{"conversationCode":"043-159","tapeNumber":43,"conversationNumber":159,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-043-159","startDateTime":"1973-02-21T23:47:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-02-21T23:53:00.000Z","startDate":"21-Feb-1973","startTime":"6:47 PM","endDate":"21-Feb-1973","endTime":"6:53 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","description":"On February 21, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:47 pm to 6:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-159 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.3","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part III","chronReleaseDate":"23-Jun-2009","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 43-159\n\nDate: February 21, 1973\nTime: 6:47 pm - 6:53 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe president talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n\n       Robert H. Finch\n\f                                             -91-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                           Conversation No. 43-159 (cont’d)\n\n             -Location\n             -Unknown woman\n                  -People's Republic of China [PRC]\n                  -Acceptance of position","filename":["043-159.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"043-158","nextCode":"043-160","transcript":[{"start":0.44,"end":1.3,"text":"Mr. Haldeman, sir."},{"start":1.82,"end":2.86,"text":"Hello."},{"start":2.88,"end":6.12,"text":"I was wondering if you had been able to get Finch yet."},{"start":8.09,"end":11.89,"text":"Well, then, maybe I had better call him."},{"start":12.25,"end":12.99,"text":"No, let me get him."},{"start":13.01,"end":16.54,"text":"But he's going from Riverside to San Diego or San Diego to Riverside."},{"start":16.58,"end":17.3,"text":"I don't know which."},{"start":17.84,"end":29.5,"text":"Well, you think maybe, though, if I called him, that might have more of an effect on him, just to say that this is the way it is and want him to cooperate on it."},{"start":32.48,"end":36.25,"text":"Well, this poses no problem to me."},{"start":36.27,"end":37.05,"text":"I can talk."},{"start":37.07,"end":41.05,"text":"Yeah, but I don't think you should get in... Well, there's no problem with doing it."},{"start":41.09,"end":42.86,"text":"I don't think you should get into it, though."},{"start":44.12,"end":56.98,"text":"Okay, well, then you follow through, and then I tell him that, look, we've got a very difficult problem here, and that she cannot be in an agency that we're going to, you know, cut down."},{"start":57.4,"end":57.6,"text":"Right."},{"start":57.9,"end":58.76,"text":"And that..."},{"start":59.28,"end":75.98,"text":"On the other hand, this other thing is an enormous opportunity, particularly you can tell him that there's going to be a big announcement on China tomorrow and that I will arrange for her to go over there in the summer, which will be a hell of a big thing for her."},{"start":76.6,"end":77.06,"text":"Absolutely."},{"start":77.08,"end":80.51,"text":"And he just ought to hold it out to her and tell her she should take it, and that's what we want her to do."},{"start":81.53,"end":81.63,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":81.65,"end":82.39,"text":"Okay."},{"start":82.41,"end":82.67,"text":"Okay."},{"start":82.69,"end":85.25,"text":"We'll do it."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinate the recruitment of an unnamed woman for a new position, agreeing that Haldeman should manage the negotiation to distance the President from the personnel matter. They identify the need to move her out of an agency facing impending budget cuts and into a more prestigious role. To incentivize her acceptance, Nixon instructs Haldeman to highlight an upcoming major announcement regarding the People's Republic of China and a promised summer trip there.","topics":["Personnel management","People's Republic of China","Diplomacy","H. R. Haldeman","Robert H. Finch"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T06:38:23.792Z"},"topicSlugs":["personnel-management","peoples-republic-of-china","diplomacy","h-r-haldeman","robert-h-finch"],"audioDurationSec":90,"audioFiles":[{"file":"043-159.mp3","bytes":2164158,"durationSec":90.04,"bitrate":192284,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:30.403Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:43.864Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/043-159.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-159","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/43/conversation-043-159","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}