Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 464 › Conversation 464-001

Nixon, Haldeman & Kinsley on White House personnel and staff management

Monday, March 8, 1971 · 12:06 PM–1:08 PM ET · Oval Office ·2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  Kinsley, Daniel T.;  Horton, Bill;  Malek, Frederic V.Conversation464-001 onTape 464 (tape position 00:01:01–00:04:00)StartMonday, March 8, 1971 at 12:06 PMEndMonday, March 8, 1971 at 1:08 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 464-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with H. R. Haldeman, Frederic Malek, Daniel Kingsley, and Bill Horton to evaluate the performance and potential of various White House staff members. The discussion focused on identifying high-performing personnel, such as John Dean and William Timmons, and determining how to better utilize their specific political and administrative talents. The group emphasized the need to optimize staffing levels and strategically deploy key advisors to strengthen the administration's political capabilities.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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He was in a different category.
He isn't the greatest German, but he was in a different category.
That's right.
That's right.
But I would put, uh, the people I've named in that group.
John Dean, sure as hell goes in that group.
There's no question about it.
Dean is a health person, and we're not using him adequately, which is another thing.
That's what Fred's poking around.
I'd like to see the names of the eight guys that you've really got.
I've really got them.
I know that Colton's got it.
I know that, uh,
I have a couple of guys that I think have got it.
Some have got it in different ways.
Of course, I mean, some have it down one way, others have it the other way.
Well, like Timmons.
Timmons has got it in his own way.
You can't use him across the board.
Dan is another one that's damn good in a particular area.
And he is, that's all.
You can't put boys in that league.
No, well, I would put general political artists in.
That's right.
Well, there was a few exceptions you could, or maybe not northeastern, but you can midwest.
But he's still, he's the kind of guy you're talking about.
That's right.
He's a goer.
And yet we've got him sanctioned.
We are quite injured.
And he's right.
We're going below that because...
They had to guide it below, push the guys above.
They pushed them above, and also come 73, some of these guys had been .
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Very good.
Has he met good people?
Well, he's got Nathan, and he's got Schlesinger, and he's got Rice, who are essentially his deputies.
Of course, he's losing Schlesinger.
That's not very good about him.
We got him.

NARA Description

On March 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Daniel T. Kinsley, Bill Horton, and Frederic V. Malek met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:06 pm and 1:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 464-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 464-1

Date: March 8, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:06 pm and 1:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, Daniel T. Kingsley, Bill Horton, and Frederic
V. Malek
[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress; discontinuities appear in the original
recording]

     White House staff
          -An unknown man
                -Clark MacGregor
                -John D. Ehrlichman
                -Henry A. Kissinger
          -John W. Dean, III
          -Malek’s role
          -Charles W. Colson
          -William E. Timmons
          -Harry S. Dent
                -Role
          -Timmons
          -Malek’s role
                -Review of positions
          -An unknown man [George P. Shultz?]
                -Richard P. Nathan
                -Dr. James R. Schlesinger
                -Donald B. Rice

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 1:08 pm

Also recorded on March 8, 1971

  • 049-012 8:32 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the National Security Council, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Richard M. Helms, Henry A. Kissinger, John B. Connally, David Packard, and Paul H. Nitze, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 8:32 am and 10:27 am.
  • 463-001 12:10 PM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frederic V. Malek, Daniel T. Kinsley, Bill Horton, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, and Walter R. Tkach met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 1:13 pm.
  • 463-002 5:38 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 463-003 5:38 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 463-004 5:38 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 463-005 5:38 PM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 463-006 5:41 PM · 59 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Donald H. Rumsfeld, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:41 pm to 6:38 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 464-001, March 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/464-001 (accessed September 18, 2026).