Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 413 › Conversation 413-017
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Executive Appointments and Economic Policy
Friday, February 23, 1973 · 3:35 PM–4:40 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 41 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and his advisors, including H. R. Haldeman and Henry Kissinger, held a wide-ranging meeting to discuss executive appointments, staff management, and domestic economic strategy. They specifically vetted candidates for the IRS, reviewed the organizational structure and personnel assignments for figures like Anne Armstrong, and strategized on maintaining public confidence in the face of inflation and price controls. Furthermore, Kissinger provided updates on diplomatic initiatives with the People's Republic of China, and the group analyzed the political impact of ongoing military developments in Laos and Cambodia.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 24 minutes of this recording (about 60% 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.
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NARA Description
On February 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Gerald R. Ford, White House operator, Wilbur D. Mills, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:35 pm to 4:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 413-017 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 413-17
Date: February 23, 1973
Time: 3:35 pm-4:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Haldeman's talk with Patricia R. Hitt
-Hitt’s knowledge
-Appointment to ACTION
-Easing out
-Rogers C. B. Morton [?]
-Peter M. Flanigan [?]
-Peace Corps
-VISTA
-Hitt’s reaction
-Robert H. Finch
-Political opponents
The President talked with Gerald R. Ford between 3:38 pm and 3:44 pm.
[Conversation No. 413-17A]
[See Conversation No. 43-194]
[End of telephone conversation]
Wilbur D. Mills
-Press conference and press release
-Timing
-Surcharge
-Selected imports
-Trade legislation
-Staff recommendation [?]
-President’s phone call to Mills
-President's conversation with George P. Shultz and John D. Ehrlichman
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 3:44 pm and
3:47 pm.
[Conversation No. 413-17B]
[See Conversation No. 43-195]
[End of telephone conversation]
President's schedule
Donald C. Alexander [?]
-Ohio
-Qualifications
-Harvard law, Yale undergraduate
Charles W. Colson’s role
President’s knowledge [?]
Ehrlichman’s role
Herbert G. Klein
-Talk with Haldeman
-Trip to California
-Meeting
-Possibilities
-Newspaper division
The President talked with Mills between 3:47 pm and 3:53 pm.
[Conversation No. 413-17C]
[See Conversation No. 43-196]
[End of telephone conversation]
Surcharge
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
-John B. Connally
-Political motivation
Alexander's appointment to Internal Revenue Service [IRS] position
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] background check
-Support from Shultz, Ehrlichman, Colson
-Compared to George H. W. Bush
-Ehrlichman
-Administration’s expectations
-Background
-Newspaper
-Editor, Harvard Law Review
-Yale University
-Academic honors
-World War II service
-European theater
-Academic honors
-Comparison to Elliot L. Richardson
-Tax background
-Criticism
-Head of IRS
-Support for IRS appointment
Executive appointments
-Diversity
Advisor to President
-Part-time
-Guidance for staff
Staff changes
Anne L. Armstrong
-Spanish-speaking related work
-Ehrlichman [?]
-Office staff
-Diversity
-Male staff members
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
-Duties
-Haldeman’s relationship with Armstrong
-Compared with Finch
-Additional staff
-Competence of staff members
-Pamela Powell
-Ongoing projects
-Youth business [?]
-New Majority activity
-Bicentennial
-Organizing public activities
-Entertainment
-Youth night
-Work with Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Management style
-Productivity
John A. Volpe [?]
White House staff
-Management
-Costs
-High level
-Political appointments [?]
Sub-Cabinet officers [?]
-Meetings with President
-Stephen B. Bull
-Charls E. Walker
-Camp David
-Undersecretaries
-Work ethic
-James F. Oates
-Veterans
Prisoners of war [POWs] function
-Scheduling
-Public relations
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
Letters
-Preparation
-Endorsement of resolution
-Subsidies [?]
-Batch prepared for March, April
-Statement on Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] visit
Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO]
-Job Corps
-Public relations
-Reaction
-Speech
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Announcement on OEO
-Timing
Harris poll on issues
-Results
-OEO [?]
-Phase III wage-price action
-Public support
-Lack of confidence
-Prices
-Gold
-Budget issue
-Economic issues
-Haldeman’s agreement with Shultz’s view
-Consumer Price Index [CPI]
-Food prices
-Importance
Price controls
-Action
-Delayed results
William J. Baroody, Jr.
-Citizens committee
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
-Taxes
-Prices
-Actions
-Control
-Offensive stance
-Opposition
-Congressional, press relations
-Academic community
-Effects
-Need for villains, civility
-Vance Hartke, Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Press
-New York Times
Campaign financing [?]
-Contributors [?]
-George H. W. Bush
Press relations
-Economic issues
-Poor
-Inflation
-Greed [?]
-Prices
-Supermarket
-Public interest in President’s economic program
-Trip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC], February 1972
-Cultural exchanges
-Ping pong team
-Acrobats
-Opening of trade office
-Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
-Announcement of PRC trip
-Effective results
-Vietnam War settlement
-Effective results
-POWs return
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] agreement, Leonid I. Brezhnev’s visit
-16-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
-Public relations value
-Charles H. Percy’s media profile
-Responses
Phase III wage-price actions
-Bureaucracy
-Expansion
-Inflation
-Prices and wages
Israel
-Libyan airline shoot down
-Public apology
-1972 Olympics incident
-Moshe Dayan
-Explanation
-George H. W. Bush [?]
William L. Safire
-Preparation of draft
-Death of Shelley A. (Scarney) Buchanan’s father
-Patrick J. Buchanan
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:53 pm.
Meeting with Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Charles J. DiBona, and Henry A. Kissinger
Bull left at an unknown time before 4:40 pm.
Kissinger entered at an unknown time after 3:53 pm.
Telephone call from McGeorge Bundy
An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 3:53 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown man left at an unknown time before 4:40 pm.
-17-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
Bundy
-George W. Ball
-Organizing
-Initiative
-Principles
PRC
-Kissinger’s message from President
-Visit
-Chou En-lai
-Dr. David K. E. Bruce
-Ambassador
-Chiang Kai-shek
-John H. Holdridge
Bundy
-Telephone call
Economic affairs
-Diplomatic exchange with PRC
-Bush
-Ball
-Bruce
-Bipartisan support
-Leo Cherne
North Vietnam troops in Laos and Cambodia
-Laotian government
-US bombings
-Targets
William H. Sullivan
William J. Casey, William J. Porter [?], William P. Rogers [?]
-Skills
Kissinger left at an unknown time before 4:40 pm.
-18-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 413-39 (cont’d)
Shultz and Ehrlichman
-Talks with Haldeman
-Polls on public perception of economic issues
-August 1971 New Economic Program
-Problems
Haldeman left at 4:40 pm.Also recorded on February 23, 1973
- 043-191 3:29 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George H. W. Bush talked on the telephone from 3:29 pm to 3:32 pm.
- 413-013 3:29 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George H. W. Bush met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:29 pm to 3:32 pm.
- 043-192 3:32 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:32 pm and 3:38 pm.
- 043-193 3:32 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:32 pm and 3:38 pm.
- 413-014 3:32 PM · 8 sec — 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 3:32 pm and 3:35 pm.
- 413-015 3:35 PM · 11 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 3:35 pm and 3:38 pm.
- 413-016 3:35 PM · 15 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 3:35 pm and 3:38 pm.
- 043-194 3:38 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone from 3:38 pm to 3:44 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 413-017, February 23, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/413-017 (accessed October 1, 2026).