Nixon White House TapesTape 274 › Conversation 274-004

Nixon & Haldeman on Economic policy and George P. Shultz

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 1:40 PM–2:40 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation274-004 onTape 274 (tape position 00:04:17–00:05:35)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 1:40 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 2:40 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 274-004 ↗

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the scheduling and strategic management of an upcoming meeting at the State Department involving George P. Shultz. The conversation focuses on maintaining political momentum for the administration's recent economic initiatives while navigating interactions with Congress. They finalize the timing for the afternoon agenda to ensure these objectives remain a priority.

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 67.0 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 00:04:17 into the tape and ends around 00:05:35.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

4:20I don't know where we are, but there are so many good ideas that you never know.
4:38Sometimes momentum things like going up to Congress.
4:49It's going to be a hell of a day.
4:59Okay.
5:00That was at 2.
5:02It runs to 3.30.
5:04Okay.

On August 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 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-004 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 274-4

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

     The President's schedule
          -Forthcoming meeting at State Department
               -Departure
               -George P. Shultz
               -Momentum [for recent economic initiative]
                      -Congress
               -Timing
  • 008-003 1:18 PM · 5 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-004 1:18 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-006 1:20 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Charles W. Colson, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 1:23 pm.
  • 008-007 1:23 PM · 3 min — Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:23 pm and 1:40 pm.
  • 274-001 1:40 PM · 1 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 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm.
  • 274-002 1:40 PM · 1 min — 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 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm.
  • 274-003 1:40 PM · 11 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 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm.
  • 565-002 1:40 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:40 pm.

Conversation 274-004, August 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/274-004 (accessed September 18, 2026).