Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-013

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on AFL-CIO and George Meany

Wednesday, November 17, 1971 · 8:41 PM–8:46 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation015-013 on Tape 15 (tape position 00:17:03–00:21:19)StartWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:41 PMEndWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:46 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the logistics and political strategy regarding the President's potential appearance at the AFL-CIO convention. They deliberate on whether to accept George Meany's invitation for a Friday morning session, contingent upon the outcome of the AFL-CIO's executive committee vote on the Pay Board. The President decides to keep his schedule open and authorizes a potential cancellation of the trip if the union's decision on the Pay Board proves to be hostile.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 26% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Mr. Haldeman's calling.
Okay.
Later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, we just got in.
And, uh, Mingy said, uh, that, uh, he would be most pleased to have you come, but that there was no possible way that he could work to change his schedule tomorrow.
Because he was locked up through the 2.30 executive session when they would consider the payboard question.
that he would be delighted to have you at 4 o'clock tomorrow or any time that would suit your convenience on Friday that he would clear any of that.
But before 4 o'clock tomorrow, there would not be possible.
That's all in motion now.
Okay.
And so on now.
He said a joint call with Seth Shelton.
And Colton was on too.
And their view is that...
Colton feels strongly, and Schultz not so strongly, that you should go on Friday morning.
You definitely should not take the 4 o'clock tomorrow.
No, no, no, that's fine.
That's the TV.
Right.
We'll get a pretty clear shot at it Friday morning and do that at 10.30.
Then we won't go then tonight.
No, you go down to Florida tomorrow afternoon.
Okay, fine.
If that's what you want to do.
Now, there's the other thing that Schultz is more... Schultz is very... really is mad.
He thinks that this is a fine thing.
This is okay to do to anybody else, but to the President of the United States, you should rearrange the schedule.
Maybe we won't do it.
He says maybe you shouldn't do it, but then he says that he's on the tender edge of saying, you know, when he gets around to it, he makes the point that it's still at our advantage to go, and therefore...
They're not doing a cell change.
They're like, yeah, I know.
Don't get mad about this.
Right.
Well, that's the point.
All right.
Now, one thing that both of them felt would be better to do is to get back to Meany tonight and say that we're not sure whether you can make it on Friday.
We'll try to work that out and be back to him in the morning rather than just jumping at him.
Right.
And then we call him tomorrow and say, yes, you have been able to work it out and to come back at 10.30 by the morning, which is the highest we can fly.
7.30 Friday.
Okay.
That opens the Friday session.
Just tell them we don't know whether we can make it or not.
Now, the other advantage of that is that you'll know what their executive committee action is on the pay board, which they'll take at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
Well, then I shouldn't.
Or at 2.30.
We shouldn't plan to go down there then until...
Shouldn't leave until after that.
Until we leave around 6 o'clock tomorrow.
Then call us.
You can leave at 4.00.
And if their pay board action is negative, then we call them and cancel it.
Fine.
All right.
Just say that we can't set it to the monitor.
Okay.
So I've got to check to see that I'm doing it right.
Right.
We'll see if we can work it out.
All right.
Okay.
Fine.
Good.
I think that's good.
And what we'll plan to do is that we'll have the payboard thing.
Right.
But if the payboard, Bob, is just straight up kicking the teeth,
Well, we haven't seen them in a bit.
Do they still look as you go?
No, if it's a kick in the teeth, then they think you should cancel it.
You should use it.
You know, you should be... You should make no bumps on it.
Just say, well, you know, on the basis that they're refusing to participate in this, then obviously I can't go down and discuss it with their commission.
I was going down in good faith.
I'd cancel Hodgson, too, then.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Well, that's going to be really break it off in them.
Yeah.
But they're breaking it off in you.
Well, I'd let him know, but I think somebody should get to me.
That's the way it's going to be.
Okay.
I think he should know that... Do you think we can get that to him or not?
I don't know.
Chuck does very funny.
They're not going to do that.
Yeah.
Well, what they're going to do is give me the option that they enter the bay out.
If they do that, then there's a possibility that he will fix it.
Yeah.
All right, fine.
Then we'll do nothing and...
I wouldn't schedule anything tomorrow, though.
Okay.
Don't you agree?
Keep it clear.
Keep it clear.
Okay.
Okay.

NARA Description

On November 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:41 pm to 8:46 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-13
Date: November 17, 1971
Time: 8:41 pm - 8:46 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

Haldeman talked with the President.

     George Meany

     American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO]
        convention
        -Schedule
         -George P. Shultz and Charles W. Colson
               -The President's schedule
         -James D. Hodgson
         -Pay Board
               -Executive Committee action
                    -Possible cancellation of the President's appearance
                          -Hodgson
                    -Colson’s view

     The President's schedule
          -Meany
          -John B. Connally

Also recorded on November 18, 1971

  • 015-008 7:17 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 7:17 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 015-009 8:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:05 pm to 8:07 pm.
  • 015-010 8:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:10 pm.
  • 015-011 8:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:10 pm and 8:21 pm.
  • 015-012 8:21 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:21 pm to 8:24 pm.
  • 015-014 8:46 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:46 pm and 9:00 pm.
  • 015-015 9:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 9:00 pm to 9:02 pm.
  • 015-016 9:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 9:04 pm to 9:05 pm.

All 77 conversations from November 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-013, November 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-013 (accessed October 12, 2026).