Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-088

Nixon phone call with Dean on Anti-war protests and Capitol Police

Wednesday, May 5, 1971 · 12:43 PM–1:13 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Dean, John W., IIIConversation002-088 on Tape 2 (tape position 03:15:49–03:17:29)StartWednesday, May 5, 1971 at 12:43 PMEndWednesday, May 5, 1971 at 1:13 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-088 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Dean discuss the status of anti-war protests in Washington, D.C., specifically focusing on a planned demonstration at the Capitol. Dean informs the President that approximately 2,000 protesters intend to march on the Capitol, but confirms that local authorities are prepared to handle the situation without federal intervention. The conversation concludes with an assessment that the protesters' movement is losing momentum due to internal tactical disagreements among leadership figures like Rennie Davis.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Mr. Dean, Mr. President.
Hello.
Yes, sir.
What's the situation on the hill?
Are they up there yet?
We have about 2,000 down on the foot of the hill.
And they're sitting under the trees and generally peaceful at this point in time.
Yeah.
What are they planning to do?
Well, their intention is to march on the Capitol and attack it.
Oh, is that right?
Siege.
What time?
At what time?
Roughly two o'clock.
Two o'clock.
And we will do nothing.
That's the Capitol Police's problem.
That is correct.
Are they prepared for it?
Yes, sir.
Do they have enough personnel and everything?
Yes, sir.
Have they asked any help from us?
No, sir.
They have not.
MPD is prepared to give them any assistance down there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's fine.
That's fine.
We'll just leave it right there.
That's their problem.
And about 2,000 of them going up the hill, huh?
Correct.
Okay.
I have a status report on the way over on the rest of the city and it's generally quiet yeah yeah yeah things have sort of cooled off apparently I think I think the spirit has been broken you really think so yes I do they had a meeting last night and a good bit of internal dissent amongst the demonstrators on what to do at this point in time yeah like like what why did they dissent what were they dissenting about tactics you mean tactics
Rennie Davis, who's out on bond now, was urging that they go to the Lincoln Memorial with the Southern Christian Leadership Group, but the others would not buy that.
Yeah.
Okay, fine.
Yes, sir.

NARA Description

On May 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Dean, III talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:43 pm and 1:13 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-088 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-88

Date: May 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:43 pm and 1:13 pm
Location: White House Telephone

                                                                                               Back to Top

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

The President talked with John W. Dean, III.

[See Conversation No. 491-33C]

[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order from
December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums, et al. v. James M.
Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records Administration produced this
transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]

[End of transcript]

Also recorded on May 5, 1971

  • 491-030 12:11 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Samuel M. Cohn, Mrs. Samuel M. Cohn, U. Alexis Johnson, Edward F. Knipling, Mrs. Edward F. Knipling, Fred Leonard, Mrs. Fred Leonard, Mrs. George H. Willis, George H. Willis, Robert E. Hampton, John B. Connally, Clifford M. Hardin, George P. Shultz, and Frederic V. Malek met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:11 pm to 12:23 pm.
  • 491-031 12:23 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John G. Tower, Robert D. ("Bob") Lee, Jill Lee, A. J. ("Bob") Blasé, Richard A. Moore, Stephen B. Bull, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:23 pm to 12:43 pm.
  • 002-087 12:43 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:43 pm and 1:13 pm.
  • 491-032 12:43 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:43 pm.
  • 491-033 12:43 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), White House operator, and John W. Dean, III met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:43 pm to 1:13 pm.
  • 491-034 1:13 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:13 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 042-087 1:16 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:16 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 042-088 1:16 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Peter M. Flanigan talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:16 pm and 3:00 pm.

All 77 conversations from May 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-088, May 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-088 (accessed October 12, 2026).