Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-093

Nixon, Connally & Rossides on Secret Service and George Wallace

Monday, May 15, 1972 · 5:52 PM–5:58 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsWhite House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Connally, John B.; Rossides, Eugene T.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation024-093 on Tape 24 (tape position 01:43:01–01:45:54)StartMonday, May 15, 1972 at 5:52 PMEndMonday, May 15, 1972 at 5:58 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-093 ↗

AI Summary

Following the assassination attempt on Governor George Wallace, President Nixon and John Connally directed Treasury official Eugene Rossides to immediately assign Secret Service protection to various presidential candidates. Connally coordinated the dispatch of agents to Edward Kennedy and Shirley Chisholm, while also instructing Rossides to provide a reduced security detail for other candidates like Wilbur Mills and Patsy Mink. The participants further discussed the status of other candidates' travel plans and the logistics for releasing official statements regarding these expanded protective measures.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Mr. Rossetti.
Just a minute.
Gene.
There you are.
Gene.
Yes, sir.
I'm still in the president's office, and I've just talked to Ted Kennedy, and I have offered him protection, and I want you or Chief Riley to get a hold of him.
He's at home.
Right.
And you all get the agents on him tonight.
Will do.
What about Chisholm?
She's in Akron, Ohio.
The whole train, the man is calling, and now he's back.
You call her and tell her she's got it.
Fine.
But you call her.
We don't need to call her.
Right.
I'll call her.
Now, on the others, on...
The others would be Mills...
Uh, then there's Congresswoman Mink is still technically, uh... Well...
He's McCarthy.
Oh, not McCarthy.
But you talk, you talk to, uh, Riley, and you all decide we might put two or three people with him, just a minimum, just if they're traveling or something.
Mark Mills.
Yeah.
And, uh, Mink.
And Yorty and, uh, Muskie.
Muskie's still got his, hasn't he?
Yes, he still has his.
And Jackson.
So on.
Jackson still has his.
Yes.
But a reduced number.
Yeah, yeah.
Give the others a very reduced number, too, but go on and do it.
My turn.
And you take care of Chisholm.
We're going to announce Kennedy from over here, but you or Riley get a hold of him immediately at his home and tell him the agents are on their way and let's get it.
Now, he wants to take them on a temporary basis.
You want to take them on a temporary basis?
Subject to change, and I said that's fine.
And then I'll call Mrs. Chisholm.
You call Mrs. Chisholm and tell her that the president has ordered that notwithstanding she doesn't qualify under the criteria, as we understand it, that the president has ordered that she be given protection.
Right.
Do we put out any statements by you?
Yeah, you can put out a statement on her.
You can put out the statement from the Treasury over there.
They'll put out the statement from the White House.
The statement from Kennedy will be put out over here, but we'll put out the statement over there.
We're low-key, but the President has directed me, as Secretary of the Treasury, to offer protection to Ms. Chisholm.
Thirdly, we've traced the gun of a .38 Caliber V.
Any further word on his condition?
No further word on the condition.
Secretary, we just have no further word.
Now, you know, maybe Humphrey is either at the hospital or on his way to the hospital to see Governor Wallace.
Yeah.
McGovern is going to hold a press conference, and then he will go from Detroit to the hospital.
Yeah.
Okay.
I want to add that just in case any... Well, God Almighty.
All right.
But those two are... Humphrey's probably there, and McGovern's on his way.
Okay.
All right.
Bye.

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 5:52 pm and 5:58 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-093 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 24-93

Date: May 15, 1972
Time: Unknown between 5:52 pm and 5:58 pm
Location: White House Telephone

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

[See also Conversation No. 724-8J]

     Eugene T. Rossides

John B. Connally talked with Rossides at an unknown time between 5:52 and 5:58 pm; the
President can be heard in the background.

     Candidate protection
         -Edward M. Kennedy
               -Connally's offer
                     -Request for a call to Kennedy from Rossides or James J. Rowley
               -Assignment of agents
         -Shirley Chisholm
               -Rossides's call
         -Wilbur D. Mills
         -Patsy T. Mink
         -Eugene J. McCarthy
         -Rossides and Rowley
               -Assignment of agents

          -Mills
          -Mink
          -Samuel W. Yorty
          -Edward S. Muskie
          -Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
               -Agents
          -Number of agents
          -Chisholm
          -Kennedy
               -Announcement
               -Arrangements
          -Chisholm
               -The President's orders
               -Statement release
          -Kennedy
               -Statement release

     Assassination attempt on George C. Wallace
          -Weapon
                -Type
                -Purchaser
          -Wallace's condition
          -Hubert H. Humphrey
                -Location
          -George S. McGovern
                -Press conference
                -Location

Also recorded on May 15, 1972

  • 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.
  • 024-087 5:24 PM · 2 min — 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.
  • 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.
  • 024-090 5:41 PM · 11 sec — the White House operator and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:41 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 024-091 5:41 PM · 3 min — the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, and Edward M. Kennedy talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:41 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 024-092 5:52 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:52 pm and 5:54 pm.

All 44 conversations from May 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 024-093, 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/024-093 (accessed October 9, 2026).