Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-087

Nixon, Haldeman & Connally on Secret Service and Candidate protection

Monday, May 15, 1972 · 5:24 PM–5:30 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsWhite House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Connally, John B.; Rossides, Eugene T.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation024-087 on Tape 24 (tape position 01:34:53–01:36:52)StartMonday, May 15, 1972 at 5:24 PMEndMonday, May 15, 1972 at 5:30 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-087 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, H.R. Haldeman, John Connally, and Eugene Rossides discussed the immediate expansion of Secret Service protection for presidential candidates following the assassination attempt on George Wallace. The group specifically evaluated the security needs of Edward M. Kennedy and Shirley Chisholm, while dismissing candidates deemed inactive. Nixon ordered that protection details be prepared for both Kennedy and Chisholm, pending further investigation into the status of other potential candidates.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Oh, yes, sir.
Mr. OCD is on the line.
Just a minute, please.
Jean.
Yes, sir.
Get a hold of Chief Riley and let's get a detail on Kennedy tonight.
And I'm going to announce it over here, I think, or have Ron... Shirley Chisholm's office called a few minutes ago and requesting protection.
She's arriving in about, I don't know when, at the airport here.
And it raises the issue of the other potentials, Shirley and a couple of others that may be... One thing is to request, whether you want to add Shirley...
uh on a temporary basis well wait a minute wait a minute charlie children's office call she's asking for protection now i guess let's do the kennedy first let's do kennedy and we can well the question is whether or not we want to do kennedy first or do two of them together or
Who else is left out?
You've got Mills and then you've got Ashbrook.
Ashbrook's not an active candidate.
Mills is not an active candidate.
But Shirley is.
Shirley Chisholm is.
And it would just be Shirley.
Yorty's out, really.
Yorty's out.
And they're talking Chisholm a lot more on the paper.
All right, run down the list.
Call the chief and tell him to be prepared on Kennedy and Chisholm both.
Right.
Fine, Mr. Secretary.
Okay, I may call you back.
Any more recent information?
No, no more recent.
We're setting it up so we get the report in a few minutes.
All right, get some and call us over here.
Right, sir.

NARA Description

On May 15, 1972, the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, Eugene T. Rossides, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:24 pm and 5:30 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-087 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 24-87

Date: May 15, 1972
Time: Unknown between 5:24 pm and 5:30 pm
Location: White House Telephone

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

[See also Conversation No. 724-8D]

     Eugene T. Rossides

John B. Connally talked with Rossides at an unknown time.

     Secret Service
          -Candidate protection
                -James J. Rowley
                -Edward M. Kennedy
                      -Announcement
                           -Ronald L. Ziegler
                -Shirley Chisholm
                      -Request for protection
                -Other possible requests

Connally conferred with Haldeman and the President at an unknown time.

[See Conversation No. 724-8]

[End of conferral]

     Secret Service
          -Candidate protection
                -Wilbur D. Mills
                -John M. Ashbrook
                -Chisholm
                -Samuel W. Yorty
                -Chisholm
                -Kennedy
                -Chisholm

     George C. Wallace
         -Assassination attempt
               -Information
                     -Reports

Also recorded on May 15, 1972

  • 024-083 5:10 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:10 pm to 5:13 pm.
  • 724-007 5:14 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:14 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 024-084 5:16 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:16 pm and 5:21 pm.
  • 724-008 5:16 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, John B. Connally, Ronald L. Ziegler, Cornelia Wallace, Edward M. Kennedy, Eugene T. Rossides, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:16 pm to 6:06 pm.
  • 024-085 5:21 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:21 pm to 5:23 pm.
  • 024-086 5:24 PM · 10 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:24 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 024-088 5:30 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 5:38 pm.
  • 024-089 5:38 PM · 3 min — the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, President Richard M. Nixon, and Cornelia Wallace talked on the telephone from 5:38 pm to 5:41 pm.

All 44 conversations from May 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 024-087, May 15, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/024-087 (accessed October 9, 2026).