Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 34 › Conversation 034-140

Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on Murray Chotiner and 1972 Presidential Campaign

Wednesday, December 20, 1972 · 12:32 PM–12:33 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation034-140 on Tape 34StartWednesday, December 20, 1972 at 12:32 PMEndWednesday, December 20, 1972 at 12:33 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 034-140 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, and Stephen Bull discuss a request from Murray Chotiner for a personal meeting with the President. The group reviews Chotiner’s recent history with the administration, specifically noting his past criticisms of the 1972 campaign operations managed by Clark MacGregor. The discussion concludes with the President deciding to accommodate the request for a brief, personal meeting.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Mr. Haldeman, sir?
Yeah.
Hello.
Hello.
Yes, sir.
Oh, I, Steve came in, I took my C-Maria before I got up.
Do you know what, do I need any guidance on that?
I don't have any reading on it at all, except that he says it's purely personal and will only take a few minutes.
And actually, he is not seeking anything, doesn't want to, you know, has no problems or anything like that.
And I think it's, it's,
Just his feeling that he's, once every few years, he's got to get in.
To my knowledge, we've covered all of the things.
He doesn't have any beefs about the Stafford head at the moment, has he?
No, he had a lot of beefs during the campaign about the way it was being run.
He didn't like the McGregor operation and all.
Those were ironed out on specific grounds as they went along.
Would you make those two?
Some to me, some to Fred.
He worked well with Fred.
Fine.
Over there.
Okay.
All right.
All right.

NARA Description

On December 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 12:32 pm to 12:33 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 034-140 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 34-140

Date: December 20, 1972
Time: 12:32 pm - 12:33 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

       The President’s schedule
            -Murray Chotiner
                  -Stephen B. Bull
                  -Request for meeting
                         -Reason
                                -Personal
                  -1972 campaign
                         -Criticisms
                                -Clark MacGregor

Stephen B. Bull [?] entered at an unknown time after 12:32 pm.

                              -Frederic V. Malek
                                            -109-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on December 20, 1972

  • 392-003 12:18 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 392-004 12:18 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 034-139 12:29 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:29 pm.
  • 392-006 12:29 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:29 pm.
  • 392-007 12:32 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:32 pm.
  • 392-008 12:32 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:32 pm to 12:33 pm.
  • 034-141 12:33 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:33 pm and 12:47 pm.
  • 392-009 12:33 PM · 60 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:33 pm to 1:30 pm.

All 47 conversations from December 20, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 034-140, December 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/034-140 (accessed September 28, 2026).