Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-022

Haldeman & Shultz on George Meany and AFL-CIO

Thursday, November 18, 1971 · 9:10 AM–10:13 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); White House operator; Shultz, George P.Conversation015-022 on Tape 15 (tape position 00:27:10–00:29:30)StartThursday, November 18, 1971 at 9:10 AMEndThursday, November 18, 1971 at 10:13 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-022 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417190889 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman and George P. Shultz coordinate the logistics for President Nixon’s upcoming appearance at an AFL-CIO event, following a positive conversation between Shultz and George Meany. They determine that the official announcement should be made during an 11:00 a.m. press briefing by Jerry Warren. Additionally, they discuss security concerns regarding potential protests by the SDS and other groups, noting Meany's suggestion to coordinate operational details through his staffer, Tom Moran.

Audio

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NARA Description

On November 18, 1971, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:10 am and 10:13 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-22

Date: November 18, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:10 am and 10:13 am
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with the White House operator.

[See also Conversation No. 294-6A]

     Request for a call to George P. Shultz

Haldeman talked with Shultz at an unknown time.

     George Meany
          -Conversation with Shultz
          -Announcement
                -Press briefing
          -Protests
                -Students for a Democratic Society [SDS] and blacks
                -The President
          -Thomas Moran
                -Arrangements
          -Gerald L. Warren
                -Conversation with Shultz
                -Announcement

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Shults, please.

This is Haldeman.

Yes, it's Haldeman.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Hello.

Hi, George.

Well, Meany was in a very good tone of voice anyway, frame of mind, I would say, pleased.

And we talked about the time of announcement, and he said, well, he wouldn't actually get the gavel until probably around 11 o'clock because they introduced bishops in one thing or another.

and so I we talked about the time of announcement and agreed that the 11 o'clock press briefing would be a good time and then he will probably mention it he he said that we should get our people down there he said because the SDS is organizing to pick at them and the blacks and the whatnot and he said this in a sort of and then he said of course I'm sure they'll consider the president an added attraction and he said it in kind of the spirit that

you know, that he and the president were as one in being picketed by radical nuts.

So that was sort of a good aspect of the conversation in a way.

But I came away somewhat reassured.

Tom Moran is the name of the guy in Meany's office.

He said, just work with me, my office.

And Tom Moran is the fellow that they should look for and work with, and apparently he's handled the presidential visits before.

Okay, good.

So it's a little more upbeat than last night.

I told Jerry Warren to go ahead at 11 and just say that the president's had a longstanding invitation and will be going down to it.

Okay, all right.

Thank you.

Also recorded on November 18, 1971

294-001 8:02 AM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:02 am and 8:07 am.
015-019 8:07 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:07 am.
015-020 8:07 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:07 am to 8:08 am.
294-003 8:07 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:07 am to 8:08 am.
015-021 8:12 AM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:12 am to 8:13 am.
294-004 8:12 AM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:12 am to 8:13 am.
015-023 9:10 AM · 1 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Constance M. Stuart talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:10 am and 10:13 am.
294-006 9:10 AM · 1 hr 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:10 am to 10:50 am.

All 70 conversations from November 18, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Colson on AFL-CIO and George Meany November 16, 1971 · 11 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on George Meany and AFL-CIO November 17, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on AFL-CIO and George Meany November 17, 1971 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Connally on AFL-CIO and George Meany November 20, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Lewis on AFL-CIO and George Meany November 22, 1971 · 5 min
Nixon phone call with Meany on Personal relations and AFL-CIO August 17, 1972 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-022, November 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417190889). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-022 (accessed November 15, 2026).