Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 455 › Conversation 455-025

Nixon, Haldeman & Harlow on Ambassadorial appointments and Political patronage

Monday, February 22, 1971 · 4:36 PM–5:21 PM ET · Oval Office ·18 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  Harlow, Bryce N.;  Flanigan, Peter M.Conversation455-025 onTape 455 (tape position 06:13:10–06:25:23)StartMonday, February 22, 1971 at 4:36 PMEndMonday, February 22, 1971 at 5:21 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 455-025 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with H. R. Haldeman, Bryce Harlow, and Peter Flanigan to discuss various ambassadorial appointments and administrative personnel strategies. The conversation focused on identifying suitable candidates for roles in Australia and the Court of St. James, while evaluating the political implications of rewarding donors and associates with high-level posts. Additionally, the group addressed the need to manage relations with agricultural officials and coordinate an upcoming White House event, the 'Salute to Agriculture,' to strengthen support in the farming sector.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Frank, how are you?
Hello there.
Well, we're glad to see you.
Sorry to hold you up.
How are you?
I'm good.
I hope it didn't take you too long.
I'm trying to find a job at Russell.
I'm trying to work it out.
Well, how are you getting along?
You're retiring.
Do you have trouble with Russell Bill?
Well, we can't get a break.
about praying to the sun.
Yeah.
I'd like for you to call Art McClendon and offer it to him.
He won't pay it, but Art McClendon owns half of All Street on Betty.
Oh yes, and he's a, he loves it, and he's been down there a great deal, and he's the, as you know, smart as hell, and a great ambassador if you do it.
But let's just try it, just take a lost fire, just call him, just call him today, see what he says.
Yeah.
Call it.
Don't tell him to tell him.
If he takes it, we'll, we'll attend to him.
You just call him and, uh, if they need to go home, take it.
They'd be so lucky to get it.
But, uh, you just call him and say, now, hello, Clark.
And, uh, and so on.
Right out of the blue.
If, uh, if you were going to have to change your pastor or something, what are you doing?
And if he says no, then so does he have any suggestion?
Great.
Burt Cross would be great.
I imagine they have interests, well, at least that they know that part of the world.
300 knows almost every place.
Burt Cross, you know, he didn't ask for a darn thing, but there must be, there must be somebody around who's asked for something.
Yeah, don't give it away.
Well, that's it.
This should be an easy assignment for anybody who just knows it.
Any people would have to be nice to Gordon.
Why don't you give me a list of those that really want something, you know?
I thought I'd give you a list of the people, the most deserving people, who want to be ambassadors someplace.
Because I was curious, because the Flint letter is a great plan, and he would be a superb ambassador to that.
I didn't know if he had this kind of first connection to this.
Oh yeah, next to Bob Hogue is the wealthiest of the entertainers.
But second, he's got money in him.
He's an enormous business, a successful businessman.
He has about millions of haters in Australia.
So he owns it.
So in other words, he likes Australia.
And he's a great person.
I mean, smart as hell.
Yeah, that would be what he said.
Would you think so?
Yeah, he loved it.
Yeah, he loved it.
But the Austrians would say, well, we're from North Carolina.
It was an American interview.
That was our country.
You know, Washington.
Great personality.
God, can you imagine how he'd go down there?
Of course, he'd not be asking.
Some personality.
You know, looking at Blake Letter, his age, he's 58 or not in that period.
I don't know.
just a couple years in Australia.
Down there, and he dropped out of the show a couple years, he said, anyway, you couldn't stay there too long.
Most people just kept running around, they didn't notice him.
I was telling him, they're very good, they're very good, and I like Falco.
He just seems to go on and on forever.
He won't quit, perhaps.
He'll probably quit right now.
I think he should quit.
He's at the top.
He should have quit about two years ago.
Do you think so?
Yeah.
Do you think it's a sale?
Not quite as good.
I think it's a sale, and they're starting to tear him apart.
Like that life story, life article, and all those guys.
John Wayne ought to get out now, too.
Get out, and they're out.
Well, uh, he is... You don't want to be a bachelor.
John Wayne should be a bachelor.
Why didn't you tell me?
Harlan wants to be a bachelor.
That's true.
He's sat here and won't say a word.
Yes, I have.
So he's building out for St. James.
I have.
He wants St. James.
I promised that to Cliff Hoyer seven years ago.
Cliff remembers.
Every time you forget.
You don't think you can still send Hoyer out there, do you?
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
We're just going to have to work.
Well, I knew it was senility when we finally just couldn't send him in.
We locked him on three or four.
He wouldn't take us in.
But we're over that earth now.
It's done and it's too bad.
It's all over and it should be left that way.
He's in that shit.
He can't hurt me.
He can't hurt me here.
Yeah, that's right.
I'll tell you a guy that would be an awful good ambassador.
He went home.
He's a good ambassador right there.
Three would.
At this point.
Australia's one I hate to give away.
I don't know how to use this as a plumb for somebody.
My other hand, link letters.
No, but I meant, like a guy like Bert Cross, we don't really owe him.
He's your friend, but you don't really owe him anything.
We can do something.
We can use Bert Cross productively someplace.
Well, I told people to go to the list.
There must be a list of people that want him.
There are.
Does that auditor do it?
Well, what do you think?
I don't think he gets auditory confirmed, but I guess you're right.
Oh, no, that's right.
That's right.
That's right.
To keep him with us.
By God, they've got a string in their hands.
They're responsible.
Well, we want the court for him, but nobody will die.
Tell us what you were doing.
Oh, I had to use one of the touch bases.
I was over-deaf.
Some of the...
A person regarding the farm guy, you know, he says no on high farming.
Don't you have tapes?
Don't you?
Now, the second point is, we, what do you think?
Well, we might try.
The other point is that
An awfully good man is our old friend Spitzer.
He's enthusiastic and loves the farmers and loves us.
He's enthusiastic.
That's good.
Somebody carries a pair of cracks at home, he's saying, no, he doesn't have any, you know, sales entities in the library.
He's an expert there.
He's a terrific expert.
He's an expert.
He's out there.
He's an expert.
You do need an expert here in the White House.
In the framework that I'm thinking about this position, let me try it.
Let me ask you this.
Would you mind going out and trying a patient, of course?
Well, that's a good question.
I'll share it with you, Mr. President.
I'm going to have a patient tomorrow.
I'm going to have a celebration.
Great.
Great.
And I'll hit him again.
He just went down.
I told you, of course, it's not the best stuff.
He said, I knew that you were something.
I forgot what he said the first time.
I didn't know he was a horse thief.
That's the way he started the conversation.
And I said, Paige, what was the trouble with that?
He said, hi, it's not a horse.
And we had a hell of an argument about that.
This was about three, four weeks ago.
We had a few talks with him.
And then he got in bed and started calling me.
He got Jared to call me.
And I just told Jared that he was an aggressive coward.
I said, that's all I'm saying to you.
You should just break the page.
Now, I don't think I can persuade Paige a second.
I think it needs to be forced on this ship.
We ought to see what that's like.
You and the party.
Looking ahead to next year is admirable.
There's no question of evidence.
The page keeps saying it's only 15 miles away from here to be used as control.
Clever.
Well, it's only 15 miles away from here to there, too, as I told you.
And he's got a man in the White House that way.
He's got his man.
He's awful about people, for granted.
He just clasps on to them and squeezes them out and won't let them go.
And he's always been like this.
But I will talk to him.
I'll talk also to Jerry and to Les and see if I can get them to... See, Jerry tried to make a name for himself in order to know his worth.
We tried to get it last year.
We're going all out on the agriculture thing.
We're going to go out and listen to them.
And we're going to put on a salute to agriculture.
A big dinner here.
I don't know if it's dinner or evening.
I think it's dinner.
The dinner will be about
What's your attitude toward facing people you don't know best?
I'm very careful, as we have in common.

