{"conversationCode":"019-114","tapeNumber":19,"conversationNumber":114,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-019-114","startDateTime":"1972-01-26T21:01:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-01-26T21:20:00.000Z","startDate":"26-Jan-1972","startTime":"4:01 PM","endDate":"26-Jan-1972","endTime":"4:20 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\"); Carruthers, William H.;","description":"On January 26, 1972, H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman and William H. Carruthers talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:01 pm and 4:20 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 019-114 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 19-114\n\nDate: January 26, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 4:01 pm and 4:20 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nH. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with William H. Carruthers.\n\n[See Conversation No. 318-3H]\n\n     The President's January 25, 1972 speech on Vietnam\n          -The President's delivery\n               -Pace\n\n           -The President's physical appearance\n                -Florida\n           -The President's delivery\n                -Pace\n                -Reaction\n           -Construction\n                -The President’s confidence\n           -Compared to the President's first economic message\n           -Camera angle","filename":["019-114.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")","Carruthers, William H."],"prevCode":"019-113","nextCode":"019-115","transcript":[{"start":0.99,"end":1.79,"text":"Hello."},{"start":1.81,"end":2.82,"text":"I have Mr. Kurevich."},{"start":2.86,"end":3.22,"text":"Thank you."},{"start":4.36,"end":5.08,"text":"Bill, Bob Haldeman."},{"start":5.22,"end":5.64,"text":"Hi, Bob."},{"start":5.66,"end":6.02,"text":"How are you?"},{"start":6.06,"end":6.32,"text":"Fine."},{"start":6.66,"end":12.95,"text":"I wanted to get your view on how you thought the thing looked last night and what you thought of the president's delivery and all."},{"start":13.35,"end":14.17,"text":"Oh, he was excellent."},{"start":14.84,"end":17.18,"text":"Rarely seen him better than he was last night."},{"start":17.34,"end":17.72,"text":"Why?"},{"start":17.88,"end":18.64,"text":"Because we were curious."},{"start":18.66,"end":21.93,"text":"A lot of people said that, and we were curious as to what was different that made it better."},{"start":22.35,"end":26.71,"text":"Well, my feeling was this, that his delivery was very, very comfortable."},{"start":26.95,"end":28.99,"text":"And he did not rush himself."},{"start":29.01,"end":35.96,"text":"You know, I think I've said on several memos to you in the past that I felt he was trying to jam too much language into too short a time."},{"start":36.1,"end":36.62,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":36.64,"end":37.92,"text":"It did not appear that way."},{"start":37.94,"end":41.41,"text":"He seemed to have total confidence in what he was doing."},{"start":41.43,"end":44.03,"text":"And I think it was just the overall pacing."},{"start":44.93,"end":45.29,"text":"I see."},{"start":45.37,"end":46.33,"text":"His own pacing."},{"start":47.27,"end":50.3,"text":"The speed he was actually delivering the material at."},{"start":52.12,"end":52.26,"text":"Mm-hmm."},{"start":52.65,"end":58.37,"text":"Sometimes he gets on and he seems to want to rush, and it makes you feel like he wants to get it over with."},{"start":58.91,"end":63.42,"text":"And he makes mistakes, you know, jamming too many words into a short period of time."},{"start":63.44,"end":67.82,"text":"But that was so relaxed and so comfortable and yet totally confident."},{"start":68.28,"end":68.86,"text":"And he looked good."},{"start":69.22,"end":70.47,"text":"I mean, he really looked good."},{"start":70.55,"end":72.01,"text":"He looked like he'd had some rest."},{"start":72.23,"end":74.15,"text":"You mean look good physically?"},{"start":74.49,"end":75.15,"text":"Yeah, physically."},{"start":75.37,"end":77.01,"text":"Not the picture or anything?"},{"start":77.03,"end":78.38,"text":"You mean just the president looked good?"},{"start":78.39,"end":79.3,"text":"The president looked good."},{"start":79.68,"end":83,"text":"Well, that's probably, you know, a weekend in Florida helps there, too."},{"start":83.03,"end":83.72,"text":"Boy, I'll say."},{"start":84.43,"end":84.93,"text":"I'll say."},{"start":86.29,"end":96.1,"text":"I really think if there is any one comment that I could make that really made it work for him was the pacing at which he delivered the material."