Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 5 › Conversation 005-050
Nixon phone call with Haig on Pentagon Papers and New York Times
Sunday, June 13, 1971 · 12:18 PM–12:42 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min
AI Summary
President Richard Nixon and General Alexander Haig discussed the publication of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times, characterizing the leak as a massive security breach. Haig suggested the documents were likely stolen during the transition from the Johnson administration, aiming to influence the Hatfield-Mansfield Amendment vote. Nixon expressed frustration over the security failure and speculated that the internal Democratic discord caused by the documents might ultimately damage the reputations of Kennedy and Johnson.
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Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On June 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:42 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-050 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 5-50
Date: June 13, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:18 pm and 12:42 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
[See Conversation No. 256-31F]
Vietnam War
-Weekly casualty figures
-Pentagon Papers
-New York Times expose
-Leak
-Robert S. McNamara, Clark M. Clifford
-Administration response
-Possible time of theft
-Hatfield-Mansfield Amendment
-Reflection on John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
-Effect
[The conversation was cut off at an unknown time before 12:42 pm]Also recorded on June 13, 1971
- 005-047 11:51 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Carol (Crothers) Finch talked on the telephone from 11:51 am to 11:53 am.
- 005-048 11:53 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:53 am and 12:18 pm.
- 256-036 12:16 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 1:28 pm.
- 005-049 12:18 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:18 pm.
- 005-051 12:18 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:42 pm.
- 005-052 12:42 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 12:42 pm to 12:43 pm.
- 256-032 12:42 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:42 pm and 12:53 pm.
- 005-053 12:43 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:43 pm and 12:53 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 005-050, 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/005-050 (accessed October 12, 2026).