Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-020
Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Spiro T. Agnew
Wednesday, July 28, 1971 · 5:43 PM–6:04 PM ET · White House Telephone · 6 sec
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted with Secretary of State William P. Rogers to discuss critical public relations challenges regarding Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. The dialogue focused on the negative press coverage of Agnew’s recent travels, specifically scrutinizing the frequency of his golf outings and scheduling compared to past vice presidential visits, including those of Nixon himself. The two also addressed the administrative support provided to Agnew's staff and briefly touched upon broader foreign policy implications, including upcoming diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
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Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On July 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 6:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-020 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 7-20
Date: July 28, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:43 pm and 6:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with the White House operator.
[See Conversation No. 550-3D]
Requested a call to William P. Rogers
Conv.
Conversation
No. 7-161
No.
(cont.)
7-21
Date: July 28, 1971
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:19 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with William P. Rogers.
[See Conversation No. 550-3E]
Press relations
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Trips
-Effect
-Compared to the President's trips as Vice President
-Press coverage
-Golf games
-Amount
-Compared with Rogers and Japanese foreign minister
-Compared with the President
-Taj Mahal
-Length
-Press reaction
-Agnew's staff
Haldeman talked with Rogers at an unknown time between 6:04 pm and 6:19 pm.
Agnew
-Staff
-Scheduling
-Bryce N. Harlow
-Secret Service
-Golf
-Press stories
-Golf partners
-Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
-King Hassan II
-Frequency of golf games
-Compared with Arnold Palmer
-Press story void
-Scheduling
-Rogers’ experience
-Middle East
**********************************************************************
[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-012. Segment partially declassified with 15s cleared for release and 1s
remains exempt as 007-021-w001 per Executive Order 13526, 3.3(b)(1) on 08/30/2017.
Archivist: DR]
[National Security]
[007-021-w001]
[Duration: 15s]
Spiro T. Agnew
-Press story void
-Scheduling
-William P. Rogers’s experience
-Helicopter
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[007-021-w001]
[Duration: 1s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
Spiro T. Agnew
-Press story void
-Scheduling
-William P. Rogers’s experience
-Helicopter
-Holy sites
-News value
-Moulay Hassan, II
**********************************************************************
Spiro T. Agnew
-Staff support
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Rogers
**********************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 08/08/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[007-021-w002]
[Duration: 20s]
William P. Rogers’s health
-Eye doctor
-Surgery unnecessary
**********************************************************************
The President talked with Rogers at an unknown time between 6:04 pm and 6:19 pm.
Agnew's trip
-Press coverage
-Compared with Rogers’ trips
-Compared with the President and Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon's trips
-Latin America
-The United States Information Agency [USIA]
-The University of Purdue Research Station
-Leper colony in Panama
-Press relations
-Compared to the President as Vice President
-Compared with Rogers’ Middle East trip
-Compared with the President and Mrs. Nixon
-Length
-Length
-Golf
-Korea
-Greece
-Kissinger
-Peking
-Korea
-Chung Hee Park
-Compared with the President as Vice President
-Arrivals
-Assistant Secretaries of State
-John Foster Dulles
-Christian A. Herter
-Latin American trip
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Around the World trip
-Walter S. Robertson
-Latin American trip
-Agnew’s arrival
-Press relations
-Comments about Africans
-The People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Foreign relations
-Press
-Middle East
-Berlin
-The President's visit to the Senate
-Agnew's arrival
-Schedule
-Press relationsAlso recorded on July 28, 1971
- 549-026 4:54 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:54 pm and 4:58 pm.
- 550-001 4:58 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:58 pm to 5:16 pm.
- 550-002 5:16 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:16 pm.
- 550-003 5:16 PM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, John B. Connally, George P. Shultz, Manolo Sanchez, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:16 pm to 6:22 pm.
- 007-019 5:41 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 5:41 pm to 5:43 pm.
- 007-021 6:04 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:04 pm to 6:19 pm.
- 007-022 6:19 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:19 pm and 8:42 pm.
- 550-004 6:21 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:21 pm and 6:40 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 007-020, July 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/007-020 (accessed October 23, 2026).