Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 165 › Conversation 165-020

Nixon phone call with Camp David operator on Alexander M. Haig Jr.

Saturday, May 12, 1973 · 12:54 PM–12:59 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 12 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Camp David operatorConversation165-020 on Tape 165StartSaturday, May 12, 1973 at 12:54 PMEndSaturday, May 12, 1973 at 12:59 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 165-020 ↗

President Nixon requested that the Camp David operator connect him via telephone to White House Chief of Staff Alexander M. Haig, Jr. The brief exchange served solely as an administrative coordination to facilitate direct communication with Haig. No substantive policy matters or further developments were discussed during this short interaction.

Download MP3 · 0.4 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.

Uh, Mr. Hage again, please.

On May 12, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:54 pm and 12:59 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 165-020 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 165-20

Date: May 12, 1973
Time: Unknown between 12:54 pm and 12:59 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table

The President talked with the Camp David operator.

     Telephone call to Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
  • 165-014 11:58 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Roy L. Ash talked on the telephone at Camp David from 11:58 am to 12:00 pm.
  • 165-015 12:22 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:22 pm to 12:30 pm.
  • 165-016 12:30 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:30 pm and 12:31 pm.
  • 165-017 12:31 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:31 pm to 12:36 pm.
  • 165-018 12:36 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:37 pm.
  • 165-019 12:37 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:37 pm to 12:54 pm.
  • 165-021 12:59 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:59 pm to 1:03 pm.
  • 165-022 1:03 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:03 pm and 2:04 pm.

Conversation 165-020, May 12, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/165-020 (accessed October 12, 2026).