Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-084

Nixon, Griffin & Haldeman on William Rehnquist and Supreme Court confirmation

Friday, December 10, 1971 · 5:15 PM–5:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Griffin, Robert P.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation016-084 on Tape 16 (tape position 03:14:10–03:16:07)StartFriday, December 10, 1971 at 5:15 PMEndFriday, December 10, 1971 at 5:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 016-084 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Senator Robert Griffin discuss the successful Senate confirmation of William Rehnquist to the Supreme Court by a vote of 68 to 26. They compare the margin of Rehnquist's confirmation to the historical records of Justices Brandeis and Hughes to frame the administration's victory. Additionally, Griffin expresses optimism regarding the potential to sustain the President's veto of the Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1971 and credits John Connally for his role in recent tax legislation.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Senator Griffin.
Hello.
Mr. President?
Yeah.
We have to wait until the 15 minutes runs out until they officially announce it, but the vote right now stands 68 to 26, so I think you can make your phone call.
68 to 26, good.
Incidentally, Bob, you've got a minute.
I just had, from memory, I didn't have this, some other votes where they had them.
Would you like to take them down in case you're asking to make a statement?
Sure.
Brandeis was 47 to 22.
Uh-huh.
47 to 22.
So this is about the same magnitude.
Uh-huh.
And Chief Justice Hughes, this is a surprise to me, 52 to 26.
Oh, yeah.
So you probably remember that from your experience, but the Hughes one was just 2 to 1.
Yeah.
What was it, 68 to?
68 to 26.
68 to 26.
So it's officially announced.
There might be another senator to drag in here, say, but we'll give Clark the final say.
That's a great vote, great vote.
a whopping majority.
Right.
Incidentally, we may sustain your veto here in the Senate.
Really?
Yeah, we're pretty close.
We've got about 29 sure votes on our side, and if we get any there or from the other side at all, we'll make it.
Yeah, well, that's great.
So that'd be good if you didn't have to go to the House for that.
I was certainly glad you could come down on the tax thing.
After all, you were the... Quite a lot to me.
You're the mother of that, if you want to call him that, of that, you and Charlie Chamber.
Remember we talked about it?
Oh, you bet I do.
Do I ever.
You fellows probably didn't think anything was going to happen either.
Shows you we do things down there, don't we?
That's right.
You've got to hand John Connolly a lot on this, too, you know.
He's a fighter.
The final vote was 68 to 26.
Good.
All right, thank you.
You bet.

NARA Description

On December 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Robert P. Griffin, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:15 pm to 5:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-084 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 16-84

Date: December 10, 1971
Time: 5:15 pm - 5:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Robert Griffin.

The President conferred with an unknown person [H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman?].

[See Conversation No. 636-9B]

     Appointment
          -William Rehnquist
                -Senate vote
                     -Compared to Louis D. Brandeis and Charles Evans Hughes
                     -Clark MacGregor
     Senate
          -President’s veto [Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1971]
                -Possible sustenance
                -House of Representatives
          -Tax bill
                -Charles J. Chamberlain
                -John B. Connally
                -Vote

Also recorded on December 10, 1971

  • 016-082 4:36 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Arthur F. Burns talked on the telephone from 4:36 pm to 4:42 pm.
  • 016-083 4:42 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:42 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 636-009 5:11 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:11 pm to 5:34 pm.
  • 016-085 5:17 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:17 pm.
  • 016-086 5:18 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William H. Rehnquist talked on the telephone from 5:18 pm to 5:20 pm.
  • 016-087 5:20 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 7:53 pm.
  • 636-010 5:34 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 5:38 pm.
  • 636-011 5:38 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jerrold L. Schecter met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:38 pm to 6:27 pm.

All 75 conversations from December 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 016-084, December 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-084 (accessed October 5, 2026).