton, Earl L. Butz, James D. Hodgson, John G. Veneman, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, David M. Kennedy, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, Robert J. Brown, Charles W. Colson, Dr. James R. Schlesinger, James C. Fletcher, Donald E. Johnson, Frank J. Shakespeare, Dr. John A. Hannah, Arthur F. Sampson, Frank C. Carlucci, Clark MacGregor, Robert J. Dole, Herbert Stein, Arthur J. Sohmer, and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:16 am and 10:57 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 104-009 of the White House Tapes.
On August 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Donald E. Johnson, John F. Evans, Jr., John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull and White House photographer, Ronald L. Ziegler, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Donald McI. Kendall, Mrs. Donald McI. Kendall, Donald McI. Kendall, Jr., Kent C. Kendall, Peter M. Flanigan, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:23 pm to 1:02 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 767-021 of the White House Tapes.
On October 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, Robert J. Dole, Bryce N. Harlow, John N. Mitchell, White House photographer, James D. Hodgson, Donald E. Johnson, and John F. Evans, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:04 pm to 4:53 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 792-004 of the White House Tapes.
On October 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and members of the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse Prevention, including James Q. Wilson, Wade Coleman, Richard S. Wilbur, Donald E. Johnson, Carl D. Chambers, Robert L. DuPont, Phyllis Harrison-Ross, Audrey R. Holliday, John J. Marchi, Beny J. Primm, Michael J. Quinn, Gale E. Sayers, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., Richard H. Nordahl, Lee W. Gladden, Geoffrey C. Shepard, Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe, Myles J. Ambrose, Dr. Merlin K. ("Morty") DuVal, and Richard L. Harkness, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:06 am and 11:21 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 108-004 of the White House Tapes.
On March 9, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Cabinet officers and staffers, including William P. Rogers, William E. Simon, Elliot L. Richardson, Richard G. Kleindienst, John C. Whitaker, Earl L. Butz, Frederick B. Dent, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, James T. Lynn, Claude S. Brinegar, Roy L. Ash, Anne L. Armstrong, John A. Scali, George H. W. Bush, Donald E. Johnson, William D. Ruckelshaus, Herbert Stein, Russell E. Train, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, William E. Timmons, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Herbert G. Klein, Leonard Garment, Ronald L. Ziegler, Richard A. Moore, Arthur J. Sohmer, Kenneth W. Clawson, William J. Baroody, Jr., David N. Parker, David R. Gergen, Stanley S. Scott, Franklin R. Gannon, John S. Guthrie, Jr., Tod R. Hullin, Patrick J. Buchanan, Lawrence M. Higby, Raymond K. Price, Jr., and Frederic V. Malek, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:00 am and 3:10 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 117-007 of the White House Tapes.