Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 277 › Conversation 277-008

Nixon & Haig on Democracy and Foreign Policy

Wednesday, September 15, 1971 · 12:37 PM–12:39 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation277-008 on Tape 277 (tape position 00:14:31–00:16:22)StartWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 12:37 PMEndWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 12:39 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 277-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed Alexander Haig to broaden the criteria for evaluating foreign democratic processes beyond a limited focus on only two nations. Nixon emphasized that assessments of legitimate governance should center on whether a country holds truly contested elections rather than one-party systems or non-competitive processes. He specifically cited countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Ethiopia as examples of nations that fail to meet this standard of a contested, democratic election.

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Position in tape: 00:14:31 – 00:16:22

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Now, one point that I may not make clear, I do not want this second exercise to be limited to two countries.
Two countries that we get A to C. Like Yugoslavia, Romania, Ethiopia, for example, there's one.
Ethiopia, Liberia, you call that an intensive election.
They only had one there since the slave model.
They just don't understand what I meant.
The thing I want them to understand, even the same, even if Vietnam can be described as a democratic process, but the question is, is the present leader there as a result of a contested election, a legitimately contested election?
Not a ten-to-one affair, but not a contested one.
You can't even describe Mexico as that.
Mexico is a one-party government.
You can't describe Colombia as a contested election.
You see my point?
Give those as examples.
Mexico is not contested.
I'm not going to put the countries out, but I'm going to get the number out.
Mexico is not contested.
Colombia is not contested.
Each party shifts it back and forth.
Okay.

NARA Description

On September 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:37 pm to 12:39 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 277-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 277-8

Date: September 15, 1971
Time: 12:37 pm - 12:39 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 9-21]

Also recorded on September 15, 1971

  • 009-017 12:18 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:18 pm to 12:20 pm.
  • 009-018 12:20 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:20 pm and 12:24 pm.
  • 009-019 12:24 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 277-007 12:24 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 009-020 12:25 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 12:37 pm.
  • 009-021 12:37 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:37 pm to 12:39 pm.
  • 009-022 12:39 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:32 pm.
  • 277-009 12:39 PM · 13 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 12:39 pm and 1:05 pm.

All 57 conversations from September 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 277-008, September 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/277-008 (accessed October 9, 2026).