Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 22 › Conversation 022-028

Haldeman & Finch on ITT case and Dita D. Beard

Monday, March 27, 1972 · 11:11 AM–12:06 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Finch, Robert H.Conversation022-028 on Tape 22 (tape position 01:02:10–01:03:22)StartMonday, March 27, 1972 at 11:11 AMEndMonday, March 27, 1972 at 12:06 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 022-028 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman queried Robert H. Finch to definitively clarify his involvement with ITT executives amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Dita D. Beard. Finch categorically denied placing any calls to ITT regarding the San Diego matter or communicating with William R. Merriam or Edward J. Gerrity, Jr. regarding the specific allegations raised by Beard. He confirmed only having past, unrelated discussions with the company concerning expropriation issues in Chile, while suggesting that Robert C. Wilson was the primary point of contact for ITT’s actions.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Bob, just wanting to check this thing out absolutely certainly, you didn't call ITT on anything on the San Diego thing, did you?
Never.
Never talked to anybody.
That's what you had said before.
With the ITT company.
When was that, and at what point in time?
Oh, Lord, that was just before I went to Latin America.
That was well after the convention had all been determined.
That was purely to talk about their expropriation problems.
Yeah.
No, I never talked to anybody.
And you never have called any of them?
No, no, no.
I mean, talking about telephone... Like Miriam or Garrity specifically, this thing that Dita Beard's talking about?
Not at all.
Neither with...
I mean, just never had any conversations, period.
Telephone or they initiated or I initiated.
Yeah.
Do you think Herb did?
No, I would think Wilson was the one who kept all the action.
I've never discussed it with her.
Yeah.
Okay.
Thanks.

NARA Description

On March 27, 1972, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Robert H. Finch talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 022-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 22-28

Date: March 27, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:11 am and 12:04 pm
Location: White House operator

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with Robert H. Finch.

     International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] case
           -Finch calls to ITT
                 -San Diego
                 -Finch’s denial
           -Dita D. Beard
                 -Request for call to Finch
                       -Meeting of ITT executives and Finch
                             -Finch’s Latin American trip
                             -Chile
           -Finch calls to ITT
                 -William R. Merriam and Edward J. Gerrity, Jr.
                       -Finch’s denial
                       -Content
                             -Beard
           -Possible calls to ITT
                 -Herbert G. Klein
                 -Robert C. Wilson

Also recorded on March 27, 1972

  • 022-024 10:55 AM · 46 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 11:11 am.
  • 327-006 10:55 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 2:53 pm.
  • 022-025 11:10 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 11:10 am to 11:11 am.
  • 022-026 11:11 AM · 1 min — Ronald L. Ziegler and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 022-027 11:11 AM · 25 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 022-029 11:11 AM · 4 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Herbert G. Klein talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 328-002 11:11 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:04 pm.
  • 328-003 12:04 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:04 pm and 12:06 pm.

All 35 conversations from March 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 022-028, March 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/022-028 (accessed October 12, 2026).