Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-051

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Supreme Court and Hugo L. Black

Thursday, October 21, 1971 · 5:52 PM–5:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 33 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation012-051 on Tape 12 (tape position 01:12:27–01:13:00)StartThursday, October 21, 1971 at 5:52 PMEndThursday, October 21, 1971 at 5:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 012-051 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman spoke briefly to clarify the specific resignation dates of Supreme Court Justices Hugo L. Black and John M. Harlan. The President sought confirmation of the exact dates, establishing that Black resigned on September 17 and Harlan on September 23. This exchange served to finalize the timeline of the vacancies for administrative or political record-keeping.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

yep mr yeah mr haldeman yeah all right there you are september 17th was black and september 23rd harlem yeah okay september 23rd september 17th what's the day a date in the day of the week what no what day of the month today october 21st
September 23rd.
September what was one?
23rd and 17th.

NARA Description

On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:52 pm to 5:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-051 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 012-051

Date: October 21, 1971
Time: 5:52 pm- 5:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 281-55]

     Supreme Court justices, date of resignation
          -Hugo L. Black
          -John M. Harlan

Also recorded on October 21, 1971

  • 012-049 5:42 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:42 pm.
  • 281-052 5:43 PM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 5:50 pm.
  • 281-053 5:43 PM · 12 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 5:43 pm and 5:50 pm.
  • 281-054 5:43 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 5:50 pm.
  • 281-055 5:50 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 012-052 5:53 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:53 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 281-056 5:55 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 281-057 5:55 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 6:08 pm.

All 107 conversations from October 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 012-051, October 21, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-051 (accessed September 28, 2026).