Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 169 › Conversation 169-024

Nixon phone call with Haig on John B. Connally and National Economy

Wednesday, June 20, 1973 · 12:20 PM–12:22 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation169-024 on Tape 169StartWednesday, June 20, 1973 at 12:20 PMEndWednesday, June 20, 1973 at 12:22 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 169-024 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig reviewed the results of a recent press conference held by John Connally, focusing on his remarks regarding the national economy and his future role on the White House staff. While Nixon expressed slight disappointment that Connally's comments on his staff involvement were not more assertive, they agreed his performance on economic messaging was effective. Additionally, Haig provided updates on his ongoing communications with George Shultz and Melvin Laird and briefed the President on upcoming administrative actions.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Hello, Mr. President.
Just wanted to know if we're still waiting.
Yes, sir.
Well, I think they're starting now.
That's right.
Sir, we're in no hurry.
All right, sir.
You get a hold of Seth, please?
Yes, sir.
I've got a call in to him now.
He's in a meeting, sir, probably with Petelichick.
Yes.
I talked to Mel twice this morning.
How's he doing?
He's doing fine.
And Conley had his press conference, which was rather interesting.
It was...
good on the economics, sort of ambivalent about the staff, about his utilization.
He was a little ambivalent, but it's all right.
It wasn't as strong as I'd like to see him be, but it wasn't hurtful either.
Well, you mean it left his role for the year?
Yeah, it left the feeling that he could have
done more, could be doing more.
That's right.
And he said he hoped to be on his trip sometime late this summer.
So it's all right.
It generally did a damn good job on the economy, but
Yeah, that's really what we wanted.
That's what we wanted from the staff thing.
That's all the in-house stuff.
That's right.
And just so he's around and he'll be around.
He made that clear in that he was here.
Did he say he was going to send Quim anybody a chance?
No, he didn't say that.
He said he sat in yesterday at some length on the economic meeting.
He pointed out he had been advising you across a whole spectrum of things, organization, what have you.
Yeah.
Let's not worry about how that... No, no, no.
It's all about more.
Are you talking to him?
Not yet.
Are you going to do that personally?
No, I'm going to do it this morning in the... Jonathan Moore?
Yes, sir.
I'll have him in a few minutes.
I've been listening to the Conway thing.
Oh, I see.
We piped up here.
It's very...
It was good.
All right.
Yeah.

NARA Description

On June 20, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:20 pm to 12:22 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 169-024 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 169-24

Date: June 20, 1973
Time: 12:20 pm - 12:22 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table
                                              -16-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 169-24 (cont’d)

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Leonid I. Brezhnev’s schedule
          -Meeting time

     Haig’s calls
          -George P. Shultz
                  -Meeting
                  -Nikolai S. Patolichev
          -Melvin R. Laird

     John B. Connally
          -Press conference
                -National economy
                -Role in White House staff
                      -Haig’s assessment
                      -Economic focus
                      -San Clemente
                      -Economic meeting
                      -Advice to President

     Jonathan Moore
           -Telephone call from Haig

     Connally
          -Press conference

Also recorded on June 20, 1973

  • 169-019 11:21 AM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 11:21 am and 11:24 am.
  • 169-020 11:24 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David from 11:24 am to 11:25 am.
  • 169-021 11:25 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 11:25 am and 11:55 am.
  • 169-022 11:58 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at Camp David from 11:58 am to 12:02 pm.
  • 169-023 12:02 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 169-025 12:22 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:22 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 169-026 12:29 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:29 pm to 12:31 pm.
  • 169-027 12:31 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 12:31 pm and 12:51 pm.

All 31 conversations from June 20, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 169-024, June 20, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/169-024 (accessed October 9, 2026).