{"conversationCode":"009-015","tapeNumber":9,"conversationNumber":15,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-009-015","startDateTime":"1971-09-15T15:59:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-09-15T16:01:00.000Z","startDate":"15-Sep-1971","startTime":"11:59 AM","endDate":"15-Sep-1971","endTime":"12:01 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;","description":"On September 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 11:59 am to 12:01 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-015 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 9-15\n\nDate: September 15, 1971\nTime: 11:59 am - 12:01 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n\n[See Conversation No. 277-5]\n\n     World leaders\n         -Contested Democratic elections\n               -Report to the President\n               -List of countries\n\n     Foreign aid\n          -Countries\n                -Romania\n                -Yugoslavia\n                -African countries\n                -Leaders\n                      -Contested elections\n\n          -Economic\n          -Military\n          -Point Four\n          -Food\n          -Countries\n                -Leaders elected in contested elections","filename":["009-015.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:30:38","tapeEnd":"00:32:24","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haig, Alexander M., Jr."],"prevCode":"009-014","nextCode":"009-016","transcript":[{"start":1.36,"end":11.31,"text":"Did you get that information with regard to the number of countries that have leaders that were elected as a result of contested democratic elections?"},{"start":11.62,"end":13.98,"text":"Yes, I did, sir, and I sent it in to you."},{"start":15.28,"end":16.04,"text":"I'll get it right over."},{"start":16.06,"end":18.44,"text":"It must be in the system somewhere."},{"start":18.46,"end":19.58,"text":"It's not very good."},{"start":21,"end":25.65,"text":"It's almost 50% by the standards that the"},{"start":26.37,"end":28.34,"text":"popular mind would attribute to it."},{"start":28.36,"end":29.86,"text":"And I've got the list of the countries."},{"start":30.32,"end":30.68,"text":"That's right."},{"start":30.7,"end":33.06,"text":"Well, now, I want to get it broken down in a different way."},{"start":34.84,"end":38.23,"text":"I want you to pick out the countries that we give aid to."},{"start":40.11,"end":45.84,"text":"Now, let me say in terms of aid, as you probably know, we give aid to Romania, right?"},{"start":46.26,"end":46.6,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":46.62,"end":47.96,"text":"Do you remember the flood?"},{"start":48.38,"end":49.68,"text":"Yugoslavia, right?"},{"start":49.7,"end":49.96,"text":"Right."},{"start":51.04,"end":52.92,"text":"We give aid to most of the African countries."},{"start":52.96,"end":55.59,"text":"They're small programs, but to most of them, correct?"},{"start":55.61,"end":56.05,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":56.37,"end":62.18,"text":"Understand, now, when I say a leader elected in a contested election, I mean it must be one that meets our standards."},{"start":62.98,"end":63.48,"text":"All right, sir."},{"start":63.5,"end":64.36,"text":"So that's my test."},{"start":64.84,"end":67.4,"text":"And I want you to get me a figure over here, and I'd like it in a half hour."},{"start":67.83,"end":68.12,"text":"All right, sir."},{"start":68.14,"end":73.05,"text":"Leaders, I mean, I want the number of countries the United States gives aid to around the world."},{"start":74.11,"end":75.47,"text":"That's line one."},{"start":76.17,"end":85.19,"text":"Of any kind, economic, military, point four, foreign, I mean, food, et cetera, et cetera."},{"start":85.79,"end":96.22,"text":"And second, the number of, that I want the number of those countries to whom we give aid who do not have leaders that wouldn't"},{"start":96.72,"end":103.85,"text":"who are leaders as a result of a democratic election popularly contested."},{"start":103.87,"end":104.13,"text":"Okay?"},{"start":105.01,"end":106.04,"text":"All right, sir."},{"start":106.06,"end":106.16,"text":"Fine."},{"start":106.18,"end":106.28,"text":"Okay."},{"start":106.3,"end":106.5,"text":"Good, sir."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss a statistical analysis regarding the correlation between U.S. foreign aid recipients and the democratic legitimacy of those nations' leaders. Nixon tasks Haig with refining a previous report to identify which aid-receiving countries lack leaders elected through contested democratic processes. This request reflects the President's desire to evaluate foreign policy commitments against strict democratic standards within a tight thirty-minute deadline.","topics":["Foreign aid","Democratic elections","Foreign policy","Statistical analysis","Romania","Yugoslavia"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T22:51:04.308Z"},"topicSlugs":["foreign-aid","democratic-elections","foreign-policy","statistical-analysis","romania","yugoslavia"],"audioDurationSec":108,"audioFiles":[{"file":"009-015.mp3","bytes":2584867,"durationSec":107.63,"bitrate":192123,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:21.708Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/009-015.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-015","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/9/conversation-009-015","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}