Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 540 › Conversation 540-011

Nixon & Haldeman on Professional conduct and Leadership style

Tuesday, July 20, 1971 · 1:26 PM–1:29 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation540-011 on Tape 540 (tape position 03:24:45–03:28:33)StartTuesday, July 20, 1971 at 1:26 PMEndTuesday, July 20, 1971 at 1:29 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 540-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the professional conduct and social habits of a third party, likely a high-ranking official or diplomat, during a recent trip. The conversation focuses on the subject's tendency to inappropriately fraternize with subordinates and service staff, which Nixon contrasts with his own philosophy on maintaining clear boundaries of rank. The participants reflect on how this behavior undermines the formal distance necessary for leadership.

  • Professional conduct
  • Leadership style
  • Social etiquette
  • Organizational hierarchy
  • Diplomatic travel

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 19% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Well, I suppose it makes sense to do so.
Mr. President, the rest of you can have a good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
I was just saying, I think it's the pattern.
He does these with the press, you know, when he's riding in the plane.
He did the midnight press conference.
He did this in the press.
The Fat Jack name was done that way.
He tends to relax with people and trust them, you know what I mean?
And then he burps something out, or when he's on public stage, he isn't that way.
He's damn defective.
He's a cautious character.
It's the fraternizing.
He fraternizes with the Secret Service.
He fraternizes with the...
It's a funny thing because he's got this almost pompous sense of rank and all that, and yet it's so different.
You have no feeling of rank in the ceremonial sense or anything like that, but you have a total recognition of rank underneath.
You never fraternize with people below your level.
You never let down with people below your level.
I never separate them.
But superficially, you're always friendly.
And with people below your level, more friendly.
I mean, you're much more, and Jimmy will make much more of an effort to be nice and all that to a secretary than you do to your principal associates.
But you never, there's a line there that you never cross.
He is just the other one.
He's very much conscious of rank and all that.
Very
and you have to follow them.
And it just breaks the barrier completely on a personal basis.
It's very strange.
I'm impressed on this trip.
They were pretty bad with me on the project.
Yeah, I heard a news thing on the radio, a feature report from one of the guys who was with them.
I know you're good friends.
That's what he's doing.
I don't think they get as equal as a country strong people.
I won't say.
Straight on.

NARA Description

On July 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:26 pm to 1:29 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 540-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 540-11

Date: July 20, 1971
Time: 1:26 pm - 1:29 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Domestic issues

     Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
          -George P. Shultz’s meeting with the National Urban League
          -Relaxed attitude towards the press, staff and the Secret Service
                -Comparison with the President
                      -The President's treatment of secretaries and low-level staff
                           -Agnew's consciousness of rank
          -Recent trip
                -Reaction of the press

The President and Haldeman left at 1:29 pm.

Also recorded on July 20, 1971

  • 540-010 1:21 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:21 pm and 1:25 pm.
  • 540-012 1:29 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:29 pm and 1:31 pm.
  • 263-001 1:31 PM · 26 min — 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 1:31 pm and 1:58 pm.
  • 263-002 1:58 PM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 263-003 1:58 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 263-004 1:58 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:58 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 263-005 3:10 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:10 pm to 3:35 pm.
  • 263-006 3:35 PM · 15 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 3:35 pm and 3:41 pm.

All 39 conversations from July 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 540-011, July 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/540-011 (accessed October 11, 2026).