{"conversationCode":"334-014","tapeNumber":334,"conversationNumber":14,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-334-014","startDateTime":"1972-05-02T14:00:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-02T14:25:00.000Z","startDate":"2-May-1972","startTime":"10:00 AM","endDate":"2-May-1972","endTime":"10:25 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","description":"On May 2, 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 10:00 am and 10:25 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 334-014 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 334-14\n\nDate: May 2, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 10:00 am and 10:25 am\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.\n\n     J. Edgar Hoover\n           -Successor\n                -Acting Director\n                      -Clyde A. Tolson\n                -Confirmation\n                -Election\n                -Selection\n                      -Compared to Cabinet appointments\n                      -Criteria\n                -Confirmation\n                      -Problems\n                      -Delays\n                -Acting Director\n\n                      -Capable aide\n                      -Limited term\n                  -Compared with Supreme Court vacancy\n                  -Appointment\n                      -Problems","filename":["334-014.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:46:55","tapeEnd":"01:49:28","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"334-013","nextCode":"334-015","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":25.14,"text":"To be considered by the people who are going to work on this today, and of course, is that what we should, I think, do, I say that because it is, I doubt it is, but it is, you know, close to slaving and attacking, and not mainly when you're suggesting that you're going to do a combination design."},{"start":25.68,"end":35.75,"text":"What is the election?"},{"start":35.77,"end":36.87,"text":"The fact that this is, as you understand, is how it is."},{"start":36.89,"end":37.77,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":37.79,"end":38.67,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":38.69,"end":39.57,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":39.59,"end":40.48,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":40.49,"end":41.38,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":41.4,"end":42.28,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":42.3,"end":43.18,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":43.2,"end":44.08,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":44.1,"end":44.98,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":45,"end":45.88,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":45.9,"end":46.78,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":46.8,"end":47.68,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":47.7,"end":48.58,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":48.6,"end":49.48,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":49.5,"end":50.38,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":50.4,"end":51.28,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":51.3,"end":52.19,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":52.2,"end":53.09,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":53.11,"end":53.99,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":54.01,"end":54.89,"text":"It's not the White people who are president."},{"start":54.91,"end":55.15,"text":"It's not the"},{"start":56.11,"end":83.03,"text":"He's able to do that."},{"start":83.05,"end":83.85,"text":"I mean, he can still go over physically."},{"start":83.87,"end":84.49,"text":"I mean, that's the whole point."},{"start":85.67,"end":97.61,"text":"See, you put in a call that may be an advantage."},{"start":97.63,"end":104.52,"text":"If he's mentally all right, you could just call it down there to the office and he's in charge and he has an element of good aid."},{"start":104.54,"end":106.14,"text":"But the point being that everybody knows that he can't serve beyond that."},{"start":106.16,"end":109.16,"text":"But he gets, after his long years of service in the Bureau, he gets the honor of being a director and acting for a while."},{"start":109.18,"end":110.89,"text":"Now, if you start to read over the can of worms, you start to look for the same idea."},{"start":111.39,"end":133.83,"text":"We start making an appointment right now to submit it to the Senate."},{"start":133.85,"end":134.41,"text":"The President has this here."},{"start":134.43,"end":135.05,"text":"It would be one hell of a mess."},{"start":135.07,"end":135.67,"text":"I just think it's very impure."},{"start":135.69,"end":136.57,"text":"And, of course, it's an actual default vote."},{"start":136.59,"end":137.59,"text":"There's no reason to make any point on the ground."},{"start":137.61,"end":138.23,"text":"That was the one thing he made."},{"start":138.25,"end":138.75,"text":"His life is in the court."},{"start":138.77,"end":140.23,"text":"He submits his resignation to the next president, whoever he is."},{"start":140.25,"end":141.07,"text":"So it's not meant for us to have trouble."},{"start":141.51,"end":153.19,"text":"All right, come on."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the urgent need to select a successor following the death of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. They weigh the political implications and potential confirmation hurdles of appointing an acting director versus a permanent successor immediately. The conversation focuses on avoiding a contentious Senate confirmation process during an election year, ultimately weighing the benefits of appointing a capable interim leader to maintain stability at the Bureau.","topics":["J. Edgar Hoover","FBI","Political Appointments","Senate Confirmation","Presidential Succession"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T15:42:31.553Z"},"topicSlugs":["j-edgar-hoover","fbi","political-appointments","senate-confirmation","presidential-succession"],"audioDurationSec":153,"audioFiles":[{"file":"334-014.mp3","bytes":6139607,"durationSec":153.35,"bitrate":320287,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:41.908Z","transcriptGapSeconds":49,"transcriptGapShare":0.32,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/334-014.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/334-014","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/334/conversation-334-014","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}