Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 254 › Conversation 254-016

Nixon & Haldeman on Political strategy and Public opinion

Monday, May 31, 1971 · 5:45 PM–6:06 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation254-016 on Tape 254 (tape position 01:27:57–01:31:56)StartMonday, May 31, 1971 at 5:45 PMEndMonday, May 31, 1971 at 6:06 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 254-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to discuss political strategy and public opinion regarding the administration's performance. The conversation touched upon the perceived conservative leanings of specific groups and concerns regarding the influence of the press and public polling, such as Gallup. The President emphasized the need to mobilize support for upcoming initiatives while evaluating the efficacy of previous media engagements and press conferences.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, okay, good to see you.
I'm gonna have an early dinner, if you'll be certain.
So, uh, I'll bring over about 6 or 15 cushions.
Oh, uh, yeah.
I didn't mean to bother you.
I'm just checking on a couple of things here at the department.
I'll sit with old friends, though.
I know I used to go there.
I went over to watch her, uh,
I guess they teach well.
I don't know.
They get their kids into college.
I don't know.
Basically, they're conservative.
They're conservative.
They're not conservative.
And all that sort of thing.
They had this bowl of many good questions where they rated the issues which they were on.
I know that one thing that
And at least as far as any of you have here, I'm sure the organization didn't turn on me at all.
Yeah, well, the environment did.
I'm going to ask everybody to carry this on the next one.
We'll ask everybody to support it at home.
Yeah.
I have a feeling that myself and the environment is not forever.
They're an adequate group.
It sets a hell of a lot of people.
It's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
Whether it's Gallup coming out, whether it's, you know, a lot of effort from the other, because it's the last one that's going to be very, very well published.
Let me come back to one other point on the schedule.
It seemed to me that one thing, and I wonder if you were able to analyze this, and I guess maybe you can, is what, if any, in fact, we've all, you know, felt press conferences before this.
Wow.
Wow.
What happens when you talk to me and what happens when you talk to me?
When you first start crying, when you see me, when I try to get to your calibers, you might be thinking that you need to come back and do something with me.
It might be that I have your chance again.
I was wondering about this, whether we all stop breathing and try to put a question on the table.
I don't know how he got here.
I'm not very sure, but you know, we can't get too much into Washington, D.C.
I don't know how he got here.
I don't know how he got here.
I don't know how he got here.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On May 31, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:45 pm to 6:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 254-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 254-16

Date: May 31, 1971
Time: 5:45 pm - 6:06 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

******************************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 09/12/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[254-016-w001]
[Duration: 40s]

[See Conversation No. 003-199]

******************************************************************************

Also recorded on May 31, 1971

  • 003-196 5:38 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:38 pm.
  • 003-197 5:38 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 254-014 5:38 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 003-198 5:43 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:44 pm.
  • 254-015 5:43 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:43 pm to 5:44 pm.
  • 003-199 5:45 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone from 5:45 pm to 6:06 pm.
  • 003-200 6:06 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:06 pm and 6:15 pm.
  • 254-017 6:06 PM · 4 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 6:06 pm and 6:15 pm.

All 50 conversations from May 31, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 254-016, May 31, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/254-016 (accessed October 12, 2026).