Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-176

Haldeman & Timmons on Fred Thompson and Howard H. Baker Jr.

Thursday, February 22, 1973 · 3:17 PM–4:04 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Timmons, William E.Conversation043-176 on Tape 43StartThursday, February 22, 1973 at 3:17 PMEndThursday, February 22, 1973 at 4:04 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-176 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman and William E. Timmons discuss the appointment of Fred Thompson as a staffer for the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. They evaluate Thompson’s lack of experience and weigh the implications of hiring George D. Webster to assist or advise the Republican side of the committee. The participants weigh potential titles for Webster, such as associate or co-counsel, in order to balance Republican influence against the perception of Thompson as a political lightweight.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Mr. Timmons out there.
Yes, hold on, please.
Hello.
Is this Fred Thompson, the young guy from Tennessee?
Yep.
He is.
Yep.
30 years old or 31, former assistant DA.
Yeah.
Do you know him?
Nope.
Howard is very high on him, but I don't know him.
I haven't bothered to check him out with anybody either.
Stuck with him now, huh?
Apparently so.
See, Howard's been very reluctant to talk on the telephone, although I talked to him personally last night and also to his guy.
that hold up, and I tried to push George Webster.
And they came back with it.
And they said, well, Howard's really big on this guy.
He's a tiger.
He'll do anything we want.
Yak, yak, yak, yak.
And I said, well, he's a lightweight.
He's going to be mismatched.
And they said, well, he's not going to ask any questions.
Howard's going to do all the questions.
Yak, yak, yak.
He said what they'd do on George Webster is make him an associate.
Well, will they still?
Yeah, I think so.
Well, that'd be good.
Now, I haven't talked to him again, but that's what they were going to do last night.
And I talked to Dean.
He says, God, you can't have a guy as heavy as Webster as an associate.
So I said, well, what about a consultant?
You know, he could be a consultant to the Republicans.
Same difference.
And he would overshadow this kid, I think.
Okay.
Okay.
Maybe they could make him co-counsel.
Maybe.
On the basis of knowing...
the city city and the other guys out of town talk for them yeah mighty okay

NARA Description

On February 22, 1973, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-176 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-176

Date: February 22, 1973
Time: Unknown between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with William E. Timmons.

[This is the original beginning of conversation No. 043-176, which has been merged with
conversation 043-175.]

       Fred D. Thompson
            -Senate Selection Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities
                                              -102-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 43-176 (cont’d)

                  -Position
             -Background
                  -Timmons
             -Howard H. Baker, Jr.
             -George D. Webster
                  -Possible position
                  -John W. Dean, III’s view

Also recorded on February 22, 1973

  • 043-219 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Carl B. Albert talked on the telephone from 2:45 pm to 2:47 pm.
  • 043-171 2:47 PM · 12 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:16 pm.
  • 043-172 2:47 PM · 29 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:16 pm.
  • 043-173 2:47 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:16 pm.
  • 043-174 3:16 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:16 pm to 3:17 pm.
  • 043-175 3:17 PM · 9 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 043-177 3:17 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and John W. Dean, III talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 043-178 3:17 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:17 pm and 7:24 pm.

All 52 conversations from February 22, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-176, February 22, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-176 (accessed October 1, 2026).