{"conversationCode":"027-062","tapeNumber":27,"conversationNumber":62,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-027-062","startDateTime":"1972-07-25T21:45:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-07-25T21:54:00.000Z","startDate":"25-Jul-1972","startTime":"5:45 PM","endDate":"25-Jul-1972","endTime":"5:54 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\"); MacGregor, Clark;","description":"On July 25, 1972, H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman and Clark MacGregor talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:54 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 027-062 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":4,"chronRelease":"Fourth Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"10-Dec-2003","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 27-62\n\nDate: July 25, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 5:45 pm and 5:54 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nH. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with Clark MacGregor.\n\n[See Conversation No. 753-8F]\n\n     Thomas F. Eagleton\n         -Press conference\n                -Health\n                    -Treatment\n                    -George S. McGovern's knowledge\n                        -Nomination as Vice President\n                    -MacGregor's awareness\n                        -Documentation\n                    -History of treatment\n                        -1960-1966 period\n                        -Johns Hopkins Hospital\n\n     The President's instructions for campaign staff\n          -MacGregor's forthcoming call to Frederic V. Malek\n\n*****************************************************************\n\nBEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1\n[Personal returnable]\n[Duration: 29s ]\n\nEND WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1\n\n*****************************************************************","filename":["027-062.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")","MacGregor, Clark"],"prevCode":"027-061","nextCode":"027-063","transcript":[{"start":0.45,"end":1.57,"text":"Mr. Howardman?"},{"start":1.79,"end":1.93,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":1.95,"end":2.98,"text":"Mr. McGregor on the phone."},{"start":3,"end":5.08,"text":"Thank you."},{"start":5.1,"end":5.36,"text":"Clark?"},{"start":5.38,"end":6.02,"text":"Yes, Bob."},{"start":6.2,"end":11.14,"text":"I just wanted to be sure, President, wanted to be sure that you've seen the Eagleton news, I assume."},{"start":11.36,"end":11.94,"text":"No, I have not."},{"start":12.26,"end":12.69,"text":"You haven't?"},{"start":12.74,"end":14.27,"text":"I've been closeted here for an hour and a half."},{"start":14.65,"end":15.23,"text":"Oh, Jesus."},{"start":15.31,"end":22.29,"text":"Well, Eagleton went out and had a press conference today and announced that he had been hospitalized three times for mental disorders."},{"start":22.49,"end":22.71,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":22.89,"end":25.54,"text":"That he had had electric shock treatment and psychotherapy."},{"start":26.2,"end":26.44,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":26.58,"end":26.8,"text":"And..."},{"start":27.71,"end":31.41,"text":"that he had not told McGovern this, and McGovern had not known it when he nominated him."},{"start":32.91,"end":32.99,"text":"Yep."},{"start":33.01,"end":34.8,"text":"It's rather a devastating blow."},{"start":34.91,"end":35.42,"text":"It sure is."},{"start":35.9,"end":38.82,"text":"I don't know whether you knew this, Bob, but I knew that this was the case."},{"start":38.84,"end":39.74,"text":"I'd seen the face sheet."},{"start":39.76,"end":41.54,"text":"I think I indicated it to you."},{"start":41.68,"end":42.48,"text":"Right."},{"start":42.51,"end":42.59,"text":"Yep."},{"start":42.6,"end":44.57,"text":"Now, this is all between 60 and 66."},{"start":44.61,"end":47.53,"text":"Have you seen anything that he's been hospitalized since 66?"},{"start":47.59,"end":48.31,"text":"No, I haven't."},{"start":49.33,"end":53.9,"text":"Okay, because there's some report that he was also in Johns Hopkins after, in the last year or two."},{"start":54.91,"end":55.87,"text":"That I do not know."},{"start":56.01,"end":58.59,"text":"And he left that out, and if that's true, then he lied."},{"start":58.91,"end":64.88,"text":"Now, what I do know is, I think I indicated to you it was 67, and I guess it was 66."},{"start":64.9,"end":65.83,"text":"60, 64, and 66."},{"start":65.84,"end":68.45,"text":"Yeah, it was the 66 hospital face sheet that I saw."},{"start":68.95,"end":69.05,"text":"Okay."},{"start":69.59,"end":71.15,"text":"Well, he was in three times."},{"start":71.17,"end":73,"text":"I don't think we should make any comments, should we?"},{"start":73.02,"end":82.31,"text":"Well, what the president wants everybody to say is that the president has given instructions that he never, none of us, have any comment on any personal matter."},{"start":82.37,"end":83.31,"text":"Right, right."},{"start":84.08,"end":93.82,"text":"But it should be, make the point, the President has instructed all of us that he's always had the policy that there's never a comment on a personal matter in a campaign."},{"start":93.98,"end":94.18,"text":"Good."},{"start":94.78,"end":95.02,"text":"Okay."},{"start":95.04,"end":100.87,"text":"I'll call Malik right away and make sure that throughout the whole 1701 establishment we say exactly..."},{"start":100.89,"end":101.41,"text":"Put the lid on."},{"start":101.53,"end":101.73,"text":"Right."},{"start":102.15,"end":102.35,"text":"Good."},{"start":102.65,"end":102.99,"text":"Will do."},{"start":103.16,"end":103.58,"text":"Okay."},{"start":103.74,"end":104.76,"text":"I think it had to come out."},{"start":105.12,"end":105.54,"text":"Sure did."},{"start":105.66,"end":108.52,"text":"Eagleton knew that medical teams were..."},{"start":109.06,"end":125.43,"text":"probing and that this information was leaking but it is an absolutely devastating thing of course"}],"aiSummary":{"text":"H. R. Haldeman and Clark MacGregor discussed the breaking news that Democratic vice-presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton had disclosed a history of hospitalizations for mental health treatment, including electric shock therapy. MacGregor confirmed his prior awareness of Eagleton’s medical records and noted reports of a potential additional hospitalization at Johns Hopkins that Eagleton failed to mention. To manage the political fallout, Haldeman relayed the President's strict instructions for the campaign staff to maintain a policy of silence regarding the matter.","topics":["Thomas F. Eagleton","1972 Presidential Campaign","Mental Health","George McGovern","Campaign Strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T03:25:51.337Z"},"topicSlugs":["thomas-f-eagleton","1972-presidential-campaign","mental-health","george-mcgovern","campaign-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":129,"audioFiles":[{"file":"027-062.mp3","bytes":3100838,"durationSec":129.13,"bitrate":192101,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:28.084Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:39.273Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/027-062.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/027-062","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/27/conversation-027-062","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}