Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 239 › Conversation 239-008

Haldeman phone call on Public Relations and Personnel Management

Friday, January 5, 1973 · 8:50 PM–9:00 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 10 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation239-008 on Tape 239StartFriday, January 5, 1973 at 8:50 PMEndFriday, January 5, 1973 at 9:00 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 239-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss the importance of consolidating their administration's public relations strategy and vetting key personnel to ensure a proactive, rather than defensive, stance against political opponents. The conversation touches on the necessity of coordinating staff efforts, including press secretary Ron Ziegler, to manage the administration's messaging following the recent campaign. Nixon also reviews internal congressional maneuvers, specifically regarding Republican leadership appointments, and instructs Haldeman to focus on building a reliable team capable of defending administration initiatives.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 34% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Oh.
Oh, Bob, you home?
Oh, good.
Good.
Anything new?
Good boy.
I think the main thing that I can say now is the question of our attack operation, you know, as to whether it's adequate and so forth.
And we'll make a hard look at that over the Monday, so we'll see whether
uh whether we are dismantling too much you know at a time
Well, in any event, we don't have to decide.
Now, the main thing is to consider the people that we have, the ones that will be useful, the ones that will not be useful.
And having a good group that we can, you know, depend upon when we have to move on this issue or that issue.
I agree.
Yeah.
I'm going to have an entry tomorrow.
Very good.
Beyond that, the PR side of things is very important at this point.
Matter of fact, it occurred to me that we really ought to have somebody with Henry when he's over there.
You know, he's got a grumpy smile and things of that sort.
Oh, yeah, well, Rogers should not have mentioned it at that point, you know what I mean?
Because Rogers, you know, she punched John out of his position and, uh, because of, we all knew it was the wrong thing to do, but on the other hand, she was, you know, Rogers was just trying to rub it into him.
In front of others, you don't do that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You see, you've got to get, basically, you've got to get Ziegler and the rest all sort of together in the sense that they understand everything.
And play the whole PR thing for all it's worth, but just sort of put the hot news right there.
Well, you'll have a chance to talk to them, perhaps Monday, and go over the whole thing with them.
But let's take a real good look at what our Emperor says, and just not add anything funny.
We'll spin it up a bit.
You know, having in mind that the campaign is over.
There's another campaign now.
But he never does, does he?
And, uh, they, uh, I think the, uh,
It isn't just the fact that we didn't strike out quite often.
It's better to have something other than nothing, isn't it?
It could be.
I'm going to get the zipper out and talk to him about a little bit more.
But the handling of PR is actually very important to me.
And we've got to be in a position to, you know, not to be always on the defensive.
As a matter of fact, it's a good basis for us to do this.
democrats acting up in their usual way here but uh more than you would expect because they they know what's up their actions are pretty uh to the point where they probably could read jeopardize the negotiations
But the important thing is how it all comes out.
So, when it turns to midnight, you keep on deciding, remember, you're not getting concerned about Aiden and Pearl.
You don't worry about this.
They're the hell with it.
I don't care what the Aiden and Pearl does or even the Congress.
On the other hand, we've got a few of our guys standing up for some of this stuff now, you see.
That's where we need the, you know, we need the apparatus.
Give it a little thought.
I tell you, I had a talk with Ford and they had to make a deal with Wilson because Brown wasn't willing to fight.
So what is going to happen?
Wilson has agreed to
that they will resign three days before the dinner on March 28th.
And I said, well, okay, Jerry, if that's what you want to do.
But I said, let's have them be understanding that he appoints Brown as the candidate recruiting a man.
So they even started the debate and said, okay, so that's the way it's going to be.
Isn't that incredible, the way they act?
On the other hand, if you get the brown in the candidate recruitment thing, then we can start doing the brown on the brown thing.
On that subject, just ignore those.
Are you ready?
Oh, good, good.
You really think so?
Good.
Good.
I don't know what to say.
All right.
All right.
And give me, give, and give the upbeat feel.
for it, but he didn't quite understand how to, you know, broker it, you know.
Okay, well, have a good weekend.

NARA Description

On January 5, 1973, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:50 pm to 9:00 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 239-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 239-8

Date: January 5, 1973
Time: 8:50 pm - 9:00 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
                                     -5-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                  Conversation No. 239-8 (cont’d)

[See Conversation No. 160-8]

Also recorded on January 6, 1973

  • 160-005 8:31 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 239-005 8:31 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 239-010 8:31 PM · 12 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:31 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 160-006 8:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:47 pm to 8:49 pm.
  • 239-006 8:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:47 pm to 8:49 pm.
  • 160-007 8:49 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:49 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 239-007 8:49 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:49 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 160-008 8:50 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:50 pm to 9:00 pm.

All 37 conversations from January 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 239-008, January 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/239-008 (accessed October 11, 2026).