Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 261 › Conversation 261-034
Nixon & Haldeman on Speechwriting and William Safire
Thursday, July 1, 1971 · 3:22 PM–3:55 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the status of a speech draft originally prepared by William Safire, with Nixon ultimately deciding to rely on a later version for his remarks. The President expresses a preference for a more improvisational speaking style, noting his intention to "wing" parts of the presentation rather than adhering strictly to a prepared script. Additionally, the pair coordinates the President’s schedule, confirming an upcoming meeting with Henry Kissinger.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 27.1 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 01:56:40 into the tape and ends around 02:17:37.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data
NARA Description
On July 1, 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 3:22 pm and 3:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 261-034 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 261-34
Date: July 1, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:22 pm and 3:55 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
Request for speech draft
-William L. Safire
-Draft
-John K. Andrews, Jr.
-William H. Carruthers
President’s schedule
-Appointment with Henry A. KissingerAlso recorded on July 1, 1971
- 006-079 3:14 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Anatoliy F. Dobrynin talked on the telephone from 3:14 pm to 3:16 pm.
- 261-031 3:14 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Anatoliy F. Dobrynin met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:14 pm to 3:16 pm.
- 261-032 3:17 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:17 pm.
- 261-033 3:18 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:18 pm to 3:22 pm.
- 261-035 3:55 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:25 pm.
- 006-080 4:09 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 4:09 pm to 4:11 pm.
- 006-081 4:11 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:11 pm and 5:09 pm.
- 261-036 4:25 PM · 1 min — 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 4:25 pm and 5:09 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 261-034, July 1, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/261-034 (accessed October 5, 2026).