Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 328 › Conversation 328-002

Nixon & Haldeman on Soviet Union summit and Foreign policy

Monday, March 27, 1972 · 11:11 AM–12:04 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation328-002 on Tape 328 (tape position 00:18:50–00:25:16)StartMonday, March 27, 1972 at 11:11 AMEndMonday, March 27, 1972 at 12:04 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 328-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinated the President's upcoming travel and media schedule, focusing specifically on preparations for the forthcoming summit in the Soviet Union. The discussion centered on timing press conferences around international travel, planning domestic political outreach regarding American ethnic groups in cities like Chicago and Cleveland, and evaluating the feasibility of a satellite press conference to discuss foreign policy. Haldeman also briefed the President on the health and political status of legislative leaders such as Leslie Arends.

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 27% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I don't believe I want to have one the week before Russia.
I don't think you should.
I think you ought to start in.
do a couple before you go, and then start the three.
And you can kind of pick it up early, early, soon.
Well, my feeling is that the 11th is the best day for me.
But if in May, I need the rest of the week of that time.
I don't need to study Russian all the while.
11th.
And then you see the 12th would fit in neatly.
With that, it was a long part.
Four weeks, then you go down to 10, you've got five weeks, and also if 10 is only two weeks from now, that would perhaps be probably three weeks from now.
Doesn't that make a little more sense?
If it does, then let's go for a hard movement on the fifth and sixth.
Thank you, too.
So I don't get the answer to the speech before the election.
That may be over the top.
That's what bothered me.
Yeah.
Stacking that onto the Suns of Italy.
The same city.
The Suns of Italy were incredible.
I think they're damn good.
The Suns of Italy is a Sunday night where you just want to do something that's more of a personal thing.
Well, if you can get me a good speech, let's hit it.
This sounds fiddly.
I could do something very personal.
The American ethics.
Ethnic, so-called, right?
On the other hand, there may be some other than that.
Is there a Chicago or Cleveland?
Yeah.
I'd like to get a Chicago or something at this point.
I think it's over the primary.
You know, an indication of the trend of the times is that Aaron's had a hell of a close fight under your laws.
I was scared to death for a while.
But, you know, the whole, the whole thing was age.
It wasn't only age and rebound from ourselves.
Only the crossover and the whole together thing.
But, uh...
I've seen both him and Cox go to school together.
people do it because they're very well let's try to show a lot yeah that's what I said I'll be heard or I'll be banned but cotton is always a practice and rural or rural west sudamerica holds up
And he takes to the curb.
He seems to be in great physical shape.
He does.
His job right through all those years.
The other thing that you raised at one point that I think we ought to reconsider, if you think we could get the networks to pick it up, is to do that satellite press conference thing.
I think it's a way to get a place where we could keep it on foreign policy.
It would be like China to receive this, in the best sense of the word.
and instant translation and that sort of thing.
Yeah.
Who is the ?
I was thinking right after Russia.
I'm going to find out.
I think it would be.
That wouldn't require, for me, the enormous preparation for the whole quote.
But you can do it after Russia visited.
He focused 99% on Russia.
Okay.
Okay.

NARA Description

On March 27, 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 11:11 am and 12:04 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 328-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 328-2

Date: March 27, 1972
Time: Unknown after 11:11 am until 12:04 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

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

[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress]

     The President’s schedule
          -Possible press conference
               -The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
          -Before Soviet trip
               -Tempo of activities
               -Preparation for trip
                      -Amount of time
          -The President’s possible trip to Philadelphia
               -Sons of Italy meeting
               -The President’s forthcoming trip to Canada
               -Possible speech
                      -American ethnics
                           -Chicago
                             -Cleveland

     Leslie C. Arends
           -The President’s view
           -Leaders meeting
           -Republicans
                -Norris Cotton
                -Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
                -John J. Sparkman
                -Chou En-lai
                -Cotton
           -Health

     The President’s schedule
          -Possible satellite press conference
                -Press coverage
                -Topics
                      -Foreign policy
                            -People’s Republic of China [PRC
                -Translation
                -Timing
                      -Forthcoming Soviet trip
                -Preparation
          -International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]

Haldeman left at 12:04 pm.

Also recorded on March 27, 1972

  • 022-024 10:55 AM · 46 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 11:11 am.
  • 327-006 10:55 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 2:53 pm.
  • 022-025 11:10 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 11:10 am to 11:11 am.
  • 022-026 11:11 AM · 1 min — Ronald L. Ziegler and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 022-027 11:11 AM · 25 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 022-028 11:11 AM · 1 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Robert H. Finch talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 022-029 11:11 AM · 4 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Herbert G. Klein talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm.
  • 328-003 12:04 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:04 pm and 12:06 pm.

All 35 conversations from March 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 328-002, March 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/328-002 (accessed October 1, 2026).