Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 320 › Conversation 320-016

Nixon & Haldeman on John B. Connally and Foreign policy

Tuesday, February 8, 1972 · 2:31 PM–2:44 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation320-016 on Tape 320 (tape position 00:32:43–00:40:00)StartTuesday, February 8, 1972 at 2:31 PMEndTuesday, February 8, 1972 at 2:44 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 320-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed logistics for upcoming travel, including scheduling meetings with John B. Connally and managing various international trip invitations to Japan, Europe, and the USSR. The conversation focused on arranging a meeting with Connally during an upcoming Florida trip and coordinating the President's personal schedule to account for his health and upcoming press engagements. Additionally, they reviewed public relations strategies, specifically regarding the staging of photography for the President's economic and budget messages.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 21% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Anything else, Mello?
I guess I'll try to get Finchie over to Madison.
I'm talking on the phone.
Unless you hear me, I'm off game.
All right.
All right.
All right.
We haven't decided any of those things yet.
We've been invited to go to Japan.
We've been invited to go, but we haven't decided anything yet.
We'll go over some of those in planning if we would first.
I'll be caught unawares.
I may have promised them somebody in planning, but I'll be glad to talk to them about it.
It's perfectly all right.
You might find out, though, that actually I'm taking comment to Mayor May, because I know he's sufficient.
No problem.
You can go.
I understand.
Well, it's perfectly all right for him to go.
And I would simply say, well, you can go and put him on that.
We're going to go in such and such a time.
So...
Yeah, that I'm going to leave at such and such a time, that I can go.
I'm thinking, I've got this, I've got this mess that I've got to work on, and I'd like to take him over to the mayor's meeting and say, I'm going to leave, but I didn't, I want to let people go, Jim, and I've got to work on it, and I'm fussing.
That's fine, Tom, it's just a good idea to go.
No, no, no, that's perfectly right.
It's perfectly right for him to go.
I see no problem at all.
No, this has got to be, there's not room.
There's only room for four people in that house.
No, no, I'm confident this is a different deal.
How about doing a number there?
No, no, hang on, Jesus.
We're not going to be there all the time.
You're going to be there.
But then you come over and say, let's talk about it.
It'll be a more relaxed situation.
I'll have a chance to go see him.
But sure, we can do it there.
Probably, yeah.
Yeah.
Tell him if he could go on the plane, if he could do it on the way down.
That Sunday night, if he wants to do it then.
But, uh, I think on the way down, that's probably the best thing to do.
And I haven't thought about it.
I thought about it the following morning.
But tell him I can do it.
I'm not here for him to go.
And Adele can go, too, Tom.
You can invite him to the boat to the right of the plane.
I can do it.
I can do it.
I can do it.
But you should also point out that he's been invited to go to Japan and Europe and so forth.
And as a matter of fact, I've been invited to go to Russia, where we haven't, but there we haven't made any final decisions on it.
But on the other hand, in that context, if you were to build something, build it in a place that's fine, you know, but take a look at it.
You know, the thing is that if he just steps up and hits a dude, you'll be surprised at how people react.
And change, change that dude.
That's great, that's great.
Wow.
Yeah.
Good picture.
I told Steve that yesterday.
I handle this just like I did the budget.
I like to handle the economic message.
It'll be an Olly Atkins thing.
And the picture, if it ain't, will be of me doing the radio address.
You're talking about?
Telling me that I'll just thank the staff with an Olly Atkins picture.
I haven't told him that yet.
It's not a good picture.
You know, everybody will be leaning over, and they'll play it out of context, Bob.
So, Steve, it's very ringing.
Tell him that that's what we're planning on doing.
I don't want to take them.
Well, I'll do it tomorrow for them.
I'll do it tomorrow when I'm over at home.
No, no, no, no, no.
I don't want to take them on when I'm feeling lousy on Thursday afternoon, you see.
I know that.
The trouble is, some of them last a couple of days.
I don't want to feel lousy the day I do the press thing.
So why not do it?
I don't care about that.
Well, you ask him.
You ask him, and we don't.
If I'll take him any time, though, you can take him tonight if you want.
I don't want to feel lousy.
I'm lining all this up.
I have a bill.
Let's see him on the plane.
Fair enough.
And if not, I'll see him down there.
I always see him on the plane.
But we won't have checks and faffs over things with Pete.
He's a crippled frog.
We'll talk about that.
But just say, I'd like to see what his plans are, because they've got a lot going on.
Get them all in together.
Fair enough.
That's an interesting thing, though, Bob.
Bill just loves to get in there and get some time.
He prays, doesn't he?
And, but, uh, I'm feeling pretty good right now.
Still in the day.
Fine.
Okay.

NARA Description

On February 8, 1972, 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 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 320-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 320-16

Date: February 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

     Attempt to reach Robert H. Finch
          -Location

     Visit to Japan
           -Announcement
           -Arrangement
                 -Peter M. Flanigan

     President’s schedule
           -Florida
                 -John B. Connally
                       -Travel plans
                            -Scheduling
                 -Busing
                 -Accommodations for President
                       -Atmosphere
                            -Number of people
                 -Travel plans
                       -Key Biscayne
                 -Attendance
                       -[William P. Rogers]
                       -Adele (Langston) Rogers
           -Connally
           -Japan trip
           -Europe trip
           -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] trip
                 -William Rogers
           -Reactions to invitations
     Photographs of speech delivery
          -Stephen B. Bull
               -President’s economic and budget messages
          -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
               -President radio address
          -Henry A. Kissinger
     President’s schedule
           -The President’s health
           -Upcoming meeting with the press

     William Rogers
          -Upcoming travel plans

     Ambassadors
         -Flanigan
               -Plans

     William Rogers
          -Attention

Also recorded on February 8, 1972

  • 020-058 2:31 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:31 pm.
  • 020-059 2:31 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:31 pm.
  • 020-060 2:31 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 020-061 2:31 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 320-014 2:31 PM · 3 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 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 320-015 2:31 PM · 16 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 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 320-017 2:31 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 2:31 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 020-062 2:44 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:44 pm to 2:48 pm.

All 48 conversations from February 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 320-016, February 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/320-016 (accessed October 2, 2026).