{"conversationCode":"385-016","tapeNumber":385,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-385-016","startDateTime":"1972-12-11T22:37:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-12-11T22:42:00.000Z","startDate":"11-Dec-1972","startTime":"5:37 PM","endDate":"11-Dec-1972","endTime":"5:42 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;","description":"On December 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:37 pm to 5:42 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 385-016 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.2","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part II","chronReleaseDate":"2-Dec-2008","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 385-16\n\nDate: December 11, 1972\nTime: 5:37 pm - 5:42 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n\n[See Conversation No. 34-47]\n\f                                            -20-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM","filename":["385-016.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haig, Alexander M., Jr."],"prevCode":"385-015","nextCode":"385-017","transcript":[{"start":0.37,"end":17.41,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":17.43,"end":22.9,"text":"It seems to me that I just don't know what to do with it."},{"start":22.92,"end":24.23,"text":"I feel like I have a lot more confidence in what I'm going to do."},{"start":24.25,"end":24.67,"text":"I'm going to be here."},{"start":24.69,"end":25.11,"text":"I'm going to be here."},{"start":25.13,"end":25.55,"text":"I'm going to be here."},{"start":25.57,"end":25.99,"text":"I'm going to be here."},{"start":27.52,"end":53.98,"text":"The second point is, if we were to go back, I'm sure that some of the, a lot of our message chains that we're going to have to look at are not necessarily what we're calling for everywhere."},{"start":57.03,"end":85.45,"text":"Well, if you're ready for that..."},{"start":91.95,"end":114.38,"text":"that I was required to work in."},{"start":114.4,"end":115.77,"text":"And, you know, that's just the roughest thing I've ever experienced."},{"start":115.78,"end":116.95,"text":"And, you know, it's been a long time since I've been here."},{"start":116.97,"end":118.13,"text":"And, you know, it's been a long time since I've been here."},{"start":118.15,"end":119.31,"text":"And, you know, it's been a long time since I've been here."},{"start":119.33,"end":120.49,"text":"And, you know, it's been a long time since I've been here."},{"start":120.51,"end":120.79,"text":"And, you know,"},{"start":124.31,"end":148.6,"text":"What I don't want them to get is that they all enter the framework like we want them to."},{"start":148.62,"end":149.54,"text":"They're willing to do what we want them to do."},{"start":149.56,"end":150.26,"text":"You see, it's not there anymore."},{"start":150.78,"end":152.68,"text":"We've got to realize what's the way to do the thing."},{"start":152.7,"end":154.22,"text":"We're ready to let them have it, but we're not going to let them have it."},{"start":155.25,"end":174.39,"text":"I know what happens."},{"start":174.41,"end":183.75,"text":"There's all these tortuous, tortuous, you know, negotiations."},{"start":183.78,"end":185.14,"text":"You've got to track down the man down in the middle of the mountain."},{"start":187.07,"end":211.88,"text":"Well, that's the way we are."},{"start":211.9,"end":215.87,"text":"You're being out there and being bad."},{"start":218.33,"end":241.61,"text":"The thing I want, what I'm at at this point, is to quit that."},{"start":241.63,"end":243.12,"text":"I'm going to stay around."},{"start":243.13,"end":245.82,"text":"I have a couple days."},{"start":245.84,"end":246.16,"text":"I have a recess."},{"start":246.18,"end":246.86,"text":"It's necessary that they say that."},{"start":246.88,"end":247.28,"text":"I'm going to recess."},{"start":247.3,"end":247.86,"text":"I'm going to start going."},{"start":248.33,"end":263.13,"text":"Thank you."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss the frustration and difficulties associated with ongoing administrative negotiations and message management. Nixon expresses a desire to move away from the current, tortuous process of dealing with outside parties who are failing to conform to established frameworks. The President indicates he will take a short recess to regroup and prepare for a more decisive approach to these challenges.","topics":["Administration","Negotiation strategy","White House operations","Decision making","Message control"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T17:46:56.707Z"},"topicSlugs":["administration","negotiation-strategy","white-house-operations","decision-making","message-control"],"audioDurationSec":268,"audioFiles":[{"file":"385-016.mp3","bytes":6431738,"durationSec":267.84,"bitrate":192106,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:45.437Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:31.033Z","transcriptGapSeconds":159,"transcriptGapShare":0.59,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/385-016.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/385-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/385/conversation-385-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}