Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 269 › Conversation 269-034

Nixon & Haldeman on John B. Connally and Treasury Department

Tuesday, August 3, 1971 · 1:47 PM–3:40 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation269-034 on Tape 269 (tape position 06:11:17–06:16:16)StartTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 1:47 PMEndTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 3:40 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 269-034 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed the timing and announcement strategy for a significant decision, likely related to John B. Connally's potential appointment to the Treasury Department. They debated the optimal time for the announcement to manage press leaks and public perception, considering Nixon's schedule and the expectations of Texans. The conversation focused on controlling information flow to staff like Buchanan and Ziegler, and strategizing around press conference timing to avoid complications.

Audio

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Position in tape: 06:11:17 – 06:16:16

part C, 12:28

269a.mp3
269b.mp3
269c.mp3
269d.mp3

NARA Description

On August 3, 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 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 269-034 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 269-34

Date: August 3, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

     Appointments
         -John B. Connally
              -Treasury Department
         -Announcement
              -Timing
                   -President’s schedule
                         -California
         -Decision

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

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HaldemanMaybe it's not. 3:00? 3:30 is what Ziegler told him, apparently. 3:00.
NixonYeah, it was 4:00.
HaldemanUh, Ziegler told him 3:30, and please hold until 4:00. Connally says Connally's taking it at 3:00.
NixonThe Tex-Texans expect it at 3:00. No, Connally says Connally's Texans expect it at 4:00. He says 3:00 his time.
HaldemanJesus Christ. We put everything out, but we didn't send Ziegler at 3:00, I don't think. Also, 4:00 is the time that I had, and we don't have to worry about anymore.
HaldemanWell, again, then there's nothing. So, they're they're just making- I'm not gonna talk to Ziegler. No, they made up their own.
NixonNot Ron, not Buchanan, not anybody else. Let him prepare a goddamn thing about ourself now. There's no reason to have these leaks. We can Buchanan just we don't have to tell Buchanan when the press conference is. We just tell him what what book he's to read.
HaldemanWell, Buchanan started calling around asking people if they had any idea of what's there because of the timing. Well,
NixonI It is much better to go on without them, and a lot of that crap. I mean, you know, and it clutters up the room. Buchanan, is just too big a crowd. And, uh, Buchanan and hole,
Nixonand uh, Buchanan's a very useful.
HaldemanDon't let Ziegler question Connally. [unintelligible] Texas school teachers.
NixonRight. Yeah, like you were saying. Can't be talkative here. And that's like saying that we have to is there some other way to for him and Ben to to kill to build, you know, like the Dallas Times?
HaldemanThere what it boils down to is sir, you don't have to do it here, but, oh, it's better to do it, and get it done. It's better to do it in Austin than in Dallas. And, uh,
Haldemanyou have the same problems in Dallas because that quarter doesn't get at the Austin.
Nixon[unintelligible]
Nixon[unintelligible]
HaldemanWell, Ron uh uh, John, the press about the press conference, thing that uh your point that events would fudge it up or would be one of uh we moved it to 2:30 or something like that. It's an odd time, but that's uh to force them to uh to applaud.
Nixon[unintelligible]
HaldemanYou can fall out, so you either do it at a regular briefing time. What is regular time? 11:00? 11:00 or 4:00.
Nixon[unintelligible]
HaldemanWell, what about doing it at 3:00? Then you start the fallout at that.
Nixon[unintelligible]
HaldemanYeah.
HaldemanNow what, it's it's sure. Uh, What about going to the to the uh big fool plan for it? Oh,
HaldemanWell, what did they have tomorrow to do? You can do it at 11:30 or 12:00.
HaldemanYou could do it at 12:00. You could just stall them on what he's briefing on. They wake them up, what'd they say?
HaldemanYou could do it at 12:00. Jerry went out at 11:00 instead. Jerry went out at 11:30, they sat around waiting for you anyway then, Jerry went out at 11:30 and said,

Also recorded on August 3, 1971

  • 269-027 1:47 PM · 2 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 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-028 1:47 PM · 39 sec — 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 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-029 1:47 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-030 1:47 PM · 43 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 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-031 1:47 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-032 1:47 PM · 8 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 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-033 1:47 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 269-035 1:47 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 3:40 pm.

All 45 conversations from August 3, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 269-034, August 3, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/269-034 (accessed November 2, 2026).