Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 500 › Conversation 500-002

Nixon & Haldeman on White House messaging and Far right

Tuesday, May 18, 1971 · 7:26 AM–7:55 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation500-002 on Tape 500 (tape position 00:04:27–00:06:28)StartTuesday, May 18, 1971 at 7:26 AMEndTuesday, May 18, 1971 at 7:55 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 500-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictates a memorandum to H. R. Haldeman outlining political messaging strategies intended to appeal to the "far right" while neutralizing critics on the left. The President emphasizes the importance of projecting a bold, courageous image regarding his foreign policy—specifically Vietnam—and his economic agenda, including the Family Assistance Plan and budget priorities. This guidance serves as an directive for the White House staff to adopt a more assertive posture in public communications and future press conferences.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 43% 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.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

On further reflection to LR's direct approach to dealing with weather, as far as the far right is concerned, they claim to be pleased with the bad existence and unfathomable budget, and as I have indicated,
Strong, courageous, bold.
Analysis of possessions.
Intention to indicate that mind are bold.
to where his country sort of suffocates his memories.
It must have gotten through to most people as, you know, editorial critics on the left.
That would be great.
Yes, and probably our own staff.
All those...
Sorry, I don't comprehend the... Go off.
Fight for us.
Yes!

NARA Description

On May 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 500-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 500-2

Date: May 18, 1971
Time: Unknown between 7:26 am and 7:55 am
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a memorandum to H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     "Far Right"

     Family Assistance Plan

     Balanced budget

     President's foreign policy
           -Vietnam

     President's news conferences

     "The Left"

     White House staff

Also recorded on May 18, 1971

  • 500-001 7:26 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
  • 500-003 7:26 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Landrum Bolling met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
  • 500-004 7:26 AM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
  • 500-005 7:55 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:55 am to 7:56 am.
  • 500-006 7:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:58 am to 8:02 am.
  • 058-001 8:02 AM · 1 hr 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Melvin R. Laird, and Republican Congressional leaders, including U. Alexis Johnson, Robert P. Griffin, Norris Cotton, Peter H. Dominick, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Richard H. Poff, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, John J. Rhodes, Robert T. Stafford, H. Allen Smith, Robert J. Dole, Peter G. Peterson, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Harry S. Dent, Ronald L. Ziegler, Bryce N. Harlow, and Kenneth E. BeLieu, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:02 am to 9:33 am.
  • 500-007 8:02 AM · 34 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:02 am and 9:33 am.
  • 003-058 9:33 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:33 am and 9:34 am.

All 42 conversations from May 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 500-002, May 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/500-002 (accessed September 28, 2026).