Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 251 › Conversation 251-010

Nixon & Haldeman on Vietnam War protests and White House leadership meeting

Tuesday, April 20, 1971 · 3:00 PM–3:04 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation251-010 on Tape 251 (tape position 00:10:07–00:12:38)StartTuesday, April 20, 1971 at 3:00 PMEndTuesday, April 20, 1971 at 3:04 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 251-010 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417183537 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed the recent Vietnam veterans' anti-war demonstration, specifically addressing the lack of mention regarding the protests during a morning leadership meeting. Nixon expressed frustration that the media's focus on the demonstration had not been effectively countered or addressed by administration officials. The two participants sought to clarify whether the topic had been raised by anyone present at the meeting, concluding that it had been deliberately avoided.

Audio

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NARA Description

On April 20, 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 3:00 pm and 3:04 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 251-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 251-10

Date: April 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:00 pm and 3:04 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order from
December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access [SA] 8, Ronald V. Dellums, et al. v.
James M. Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records Administration
produced this transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]

[End of transcript]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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'm curious what you said about the way they're getting around and the effect of the leadership meeting this morning.
Only 30% of those in this demonstration were Vietnam veterans.
That's a crisis, and of course it wasn't that early.
The matter was, there was absolutely nobody brought up the demonstration, nobody in the discussion.
I wonder if Agnew said something like this, or the slightest idea how many, all week, all week.
We don't know.
It was just the press and everybody else.
But I just wondered if somebody had done anything.
I just want to turn around that wall and say it wasn't to be discussed.
Absolutely.
My great-grandson and me, there was absolutely no discussion.
What?
Ever of that.
Whatever.
Absolutely not.
About any demonstration.
Did you just touch that one, Trish?
You didn't just touch any of them, did you?
Oh, I thought you brought them out.
You've got to shake them up a little there.
There must be... No, the only ones that were in there that aren't usually there are his men.
I don't want to trip you, but his man might make up some such man.
I don't want to check, but this is a chance to nail somebody.
It absolutely was not even a...
It isn't one where he got married.
There was no discussion at all.
There was absolutely no question.
Something great about the demonstration.

Also recorded on April 20, 1971

  • 042-058 2:38 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:38 pm.
  • 042-060 2:39 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 2:39 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 251-006 2:39 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:39 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 042-061 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends talked on the telephone from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 251-007 2:45 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 251-008 2:46 PM · 1 min — 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 2:46 pm and 2:55 pm.
  • 251-009 2:55 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:55 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 483-016 3:06 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:06 pm to 3:34 pm.

All 56 conversations from April 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 251-010, April 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417183537). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/251-010 (accessed November 2, 2026).