Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 5 › Conversation 005-039

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Media coverage and Public relations

Sunday, June 13, 1971 · 10:05 AM–10:10 AM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation005-039 on Tape 5 (tape position 00:53:28–00:57:18)StartSunday, June 13, 1971 at 10:05 AMEndSunday, June 13, 1971 at 10:10 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 005-039 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss the media coverage surrounding Tricia Nixon Cox's wedding, evaluating the performance of various television networks and the print coverage in the Washington Post. They express satisfaction with the overall quality of the televised event while criticizing a negative newspaper article. The conversation concludes with a strategic recommendation to improve future White House event coverage by adjusting camera angles to capture the faces of guests in receiving lines.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 79% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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We saw that at 10 o'clock.
Very good.
It really was.
Very good.
They have some of the news, too, I suppose.
Oh, yeah.
And, you know, they're going to wrap up stuff this March.
It just couldn't be better.
I mean, you've probably seen the paper.
It's a spectacular color picture.
Fine picture.
I suppose Dick left there just to be expected.
He wrote a nasty story.
I haven't read that, but I told him.
He was worried about the whole story.
And I kept him.
I kept him out of the White House.
Yeah.
I don't think you need to worry about what the picture is.
It's really a problem.
The wires are... Yeah, for the TV.
The TV for...
Yep.
Yep, relax.
It did, and Ron got a lot of good playback from that.
They appreciated the thought.
Oh, good.
That was part of it.
That's the only thing the weather did.
They could have gotten it in at the end, maybe, to knock off the fence.
But they didn't in the NBC.
But it's, uh...
But the other stuff is different.
They don't need that.
Yeah.
Well, I said, yeah, it was really, it was fascinating to watch because there were so many events.
One thing I would do in the future is, if that'll lay on the receiving line, I'd just watch this line and put it on the floor.
You know, the receiving line is always bad because of the position of the cameras.
The cameras just simply show the backs of the people going through the line.
You never get a picture of their faces.
The cameras should really be set up and set on the side so you see the people coming through because they're a marvelous expression of the people coming through.
You can see their faces.
Yeah, we could, or they might have to do it with two cameras.
Maybe we ought to let them have two.
Yeah, well, you know, you could do it.
That's much better than just having a lot of cameras shooting the back.
Right.
Well, the receiving line was fine, but I just thought that you'd have to see the faces again.
That's right.
You really do need that expression.
Right.
Okay.
That would be great.
Okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On June 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 10:05 am to 10:10 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-039 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 5-39

Date: June 13, 1971
Time: 10:05 am - 10:10 am
Location: White House Telephone

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

     Tricia Nixon Cox's wedding
           -Television coverage
                -American Broadcasting Company [ABC], National Broadcasting Corporation
                      [NBC]
           -Washington Post coverage
                -President's conversation with Ronald L. Ziegler
                -Post's access to White House Telephone news events
           -Television coverage
                -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]

     TV coverage of White House Telephone social events

Also recorded on June 13, 1971

  • 005-037 9:56 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 9:56 am to 10:03 am.
  • 005-038 10:04 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:04 am.
  • 005-040 10:10 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:10 am and 10:19 am.
  • 005-041 10:19 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 10:19 am to 10:32 am.
  • 005-042 10:53 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:53 am and 11:06 am.
  • 005-043 11:06 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 11:06 am to 11:07 am.
  • 005-044 11:07 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:51 am.
  • 005-045 11:07 AM · 10 min — Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:07 am and 11:51 am.

All 38 conversations from June 13, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 005-039, June 13, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-039 (accessed October 18, 2026).