Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 35 › Conversation 035-149

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Vietnam negotiations and Public relations

Thursday, January 11, 1973 · 6:07 PM–6:10 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation035-149 on Tape 35StartThursday, January 11, 1973 at 6:07 PMEndThursday, January 11, 1973 at 6:10 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 035-149 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinate the logistical details and public relations strategy for the President's upcoming departure for Florida. They determine that Nixon will depart on Friday afternoon to work on his inaugural address, a decision intended to minimize press and staff speculation regarding ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations in Paris. By maintaining a routine appearance of working on speeches, the President seeks to avoid revealing his preoccupation with developments involving Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig.

Audio

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NARA Description

On January 11, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:07 pm to 6:10 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 035-149 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 35-149

Date: January 11, 1973
Time: 6:07 pm - 6:10 pm
Location: White House Telephone

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

       The President's schedule
            -The President's departure for Florida
                  -Timing
                         -January 12, 1973
                               -Compared to January 13, 1973
                  -Haldeman’s conversation with Alexander M. Haig, Jr. and Col. Richard T.
                   Kennedy
                         -Meeting [with Henry A. Kissinger]
                  -Reception for Chinese [Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe]
                         -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
                  -Helicopter
                  -Inaugural Address
                         -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                  -Haig
                  -Kissinger
                         -Vietnam negotiations
                               -Paris
                  -Ronald L. Ziegler’s announcement
                         -Timing
                  -Timing
                  -Sensitivities
                         -White House staff, press relations
                  -Timing

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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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no yes sir i was thinking it's a compromise uh why don't they go down tomorrow afternoon say around four o'clock or 4 30 or so you know it's the close of close of the day do you see any problem with that no i don't think so i mean it's no different really than going saturday at noon you know we uh yeah finish the day here okay i i uh
Covered the thing with, actually, Hig was over, going over the stuff with Kennedy, so I covered the thing with both of them.
They thought this was a very good idea to go down there and be met there, right?
You see, if I'm there, you see, I'll be here all day Friday, and I'll drop by this Chinese reception Pat is having for a minute.
And I just get on the helicopter, say I'm going to Florida to work on the inaugural and other speeches, and Ray Price goes along, see?
Right.
Nobody's going to give it a hell of a lot of thought.
On that basis, then, you probably should not take Haig along.
No, that's right.
And then I'm going to do that.
They know I've got to work on it.
They know I just can't wait with bated breath until I hear from Henry.
And they'll think nothing's happening in Paris as a result of that.
And then the next day, Ron will announce that... At the right time.
I really think that...
Give me the night there and the day I start on the thing.
Because you're going to have a full day, which is a day up because Sunday you're going to have to work.
Right.
So what I had in mind was around 4.30 or so.
Okay.
Good.
If you think badly of it, it's all right, but I just think we ought to...
I think that we have so often compromised everything I've done for four years in terms of what the hell somebody else is going to think.
It wouldn't make sense.
And what's how the staff's going to feel and what about the press and all the rest.
Maybe you just ought to do it my way once.
Going that way, I think, is no problem.
Huh?
Do you think so?
Yep.
Good.
Okay.
We'll set it up.
All right, 430.
Right on.
Or we'll say 430 or, yeah.
We'll say 430.
430.
All right, fine.
Okay.

Also recorded on January 11, 1973

  • 035-142 4:35 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 5:02 pm.
  • 402-001 4:35 PM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, William T. Kendall, White House operator, Manolo Sanchez, Claude S. Brinegar, Harry S. Dent, George P. Shultz, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 035-143 5:02 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Christopher S. Bond talked on the telephone from 5:02 pm to 5:03 pm.
  • 035-144 5:03 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:03 pm and 5:10 pm.
  • 035-145 5:10 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Frederick B. Dent talked on the telephone from 5:10 pm to 5:11 pm.
  • 035-146 5:11 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:11 pm and 5:12 pm.
  • 035-147 5:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 5:12 pm to 5:13 pm.
  • 035-148 5:30 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 6:07 pm.

All 63 conversations from January 11, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 035-149, January 11, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/035-149 (accessed November 2, 2026).