Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 136 › Conversation 136-023
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on George McGovern and John Connally
Sunday, July 23, 1972 · 12:23 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 4 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinated their monitoring of televised Sunday talk shows, specifically focusing on John Connally’s upcoming appearance and George McGovern’s potential policy vulnerabilities regarding foreign aid and international relations. The pair discussed the political strategy of addressing McGovern’s debate requests, with both agreeing that the early proposal had been effectively neutralized by campaign staff. Additionally, they reviewed the positive media coverage surrounding Vice President Spiro Agnew’s recent press conference and discussed the timing of press reports regarding the firing of G. Gordon Liddy in relation to the FBI investigation.
- George McGovern
- John Connally
- Spiro Agnew
- G. Gordon Liddy
- Watergate
- Media relations
- Presidential debates
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Yeah.
Yes, sir.
I thought I would look at Connolly's show because I think he would very much expect me to at 1 o'clock.
So if you'd like to come over, we might look at it.
I'm down the hill.
What?
I'm down in Washington.
Oh, you've come down.
Oh, I didn't know that.
I thought you were still up here.
Oh, fine, fine.
Well, then you look at it.
I am.
McGovern comes on now.
Yeah, fine.
Well, I'm not going to bother with that one because...
But I don't...
I'm not going to get into the habit of watching the other side, but I'm going to watch him so that he gets a few calls and so forth.
He'll get them anyway because he's usually so damn good.
Oh, yeah, no question.
We'll all cover him, but we'll get all three of them.
The thing is that if you had with the McGovern, you know, coming on, boy, I was just thinking, what if I were a press man and read that article
story today about cutting off aid to Greece.
Jesus, they could kill him on that.
What's that do to NATO?
What's it do to the Israeli?
What does it do to the Sixth Fleet?
And also, he wants to cut off aid to a right-wing dictatorship and wants to have better relations with Chile and Castro in Cuba.
Now, what's the difference?
But they won't ask him.
It'll be interesting to see.
I can't imagine that they won't, but they probably won't.
I get the softballs.
That's all right.
The only thing here to be perfectly fair with you, I don't think that, I think that, Bob, these programs are a wasteland.
The only people, as I told Colson, that look at these damn things are people that have already made up their minds.
Pretty much so.
Really.
Who the hell looks at me at the press and faces the nation?
He will reassure his own people, and he may knock down some of the fears of those that would like to be for him and want to be against us, but that's about it.
The only value for a guy like Conley is that he makes some news.
you know, beyond the program.
Connolly is vitally important because Connolly can't get a big audience.
Well, you know what I mean?
This is a hell of a, yeah, it's a hell of a big newspaper story.
That's, yeah.
And it'll be on the TV news tonight.
I was the, I want to hold you, oh, it doesn't start for about three or four minutes.
No.
I was the, about the Agnew thing from the headlines played all right.
Came out fine.
Was that your opinion?
Yeah.
And good positive backup even to have it, you know, say.
It was fine.
He was back in decision.
And he handled himself well, did he?
Yeah.
Good.
Apparently, either he had quite a brief press conference, or they just didn't carry very much of it.
Well, it's all right.
Oh, it really is.
We didn't want very much.
We've covered it.
We got his points over, and that's all we needed.
You know one thing about this debate thing?
I think McGovern actually is throwing that a little too early.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
What do you think?
I do, too.
I'm glad he did.
I'd sort of wait until after the convention and then start, and then really when it gets hypoed up and hit it.
But I think McGregor handled it well.
And now it's pretty much over with.
He's going to have a tough time doing much with it from here on.
It isn't over with because they'll keep hitting it, Bob.
Oh, yeah, but the point is the answer has been made.
There's no suspense.
There's no question.
Will he or won't he?
No.
And McGregor said no, and said, we'll back that up.
I noticed that the story came out on Liddy in the Post today.
Finally came out.
It's in the Star, too.
So somebody finally picked it up a month later.
Perfectly all right.
I mean, in fact, it comes out all right as far as we are concerned.
It comes out good because it says he was fired because he didn't cooperate with the FBI.
Yeah, right, right.
Okay.
Okay.
All right, fine.
We can read it.
NARA Description
On July 23, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David at 12:23 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 136-023 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 136-23
Date: July 23, 1972
Time: 12:23 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table (telephone)
The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
[See Conversation No. 196-12]
The President’s schedule
-John B. Connally’s forthcoming interview on Meet the Press
-Haldeman
-Location
-George S. McGovern’s interview on Face the Nation
-Connally
*****************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 04/11/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[136-023-w001]
[Duration: 1m 22s]
George S. McGovern
-Statement on cutting off aid to Greece
-Effects
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
-Israel
-Compared with statement on better relations with Cuba and Chile
-Fidel Castro
-Press treatment
-President’s opinion
-Softball questions
-Interview shows
-President’s opinion
-President’s previous conversation with Charles W. Colson
-Audience
-Decided voters
-Meet the Press
-Face the Nation
-Impact on George S. McGovern supporters
-Value for John B. Connally
-Importance
-Press coverage
-Audience
*****************************************************************
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's previous press conference
-Press coverage
-Haldeman’s view
-Jacob K. Javits
-Length
*****************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 04/11/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[136-023-w002]
[Duration: 37s]
George S. McGovern
-Request for debates with President
-Timing
-Early
-President’s opinion
-Post-convention timing
-Clark MacGregor's response
-Ronald L. Ziegler’s support of Clark MacGregor
*****************************************************************
Watergate
-G. Gordon Liddy
-Stories in Washington Post and Washington Star
-Reason for firing
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]Also recorded on July 23, 1972
- 136-021 12:18 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:18 pm to 12:25 pm.
- 196-008 12:18 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 12:18 pm to 12:25 pm.
- 136-022 12:25 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 12:26 pm.
- 196-009 12:25 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 12:26 pm.
- 196-010 12:26 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 12:26 pm.
- 196-011 12:26 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 12:26 pm.
- 196-012 12:26 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 12:26 pm to 12:29 pm.
- 196-013 12:29 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:29 pm and 1:35 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 136-023, July 23, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/136-023 (accessed October 12, 2026).