Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 5 › Conversation 005-002

Nixon phone call with Humphrey on Vietnam War and Bipartisanship

Thursday, June 10, 1971 · 2:53 PM–2:57 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Humphrey, Hubert H.Conversation005-002 on Tape 5 (tape position 00:00:47–00:03:39)StartThursday, June 10, 1971 at 2:53 PMEndThursday, June 10, 1971 at 2:57 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 005-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated this call to thank Senator Hubert H. Humphrey for defending his administration on the Senate floor. The two discussed the necessity of bipartisan cooperation regarding the Vietnam War, with both men affirming their shared desire for peace and their respect for the efforts of previous administrations. The conversation concluded with a brief, informal exchange concerning Humphrey’s ongoing political activities and current public opinion polling.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Hello.
Well, I wanted to call you on a completely personal basis to tell you that I hope you didn't get into too much trouble by rising to my defense on the Senate floor, and I'm most grateful.
Well, I didn't.
It didn't bother me.
I just want you to know, Hubert, that as you can imagine, whether it's arms control or
China and also in this area there are things going on that may not meet the eye that doesn't promise anything but certainly whether whether they work out or not the the point that we all agree on is that when when you were in office
And the same is true of Lyndon Johnson.
Nobody wanted to keep the damn war going.
Everybody was for peace.
And now we are.
Now, we may disagree as to how and when and all that, but I did appreciate it very much.
I just want to say, if you got a little flack from your party, just know there was one party down at the White House that was appreciated.
Well, I very much appreciate that.
And let me say, I did exactly what I would have expected you or someone like you to have done under the same circumstances in which you did do.
Yeah.
And I believe there are rules of fair play.
And I'm not going to...
I have too much respect for the office and the man that occupies it to permit things like that to go unchecked.
Well, I appreciate it.
We hope to make some... be making progress.
I can assure you that if it... as it comes or...
We're going to be in close touch with all sides because there's no political mileage in anybody in keeping this going.
Of course not.
We know that.
We know that.
My goodness, if anybody wants to talk politics, it isn't even good politics.
That's right.
It's good to talk about something else.
Yes, I should say so.
Well, I'm most grateful.
Thank you.
You're very considerate, and I'm very appreciative of this.
How are things going?
You're keeping busy, I see.
I keep busy.
Keep busy.
I wish I knew what I was doing all the time, but I keep busy.
You make speeches all the time.
Yeah, I know.
I think, as a matter of fact, that if I look around, I'm staying out of the political and fighting nature.
I've got too many other things to do, but you...
you seem to be without, as you shouldn't, without getting involved in a huge organization, you seem to be keeping a lot of people wondering.
Yes, we're keeping them.
I noticed that last poll was rather very interesting.
Yes.
You hadn't done a darn thing, and all three of you were about even.
That's right.
I was going to say I was going to write a paper on how to succeed without trying.
That's right.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye.

NARA Description

On June 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Hubert H. Humphrey talked on the telephone from 2:53 pm to 2:57 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 5-2

Date: June 10, 1971
Time: 2:53 pm - 2:57 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Hubert H. Humphrey.

[See Conversation No. 516-9B]

     Humphrey's speech defending President

     Vietnam
          -Bipartisanship
                -Lyndon B. Johnson
          -Strategy for ending Vietnam war
          -Negotiations
          -Politics of Vietnam war

     Polls and Humphrey's political plans

Also recorded on June 10, 1971

  • 516-014 1:34 PM · 54 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:34 pm to 1:35 pm.
  • 516-009 1:35 PM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, Charles W. Colson, White House operator, and Hubert H. Humphrey met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:35 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 005-003 2:57 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:57 pm and 4:17 pm.
  • 516-010 3:08 PM · 1 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., Jeffrey Donfeld, Arnold R. Weber, Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, and Clifford M. Hardin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:08 pm to 4:24 pm.
  • 005-004 4:17 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Clifford M. Hardin talked on the telephone from 4:17 pm to 4:22 pm.
  • 005-005 4:22 PM · 6 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:22 pm and 6:02 pm.
  • 005-006 4:22 PM · 23 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Peter M. Flanigan talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:22 pm and 6:02 pm.
  • 516-011 4:25 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., Peter M. Flanigan, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:25 pm to 5:18 pm.

All 24 conversations from June 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 005-002, June 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).