Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 516 › Conversation 516-005

Nixon, Hampton & Krogh on Communication Security and Government Operations

Thursday, June 10, 1971 · 12:26 PM–12:29 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hampton, Horace; Krogh, Egil ("Bud"), Jr.; White House photographerConversation516-005 on Tape 516 (tape position 01:42:41–01:45:07)StartThursday, June 10, 1971 at 12:26 PMEndThursday, June 10, 1971 at 12:29 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 516-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Egil “Bud” Krogh and Horace Hampton to formally acknowledge Hampton’s classified contributions to government communication security. Nixon praised Hampton’s discretion and indispensable service, emphasizing the difficulty of replacing an operative who worked independently of the telephone company. The brief meeting concluded with the presentation of cuff links as a token of appreciation before Hampton’s departure from his current duties.

  • Communication Security
  • Government Operations
  • Egil Krogh
  • Horace Hampton
  • Classified Operations

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 37% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mr. President, Mr. Lawrence Anthony.
Yeah, how are you?
Well, after all these years, I thought we ought to get to this.
Thank you for... Yeah, I hope you enjoyed it.
It's been a pleasure.
Well, we've got to leave now.
I'm just very excited for this.
Of course, I'm going to cancel.
I did that.
I have to pull the whole government together, Mr. President, on communication security.
And he's the one man that has been indispensable, actually.
I've enjoyed it very much.
I've enjoyed it because you saved the country.
However, things that you do, you have to be sure that you're going to trust it.
Because of the old responsibility on many shoulders,
He's been brought up to the Hill, where he's never had to open up what he's been doing back here for us.
It's been a very close operation.
The phone company pretty much said, you're your own man.
Don't tell us what you're doing.
So it's been something that he had to do by himself.
And our problem was finding a man who did the same job.
Well, anyway.
We haven't got much to, uh, reward you with, but we've got a very, very nice complex that you should have.
A lady.
Are you a cop?
No, I'm not.
I know.
I'll get you something else.
I appreciate it very much.
I'm very sorry, but I'm going to have to give up on the activities and things that I've been doing.
I, as I say, am quite concerned because public discussion is a very neutral quality of government.
You have it to 100% degree.
And I'm aware of that.
the kind of people who will do a job, not pop off and recognize that another country requires it.
That's a very valuable asset.
You just be sure we get a guidance as good as you are.
That's all we want.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate you letting me come in here.
We wanted to get that.
Let's have you pop this picture if you like.
Have a little minute.
That's it.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On June 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Horace Hampton, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:26 pm to 12:29 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 516-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 516-5
Date: June 10, 1971
Time: 12:26 pm - 12:29 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Horace Hampton, Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr., and the White House
photographer

    Greetings
The White House photographer left at unknown time before 12:29 pm

     Hampton’s efforts in government
         -Nature of operation

     Presentation of gifts
          -Cuff links

     Hampton future plans
         -Replacement

Hampton and Krogh left at 12:29 pm

Also recorded on June 10, 1971

  • 060-003 11:01 AM · 1 hr 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon and railroad executives, including Benjamin F. Biaggini, Tom Rice, Jack Fishwick, Graham Claytor, William H. Moore, Hays Watkins, William Johnson, Frank Barnette, Louis Menk, John Reed, Stephen Ailes, John A. Volpe, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., Charles Clapp, George Crawford, and Peter M. Flanigan, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:01 am and 11:59 pm.
  • 060-004 12:21 PM · 7 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 516-004 12:21 PM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Peter M. Flanigan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:21 pm to 12:23 pm.
  • 516-006 12:29 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, Everett D. Collier, Philip G. Warner, Herbert G. Klein, White House photographer, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:29 pm to 12:56 pm.
  • 516-007 12:56 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:56 pm.
  • 516-008 1:00 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 1:34 pm.
  • 516-014 1:34 PM · 54 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:34 pm to 1:35 pm.
  • 516-009 1:35 PM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, Charles W. Colson, White House operator, and Hubert H. Humphrey met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:35 pm and 3:06 pm.

All 24 conversations from June 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 516-005, June 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/516-005 (accessed October 12, 2026).