Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-097

Haldeman & Kleindienst on George C. Wallace and Attempted assassination

Monday, May 15, 1972 · 6:45 PM–7:07 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsWhite House operator; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Kleindienst, Richard G.Conversation024-097 on Tape 24 (tape position 01:53:40–01:56:56)StartMonday, May 15, 1972 at 6:45 PMEndMonday, May 15, 1972 at 7:07 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-097 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman and President Nixon separately contacted Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst to coordinate the federal response to the attempted assassination of George C. Wallace. Expressing deep concern over potential intelligence gaps and negative media influence, the President urged Kleindienst to ensure the FBI secured immediate access to the suspect for interrogation. Kleindienst confirmed the suspects were in local custody and provided updated information regarding the identity of the assailants, ultimately agreeing to the President's directive to establish federal jurisdiction and expedite the transfer of custody to federal authorities.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
I am at the Kleindienstamm, at the Black Steers.
Dick, the President just talked to Ehrlichman, and he'll be calling you on, or Pat Gray, on getting the FBI into this thing.
We're concerned about not getting the identity and details on this guy.
You're concerned about what?
Getting the identity and details on the assailant.
Yeah, there were three of them.
Okay.
Hello?
Yeah.
Dick?
You probably have forgotten the Kennedy assassination, but the Secret Service was a wipeout.
It will be a wipeout this time.
I have directed that the FBI get into this case because there was a federal officer, a Secret Service man shot, second point.
Yeah, I did that five minutes after the gunshot.
Right.
But the main thing is, get somebody over there.
I think it should be Pat Gray, and if not Pat Gray, yourself.
with on our side who gets in and questions the son of a bitch before the left-wing press and the rest gets in and does it.
Do you understand?
On the assailant?
Yes.
Mr. President, I'll tell you what they're doing with him now.
What are they doing?
He's locked up in a jail and they've got a police cordon around the jail so nobody can get to him.
But my God, you mean nobody can go in and question him?
Why not?
Because of Miranda and all the rest?
Well, sure.
If you went in and questioned that kid right now, I think the best thing to do is to keep him isolated from everybody.
We've got to find out, though, what the situation is.
What do you mean?
You're going to put him there?
Does he have a lawyer?
Has he said who he is?
Does anybody know anything?
All you're depending upon is the Maryland police?
Now, good God, we've got a better FBI.
The FBI were out there 15 minutes after it occurred.
And what are they doing?
What have they found out?
They've investigated it.
They know the general identity of the person.
There were three teenage boys who were involved in the thing.
Why?
They have him in custody, and they are being, you know... What, the three teenage boys were doing something, too?
There were three people, three teenage boys who were involved in this, Mr. President.
What were they doing?
One of them had a gun, and the other two were with him.
Yeah, but I mean, this was the teenager that shot.
Yeah, yeah, that's our latest information.
Well, the thing that we got here at the White House was a 35-year-old man.
Yeah, that was incorrect, sir.
Incorrect.
They were teenagers, huh?
Yes, sir.
They're all under custody.
One of them was rather severely beaten.
All white?
All white.
There's no racial overtones involved.
Right.
And they are completely kept away.
There will be no reporters or anybody else like that.
That's the point.
You've got to be sure...
Let me say, the first news must not be in the Washington Post.
Now, just make sure of that.
God damn it, be sure that the FBI gets here before they do.
That's all I ask.
Any interview of that person right now, I think, would be impossible, Mr. President.
What are you going to do, just leave him there?
At the present time, until we establish that there's a federal offense, at which time we'll get out an indictment and we'll have them transferred.
But I think they're very well secured.
That was my latest information.
There's no federal... You don't consider it as a federal offense?
Yes, sir, it is.
Sure.
Well, then I'd establish it and get them out of there right away.
Okay.
Okay, sir.
Bye.
I've been working on it all.

NARA Description

On May 15, 1972, the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Richard G. Kleindienst talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:07 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-097 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 24-97

Date: May 15, 1972
Time: Unknown between 6:45 pm and 7:07 pm
Location: White House Telephone

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

[See also Conversation No. 339-3F]

     Richard G. Kleindienst's call
          -Location

Haldeman talked with Richard G. Kleindienst at an unknown time.

     Attack on George C. Wallace
          -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] investigation
               -The President's conversation with John D.
                Ehrlichman

                -Arrangements with L. Patrick Gray, III
                     -FBI
                -Identity of assailant

The President talked with Kleindienst at an unknown time; Haldeman can be heard in the
background.

          -Secret Service
                -John F. Kennedy's assassination
                      -Performance
          -FBI investigation
                -The President's orders
                      -Justification
                -Gray or Kleindienst
                      -Questioning of Arthur H. Bremer
          -Bremer
                -Location
                -Availability
                      -Isolation
                            -Reasons
                                   -Miranda vs. Arizona case
                -Custody
          -FBI
                -Results of investigation
                      -Arrest of three individuals
                            -Ages
                            -Race
                            -Actions
                            -Age of gunman
                            -Custody
                            -Race
                            -Isolation
                                   -Necessity
          -Assailants
                -FBI interview
                      -Press interviews
                            -Washington Post
                                   -The President’s view
                -Isolation
          -Jurisdiction
                -Federal charge

                -Transfer of custody

Also recorded on May 15, 1972

  • 024-094 6:33 PM · 35 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:33 pm and 6:45 pm.
  • 339-003 6:33 PM · 1 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, unknown person(s), James J. Rowley, John D. Ehrlichman, Richard G. Kleindienst, and Thomas J. Kelley met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:33 pm and 7:57 pm.
  • 024-095 6:45 PM · 6 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and James J. Rowley talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:07 pm.
  • 024-096 6:45 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:07 pm.
  • 024-098 6:45 PM · 9 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:07 pm.
  • 024-099 7:07 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:07 pm.
  • 024-100 7:07 PM · 3 min — Thomas J. Kelley, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:07 pm and 7:37 pm.
  • 024-101 7:07 PM · 36 sec — Charles W. Colson, White House operator, and Holly Holm talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:07 pm and 7:37 pm.

All 44 conversations from May 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 024-097, 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/024-097 (accessed October 9, 2026).