Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 250 › Conversation 250-013

Nixon & Haldeman on Prisoners of War and William P. Rogers

Friday, April 16, 1971 · 12:45 PM–3:15 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 17 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation250-013 on Tape 250 (tape position 03:26:11–03:27:30)StartFriday, April 16, 1971 at 12:45 PMEndFriday, April 16, 1971 at 3:15 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 250-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed the management of interaction with the wives of American Prisoners of War to prevent the issue from becoming politically unmanageable. The President provided instructions to Haldeman regarding the oversight of this group and specifically designated Secretary of State William P. Rogers to lead the administration's handling of the matter. Major General James D. Hughes was also identified as a key figure in coordinating these efforts.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I don't want this thing to get out of hand.

NARA Description

On April 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 250-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 250-13

Date: April 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with an unknown person [H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman?]

     [Prisoner of War wives]
           -Instructions for unknown person [Haldeman?]
                 -William P. Rogers’ assignment
           -Major General James D. (“Don”) Hughes

Also recorded on April 16, 1971

482-029 12:38 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:41 pm.
482-005 12:41 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Jon M. Huntsman, David Haight, and Mrs. David Haight met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:41 pm to 12:43 pm.
482-006 12:43 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:43 pm to 12:45 pm.
250-010 12:45 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm.
250-011 12:45 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm.
250-012 12:45 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm.
250-014 12:45 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 3:15 pm.
482-007 12:45 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 12:45 pm on April 16, 1971 and 9:03 am on April 19, 1971.

All 51 conversations from April 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 250-013, April 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/250-013 (accessed October 3, 2026).