NARA Description

On February 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Bryce N. Harlow, and Peter M. Flanigan met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:21 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 455-025 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 455-25

Date: February 22, 1971
Time: 4:36 pm - unknown before 5:21 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and Bryce N. Harlow

     Greetings

     Appointments
         -Fred J. Russell
         -Kenneth Franzheim, II
              -Frank J. Shakespeare

******************************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under deed of gift 10/24/2019. Segment cleared for
release.]
[Privacy]
[455-025-w001]
[Duration: 1m 23s]

     Appointments
         -Kenneth Franzheim, II
              -Frank J. Shakespeare
                   -The President’s opinion
                   -Perils of giving jobs to friends of friends

               -Ability
               -New Zealand
                     -Fred J. Russell
                          -William P. Rogers’ conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                          -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman’s opinion
                          -Compared to Kenneth Franzheim, II
          -Walter L. Rice
               -Remove from Australia

******************************************************************************

[The President talked with Peter M. Flanigan between 4:36 pm and 4:38 pm]

[Conversation No. 455-25A]

          -Australia
                -Arthur G. (“Art”) Linkletter
                      -Forthcoming conversation between Flanigan and Linkletter
                            -President’s instructions
                            -Bert S. Cross
          -List of possible ambassadorial appointees

[End of telephone conversation]

          -Linkletter
               -Australia
               -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
               -John Wayne
          -Ambassador to Court of St. James
               -Harlow
               -Cliff Bulyer [?]
          -Leonard W. Hall
          -Linkletter
          -Cross
          -Henry Salvatori

******************************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under deed of gift 10/24/2019. Segment cleared for
release.]

[Privacy]
[455-025-w002]
[Duration: 1m 17s]

     Appointments
         -Australia
              -Grace Ford Salvatori
                    -The President’s opinion
                    -Desire for Henry Salvatori to be Ambassador of Italy
              -Rogers C. B. Morton
         -The President’s conversation with Rogers C. B. Morton
              -Undersecretary job offer
         -Rogers C. B. Morton and Walter J. Hickel
              -Potential run for office

******************************************************************************

     Appointments
         -Court appointment
         -Agriculture
              -Hyde Murray
              -Murray Spitzer
              -Clarence D. Palmby
              -Harlow
                    -[Forename unknown] Page [?]
                    -Leslie C. Arends
                    -Gerald R. Ford

     Agriculture
          -The President’s visit to Iowa
          -”Salute to Agriculture”
          -Earl L. Butz

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 5:21 pm

Also recorded on February 22, 1971

  • 455-017 1:37 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:43 pm.
  • 455-018 1:43 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:43 pm to 2:07 pm.
  • 455-019 2:07 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 2:07 pm.
  • 455-020 2:07 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:07 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 455-021 3:02 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:02 pm to 3:09 pm.
  • 455-022 3:09 PM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:09 pm to 3:50 pm.
  • 455-023 3:50 PM · 42 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Peter M. Flanigan, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:50 pm to 4:33 pm.
  • 455-024 4:33 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:33 pm and 4:36 pm.

All 25 conversations from February 22, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 455-025, February 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/455-025 (accessed September 18, 2026).