Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-156

Nixon, Haldeman & Malek on Supreme Court and Judicial appointments

Wednesday, October 20, 1971 · 9:05 AM–9:19 AM ET · White House Telephone · 44 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Malek, Frederic V.; Butterfield, Alexander P.; White House operatorConversation011-156 on Tape 11 (tape position 04:50:48–04:51:33)StartWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 9:05 AMEndWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 9:19 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-156 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417190199 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with H. R. Haldeman, Frederic Malek, and Alexander Butterfield to discuss the selection process for upcoming Supreme Court nominations. The group deliberated on potential candidates, specifically focusing on the inclusion of qualified women for the vacancies. Nixon directed his staff to vet additional candidates from existing lists before coordinating further with Attorney General John Mitchell.

Supreme Court
Judicial appointments
Hiring practices
John Mitchell
Gender diversity

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.4 MB

NARA Description

On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Frederic V. Malek, Alexander P. Butterfield, and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 9:05 am to 9:19 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-156 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-156

 Date: October 20, 1971
 Time: 9:05 am - 9:19 am
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President conferred with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, Frederick V. Malek, Alexander P.
 Butterfield.

        Supreme Court nominees

 The White House operator talked with the President.

        Telephone call from John N. Mitchell

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Yeah.

That's, uh...

Yes, please.

Check to see if you have any others of that type.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, that are outstanding in the country that are on lists that you're looking at.

I don't mean judges like me, because they're looking at our notes, but, you know, the women here are going to know.

I just think you guys include me.

There's a number of women we met with the lawyers.

Mr. President.

Oh, I don't mean that.

I'm 40 years old.

Hello.

Mr. President, you talk to a general?

Yeah.

Fine.

Also recorded on October 20, 1971

597-001 9:05 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:05 am and 9:17 am.
597-002 9:17 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Frederic V. Malek, and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:17 am to 9:25 am.
011-157 9:19 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 9:19 am to 9:25 am.
011-158 9:25 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 10:23 am.
597-003 9:28 AM · 2 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Bryce N. Harlow, Ronald L. Ziegler, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:28 am to 12:20 pm.
011-159 10:23 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Bryce N. Harlow talked on the telephone from 10:23 am to 10:35 am.
011-160 10:35 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 2:23 pm.
011-161 10:35 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 2:23 pm.

All 81 conversations from October 20, 1971 →

Nixon & Ziegler on Supreme Court and Lewis F. Powell, Jr. October 21, 1971 · 11 min
Nixon phone call with Poff on Supreme Court and Judicial Appointments October 5, 1971 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Supreme Court and Lewis F. Powell Jr. October 19, 1971 · 10 min
Nixon phone call with Powell on Supreme Court and William H. Rehnquist December 6, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Burger on Supreme Court and William H. Rehnquist December 25, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on Supreme Court and Judicial appointments June 8, 1972

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-156, October 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417190199). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-156 (accessed November 2, 2026).