Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-018

Nixon, Haldeman & Butterfield on Melvin Laird and Communication coordination

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 9:45 PM–9:57 PM ET · White House Telephone · 28 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation024-018 on Tape 24 (tape position 00:17:12–00:17:40)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 9:45 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 9:57 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-018 ↗

AI Summary

Alexander Butterfield contacted H. R. Haldeman to facilitate a phone call from Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird to President Nixon. Haldeman consulted with the President, who initially declined to speak with Laird before reversing his decision and requesting that the call be patched through. The exchange functioned as a brief coordination effort to connect the Secretary of Defense with the President regarding his recent absence from the Pentagon.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Who's this?
This is Bob Haldeman.
Who's calling?
Oh, Bob Haldeman.
Alex, hi.
It's me.
What do you want?
I don't want anything.
I've got you by mistake.
Oh, you just rang the president.
Are you with the president?
Yeah.
Well, Mel Laird is calling in, and I thought the president might want to talk to him.
I think he was called to the Pentagon and wants to explain to the president.
Just a second.
Laird's calling in to explain why he wasn't there.
You don't need to talk to him, do you?
No, I won't.
You want to talk to him?
Yeah.
Okay, ring him through.
Okay, I can do that.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:45 pm and 9:57 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 24-18

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:45 pm and 9:57 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Alexander P. Butterfield talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

[See also Conversation No. 336-69B]

     Request for a call to the President
         -Call from Melvin R. Laird
                -Purpose

Haldeman conferred with the President at an unknown time.

[See Conversation No. 336-69]

[End of conferral]

     Laird's call
          -Completion

Also recorded on May 9, 1972

  • 101-004 9:44 PM · 1 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 9:44 pm on May 8, 1972 and 11:03 am on May 16, 1972.
  • 101-006 9:44 PM · 2 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 9:44 pm on May 8, 1972 and 11:03 am on May 16, 1972.
  • 101-008 9:44 PM · 2 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 9:44 pm on May 8, 1972 and 11:03 am on May 16, 1972.
  • 336-069 9:45 PM · 1 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Alexander P. Butterfield, Melvin R. Laird, White House operator, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo, Charles W. Colson, [David] Kenneth Rush, Ronald L. Ziegler, George Meany, Edward R. F. Cox, William F. ("Billy") Graham, and Lawrence M. Higby met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:45 pm to 11:22 pm.
  • 024-019 9:57 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 9:57 pm to 10:00 pm.
  • 024-020 10:00 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:00 pm and 10:04 pm.
  • 024-021 10:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 10:04 pm to 10:06 pm.
  • 024-022 10:23 PM · 9 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:23 pm and 10:42 pm.

All 96 conversations from May 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 024-018, May 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/024-018 (accessed October 9, 2026).