Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 4 › Conversation 004-050
Nixon, Haldeman & Fitzsimmons on Teamsters Union and Labor Relations
Monday, June 7, 1971 · 10:24 AM–10:40 AM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min
AI Summary
President Nixon held a brief consultation with H.R. Haldeman regarding military buildup before speaking with Frank E. Fitzsimmons to congratulate him on his election as president of the Teamsters Union. Nixon declined an invitation to address the upcoming Teamsters convention in July due to confidential travel commitments, though he hinted at their significance. To maintain the relationship, the President committed to attending a future Teamsters Executive Board meeting, offering to coordinate his schedule with the union leadership.
- Teamsters Union
- Frank E. Fitzsimmons
- Labor Relations
- Presidential Scheduling
- Military Buildup
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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He said the bigger build-up occurred.
Yes, sir?
Did you call?
Yeah, I had Mr. Fitzsimmons here in Washington.
Yeah.
Hello?
Hello.
Mr. President, I wanted to congratulate you.
Well, thank you, Mr. President.
I followed it in the papers, and apparently everything went very well.
I kind of feel I had a prelude because it seemed to me you thought you were going to win when you ruined my office here.
Yes, I had the same feeling, and I'm sure that you have right now.
How do the people, how do the members feel generally?
Are they in pretty good spirits?
Great.
Good, good.
Had all, I would say, at least 300 wires.
Wonderful, wonderful.
Of congratulations and whatnot.
Good, good, good.
Well, Mr. President, it's a great honor to be called.
Well, you're now a member of an exclusive club.
A few of us have got to form a union.
What do you think, huh?
I'm ready.
All right.
This is a union where there are no dues.
That's right.
But a lot of obligations.
That's one of the unfortunate situations about this.
Well, congratulations.
And to all the other members of your board, I congratulate them.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. President, I talked to...
Bill Usry and as well as George.
Good, good.
I hope and pray that you can give us a few moments at the convention.
Where is that?
We're holding it starting July the 5th.
I'm in Florida and we're holding it for five days there.
The 5th to the 10th?
Yes.
Let me tell you, there's a major problem then, which is in...
I'd do it in a minute, except for the fact that I will be traveling at that point.
I can't tell you where or anything, and you wouldn't want to know anyway.
But if you were a week earlier or a week later, I could do it.
But I know you can't change your convention.
No, we can't.
Let me ask you, of course, next year is the election year, and that wouldn't be good.
But is there any other kind of a meeting?
Would you be having a meeting of your executive board or anything that I could do?
Yes, we will.
Well, I'll tell you what I'll do.
Because I know I can't do this.
I got something I can't tell you about.
You won't hear about it for two weeks, but then you'll know that you and I talked about it.
And you'll see the reason that I couldn't do it.
But let me say that I'd like to come to the next meeting of your...
your executive board, wherever it's, you know, if it's convenient.
How's that?
Is that all right?
That would be wonderful.
And you can, and I will send a message to this if it would be worthwhile.
I'd appreciate that.
And is there anybody else that you would like to have from our side?
Well, let me say this.
Let me talk to one or two of our people, and then I'll get back with Mr. Bell.
How about John Mitchell?
He's a pretty good fellow.
He, as far as he is concerned, he's...
He's a pretty good man.
Yes, he is.
A strong man.
Yes, he is.
Yeah.
You know my feelings for John.
Yeah, yeah.
Darn it, I just, you know, I just love to do this.
It's the only time that the first, I tell you, from about the 4th of July until the 14th, I'm dead.
And that's just one of those things.
And things happen.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Well, we'll send a message in a second.
I'll come to your next executive board meeting if it's a time when we can both work it out.
Fair enough?
Maybe I can get our schedule of it before we actually set it, and then maybe we can adjust our schedule to yours.
Right.
Right.
Sure.
If you could do that, that would be great.
All right.
See, my problem is that between the July, August, September, and so forth,
is a difficult time for me, but if it fits in the right periods, I can do it.
Like, I'm going to do the VFW convention in August, but I'm just flipping out there, and then I have to take another trip.
Okay?
Let's do it that way.
Fine.
Well, thanks.
All right.
Well, congratulations, and good luck.
Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
NARA Description
On June 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Frank E. Fitzsimmons talked on the telephone from 10:24 am to 10:40 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 004-050 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 4-50
Date: June 7, 1971
Time: 10:24 am - 10:40 am
Location: White House Telephone
The President conferred with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Military buildup
The President talked with Frank E. Fitzsimmons.
[See Conversation No. 511-1C]
Fitzsimmons’ election to presidency of the Teamsters Union
-Reaction of rank and file Teamsters
President's schedule
-Fitzsimmons’ conversations with William J. Usery and George P. Shultz
-Reasons for not attending Teamster convention, July 5-10, 1971 in Florida
-Executive Board meeting
Forthcoming Teamsters convention
-George T. Bell
-Other administration attendees
-John N. Mitchell
President's attendance at future Executive Board meeting
-Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]Also recorded on June 7, 1971
- 004-048 9:34 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:34 am and 10:22 am.
- 059-004 9:34 AM · 46 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Executive Board of Directors of National Association of Home Builders, including John A. Stastny, George Martin, Louis Cenker, Nathaniel Rogg, Stanley Waranck, Richard C. Van Dusen, James D. Hodgson, Laurence H. Silberman, White House photographer, Linwood Holton, John D. Ehrlichman, and George W. Romney, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:34 am and 10:13 pm.
- 004-049 10:22 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:22 am.
- 004-051 10:29 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:29 am and 10:40 am.
- 004-052 10:40 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Adele (Langston) Rogers talked on the telephone from 10:40 am to 10:42 am.
- 004-053 10:42 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:42 am and 2:40 pm.
- 511-002 11:05 AM · 54 sec — met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:49 am.
- 511-003 11:49 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 11:55 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 004-050, June 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/004-050 (accessed October 12, 2026).