Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 9 › Conversation 009-021

Nixon phone call with Haig on Foreign Aid and Electoral Processes

Wednesday, September 15, 1971 · 12:37 PM–12:39 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation009-021 on Tape 9 (tape position 00:35:13–00:36:36)StartWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 12:37 PMEndWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 12:39 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 009-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed Alexander M. Haig, Jr. to expand a foreign aid report to include all recipient nations, ensuring the analysis reflects the actual nature of their political processes. Nixon expressed frustration that previous drafts failed to critically assess whether countries—including Vietnam, Mexico, and Colombia—maintained legitimately contested elections rather than one-party or authoritarian systems. He directed Haig to ensure the report provides an honest accounting of these political structures to inform administration policy.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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One point that I may not have made clear, I do not want this second exercise I pointed out to be limited to new countries.
It's to include all countries, see, that we get aid to.
Like Yugoslavia, Romania, Ethiopia, for example, there's one.
Ethiopia, Liberia.
Did you call that a contested election?
No, sir.
Hell, they haven't had one there since the slaves went over.
No, I told them to expand it to all countries.
They just don't understand what I meant.
The thing I want them to understand, A, the same...
Vietnam can be described as a democratic process, but the question is, is the present leader there as a result of a contested election, a legitimately contested election?
Not a ten-to-one affair.
You can't even describe Mexico as that.
No, that's correct, sir.
Mexico is a one-party government.
You can't describe Colombia as a contested election.
That's right.
You see my point?
Give those as examples.
Mexico is not contested.
I'm not going to put the countries out, but I'm going to get the number out, see?
Mexico is not contested.
Colombia is not contested.
Each party ships it back and forth, see?
Fine, sir.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
Bye.

NARA Description

On September 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:37 pm to 12:39 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 9-21

Date: September 15, 1971
Time: 12:37 pm - 12:39 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 277-8]

     Foreign aid report
          -President's request
                -Inclusion of all countries
                      -Yugoslavia
                      -Romania
                      -Ethiopia
                      -Liberia
                           -Question of a contested election
                           -Time
                -Democratic process
                      -Vietnam
                -Question of legitimate contested election
                      -Present leader
                -Mexico
                      -Type of government
                -Colombia
                      -Type of election
                -Contested Election
                      -Mexico
                      -Colombia

Also recorded on September 15, 1971

  • 009-017 12:18 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:18 pm to 12:20 pm.
  • 009-018 12:20 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:20 pm and 12:24 pm.
  • 009-019 12:24 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 277-007 12:24 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 009-020 12:25 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 12:37 pm.
  • 277-008 12:37 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:37 pm to 12:39 pm.
  • 009-022 12:39 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:32 pm.
  • 277-009 12:39 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 1:05 pm.

All 57 conversations from September 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 009-021, September 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-021 (accessed October 9, 2026).