},{"start":96.64,"end":96.98,"text":"I see."},{"start":97.36,"end":97.72,"text":"Okay."},{"start":97.88,"end":101.8,"text":"You know, we're always working against the clock, Bob, in this business."},{"start":102.31,"end":103.95,"text":"He's the one guy who doesn't have to."},{"start":103.97,"end":104.55,"text":"Doesn't have to."},{"start":104.59,"end":105.37,"text":"That's right."},{"start":105.35,"end":110.68,"text":"You know, it's his time, and he can take his own damn sweet time with how much time he wants to deliver the material."},{"start":110.8,"end":111.02,"text":"Right."},{"start":112.03,"end":118.36,"text":"So that would be your evaluation of why there's been this reaction that this was..."},{"start":119.02,"end":121.32,"text":"you know, better delivery than some of the others."},{"start":121.46,"end":124.36,"text":"Yeah, and I also think it was a brilliantly constructed speech."},{"start":124.38,"end":127.83,"text":"I don't know whether he wrote it or he had assistants writing it or what happened."},{"start":127.85,"end":128.97,"text":"Yeah, well, I think you're right."},{"start":128.99,"end":131.41,"text":"The construction of the material was excellent."},{"start":131.47,"end":135.98,"text":"It was so clear and so concise and step-by-step he laid it out."},{"start":136.8,"end":139.5,"text":"And he appeared to have a great deal of confidence in the material."},{"start":139.52,"end":139.8,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":140.97,"end":141.25,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":141.75,"end":142.07,"text":"Okay."},{"start":142.77,"end":143.19,"text":"Very good."},{"start":143.27,"end":146.27,"text":"Well, that's basically what we're trying to figure out."},{"start":146.45,"end":147.01,"text":"Okay."},{"start":147.31,"end":147.78,"text":"Get a..."},{"start":148.41,"end":149.41,"text":"An expert opinion."},{"start":149.46,"end":150.96,"text":"Wish it could be like that all the time."},{"start":151.02,"end":151.84,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":152.56,"end":152.8,"text":"Really."},{"start":153.06,"end":161.77,"text":"You know, that and the first economic message are the two best performances he's delivered since I have been involved with him."},{"start":161.79,"end":162.62,"text":"And it's totally him."},{"start":162.78,"end":165.82,"text":"There's nothing we do to make him work that way."},{"start":165.84,"end":166.04,"text":"Right."},{"start":166.64,"end":170.87,"text":"So you don't feel there were any technical differences that had any effect at all?"},{"start":170.89,"end":171.79,"text":"Not essentially, no."},{"start":171.95,"end":174.5,"text":"I think the camera angle was a little high last night."},{"start":174.51,"end":174.78,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":175.29,"end":178.54,"text":"Uh, he's now beginning to get a little jowly."},{"start":179.71,"end":184.96,"text":"And, uh, the camera level seemed just a hair above eye level, about where we would normally put it."},{"start":184.98,"end":188.12,"text":"But I think we ought to start considering dropping it down a little bit."},{"start":188.14,"end":188.48,"text":"Oh, I agree."},{"start":188.93,"end":192.39,"text":"That'd show a little bit more neck and a little less jowl."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"H. R. Haldeman consulted media consultant William H. Carruthers to evaluate the President’s televised address regarding Vietnam. Carruthers praised the President’s relaxed pacing, confident delivery, and physical appearance, attributing the success to a deliberate, unhurried speaking style. The pair concluded that technical presentation was secondary to the President’s performance, though they decided to lower future camera angles to better manage his appearance on screen.","topics":["Richard Nixon","Vietnam Speech","Media Consultation","Public Relations","Television Production","Presidential Image"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T01:45:30.733Z"},"topicSlugs":["richard-nixon","vietnam-speech","media-consultation","public-relations","television-production","presidential-image"],"audioDurationSec":220,"audioFiles":[{"file":"019-114.mp3","bytes":5281331,"durationSec":219.99,"bitrate":192054,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:24.938Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/019-114.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/019-114","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/19/conversation-019-114","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}