{"conversationCode":"131-029","tapeNumber":131,"conversationNumber":29,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-131-029","startDateTime":"1972-05-18T15:22:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-18T15:23:00.000Z","startDate":"18-May-1972","startTime":"11:22 AM","endDate":"18-May-1972","endTime":"11:23 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","description":"On May 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 11:22 am to 11:23 am. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 131-029 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"CDST","recordingDevice":"Camp David Study Table","latitudeEstimated":39.648333,"longitudeEstimated":-77.465,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 131-29\nDate: May 18, 1972\nTime: 11:22 am - 11:23 am\nLocation: Camp David Study Table\n\nThe President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n\n[See also Conversation No. 191-8]\n\n     Head of State gifts\n          -Public relations problems\n                -Expense\n                -Pandas from People's Republic of China [PRC]\n                      -The President’s view\n          -Richard A. Moore's advice\n          -Hydrofoil\n                -Soviet choice\n          -Leonid I. Brezhnev's choice\n                -Car\n                -Cadillac\n          -Publicity situation\n                -Expense","filename":["131-029.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:11:57","tapeEnd":"02:13:29","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"131-028","nextCode":"131-030","transcript":[{"start":2.11,"end":2.39,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":2.79,"end":4.87,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":6.01,"end":11.65,"text":"As you know, I'm aware of the PR problems of an expensive gift of this sort."},{"start":13.21,"end":16.21,"text":"There are also PR problems of accepting a gift of that."},{"start":16.23,"end":20.23,"text":"I mean, although the Chinese gift is worth infinitely more, as you know."},{"start":20.73,"end":22.34,"text":"Yep."},{"start":22.44,"end":23.7,"text":"They aren't as blatant."},{"start":23.92,"end":25.2,"text":"They're not as ostentatious."},{"start":25.54,"end":26.34,"text":"Yep."},{"start":27.2,"end":30.86,"text":"But I think you ought to get somebody like Moore in on the act to see it."},{"start":31.63,"end":33.63,"text":"We'll say, now, how do you think we ought to handle this?"},{"start":34.97,"end":44.65,"text":"Pointing out the background, you know, that what happened was that we learned that the Soviet government, they asked if they could present a hydrofoil because they're very proud of their hydrofoils."},{"start":44.69,"end":50.49,"text":"And so we said we couldn't accept that unless we could prevent something, you know, in kind."},{"start":50.55,"end":52.41,"text":"And what would the Soviet government want?"},{"start":52.49,"end":54.02,"text":"And Brezhnev said, well, you'd like a car."},{"start":55.22,"end":56.02,"text":"We do cars well."},{"start":56.06,"end":57.14,"text":"They do hydrofoils well."},{"start":57.18,"end":58.1,"text":"That's really the story."},{"start":58.16,"end":59.38,"text":"It's the God's truth."},{"start":60.57,"end":69.13,"text":"I think if it's well handled, it's all right, except that the idea of giving a Cadillac to Brezhnev can be a hell of a negative story if it's handled that way."},{"start":69.33,"end":71.53,"text":"No problem."},{"start":72.33,"end":75.16,"text":"We just got to be sure and do it that way."},{"start":76,"end":82.62,"text":"It's a problem unless you point out that our gift was less expensive than theirs."},{"start":83.2,"end":83.38,"text":"Right."},{"start":83.6,"end":86.62,"text":"And it's basically a sort of material exchange."},{"start":89.78,"end":89.97,"text":"Okay."},{"start":90.69,"end":90.77,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the public relations risks associated with the President gifting a Cadillac to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. They weigh the optics of this exchange against the precedent of receiving pandas from the People’s Republic of China, emphasizing that the gift is a reciprocal trade for a Soviet hydrofoil rather than an ostentatious gesture. To mitigate potential criticism regarding the expense, Nixon directs Haldeman to involve Richard A. Moore in crafting a narrative that frames the transaction as a balanced, material exchange between the two nations.","topics":["Head of State gifts","Public relations","Leonid Brezhnev","Cadillac","Soviet-American relations","Diplomatic protocol"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T08:22:23.370Z"},"topicSlugs":["head-of-state-gifts","public-relations","leonid-brezhnev","cadillac","soviet-american-relations","diplomatic-protocol"],"audioDurationSec":93,"audioFiles":[{"file":"131-029.mp3","bytes":3714419,"durationSec":92.72,"bitrate":320498,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:32.998Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/131-029.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/131-029","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/131/conversation-131-029","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}