Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 14 › Conversation 014-068

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Diplomatic delegations and Liberia

Thursday, November 11, 1971 · 7:15 PM–7:19 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation014-068 on Tape 14 (tape position 02:08:15–02:11:44)StartThursday, November 11, 1971 at 7:15 PMEndThursday, November 11, 1971 at 7:19 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 014-068 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinate the composition and logistical arrangements for a U.S. delegation to Liberia, specifically prioritizing the inclusion of Bernard J. Lasker. Nixon emphasizes the importance of allowing Lasker and Billy Graham to travel on the First Lady's plane to Liberia while ensuring they do not accompany her on the rest of her tour. The conversation also shifts to the administration's staffing needs, with the two discussing the potential assignment of Peter G. Peterson to either a role in Japan or the Commerce Department.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Mr. President, Mr. Hallman doesn't think you heard him.
May I connect you back?
Yeah, yeah, I didn't hear him.
The President.
Hello, Bob.
Yes, sir.
I just want to be sure that I, on Bunny, Alaska, that I think really the icing on the cake for him would be to have him go to that African thing.
And to the extent we can put people on, we'll have him go, if you would, would you?
Okay, we can.
The normal delegation on that kind of thing would be three.
Three, well, and who you got?
Pat, who else?
Pat, Billy Graham.
Pat, Billy Graham, and Bunny Lasker.
And we can extend it if we want to.
Make it four, because it's Liberia.
And she's different.
She's different.
Now, incidentally, to the extent, if she goes there first, to put them on her plane is the biggest thing in the world for them.
So I would do that.
And I hope she goes there first.
I really think she should.
That's the plan.
Good.
Well, then put them on her plane.
All those countries are, you know...
within the same neighborhood anyway.
Right.
But they'll then have to have another plane to bring them back, won't they?
Right.
They'll work something out to get them back.
It depends on how long she's gone.
Maybe they'll stay over in Liberia for a couple of days.
Yeah, that's right.
But they must not go to the other countries with her.
She can't haul them along.
You can see what it means to Alaska, for God's sake.
Do they make them ambassadors, too?
No, they're special representatives of the president or something like that.
That's pretty good.
We can whip Bunny into an ambassador thing on something else sometimes.
Right.
But this would be a nice thing for him to do.
Biggest thing.
Okay.
And we will do it.
You know, I think the Peterson thing in Japan is not bad.
Not because we're going to get rid of him, but because we need somebody, and I don't know who the hell else is going to do it.
Yeah.
But he could also do commerce, one of the two.
Which one do you lean to at the moment?
I don't think it makes much difference.
It probably would be easier to get him to take commerce.
I may be wrong, but I would guess he would be.
Family and all the rest.
He's settled here and he's got young kids.
That's right.
I see.
That's kind of a problem.
Although he might, you'd never know.
You'd never know.
He might just leap at it.
We'll offer him both, maybe.
To come down to it, we might.
That'd be a possibility, too, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Just make the point that we know that we've got two terribly important things.
No, not that they haven't done well here, but we've got two terribly important things.
Before we offer anybody else, I want to know whether you'll take it.
Yeah, but also make the point that this thing, as we know, hasn't developed into the kind of job for him that would be the best use of his talents and all that.
Right.
It's more of a staff function job.
Right.
We need him.
He can contribute more on a broader basis.
Right.
Could be.
Okay.
Okay.
Bye.

NARA Description

On November 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:15 pm to 7:19 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 014-068 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 14-68

Date: November 11, 1971
Time: 7:15 pm - 7:19 pm

Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Bad phone connection with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

The President talked with Haldeman between 7:15 pm and 7:19 pm.

     Delegation to Africa
          -Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker
          -Size
                -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon, William F. (“Billy”) Graham and Lasker
          -Liberia
          -Transportation arrangements
          -Schedules
          -Titles

     Peter G. Peterson
           -Role with administration
                -Japan
                -Commerce Department
                      -Family
                -Present position

Also recorded on November 12, 1971

  • 014-065 7:11 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and William Proxmire talked on the telephone from 7:11 pm to 7:13 pm.
  • 014-066 7:13 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:13 pm and 7:15 pm.
  • 014-067 7:13 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:13 pm and 7:15 pm.
  • 014-069 7:22 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:22 pm.
  • 014-070 7:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:24 pm to 7:26 pm.
  • 014-071 7:30 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 7:30 pm to 7:39 pm.
  • 014-072 7:40 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 7:40 pm to 7:45 pm.
  • 014-073 7:46 PM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:46 pm to 7:47 pm.

All 93 conversations from November 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 014-068, November 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/014-068 (accessed October 12, 2026).