Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 344 › Conversation 344-011

Nixon & Haldeman on Watergate and political strategy

Tuesday, June 20, 1972 · 8:42 PM–8:50 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation344-011 on Tape 344 (tape position 00:59:57–01:03:31)StartTuesday, June 20, 1972 at 8:42 PMEndTuesday, June 20, 1972 at 8:50 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 344-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard Nixon met with Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman shortly after the initial discovery of the Watergate break-in. The discussion focused on managing the political fallout and potential implications of the incident for the administration. The meeting served to coordinate early strategic responses and information control regarding the unfolding investigation.

Watergate
H. R. Haldeman
political strategy
White House response
investigation

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:59:57 – 01:03:31

part A, 59:55

344a.mp3

344b.mp3

344c.mp3

NARA Description

On June 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:42 pm to 8:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 344-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 344-11

Date: June 20, 1972
Time: 8:42-8:50 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with H. R. Haldeman.

[See Conversation No. 25-94]

Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

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Yup.

OK.

So, yeah.

Or R. Yeah.

I'd like, I'd like to, I'd like to have these, uh, after the trip, I'd like to see them in all of our markets.

And then I'll work from our end, you know, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on.

I might have picked it up too much.

Why don't we try the... Yeah.

Yeah.

I have a feeling that just as well on the left, the whole government thing has arrived on the front line of speculation.

I mean, I think it's a better time.

It's a better time.

We need to walk in and do this and so forth at this point.

Those who do it won't do it hard for the others.

Somehow there's a kind of resonance that you get right after doing it.

One day, sometimes, rather than else, you get so cool before all of a sudden you're trying to do it by yourself.

I don't want to get too serious, but I don't want to get too crowded, so let me say that you've got to have a blog for it.

And they would have to, you know, get a reference from other agencies.

And they would have to meet tomorrow.

And they would have to go.

And if they're cold, they would have to go to the hospital.

And they would have to go to the hospital.

Oh no, 10 o'clock this morning.

That'll be the action.

I should have.

Also recorded on June 20, 1972

025-092 7:59 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:04 pm.
344-008 7:59 PM · 20 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 7:59 pm and 8:04 pm.
025-093 8:04 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:04 pm to 8:21 pm.
344-009 8:04 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:04 pm to 8:22 pm.
344-010 8:22 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:42 pm.
344-034 8:22 PM · 2 min — 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 8:22 pm and 8:42 pm.
025-094 8:42 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:42 pm to 8:50 pm.
344-012 8:50 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:50 pm and 11:22 pm.

All 56 conversations from June 20, 1972 →

Nixon, Ziegler & Haig on Watergate and White Paper May 21, 1973 · 26 min
Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Watergate and John W. Dean June 3, 1973 · 24 min
Nixon, Buzhardt & Haig on Huston Plan and Watergate May 16, 1973 · 1 hr 31 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Watergate and John B. Connally April 26, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Ford on Watergate scandal and H.R. Haldeman May 1, 1973 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Packard on Watergate and H.R. Haldeman May 1, 1973 · 3 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 344-011, June 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/344-011 (accessed November 14, 2026).