Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 549 › Conversation 549-016

Nixon & Haldeman on Political Strategy and Conservative Movement

Wednesday, July 28, 1971 · 1:21 PM–1:22 PM ET · Oval Office · 50 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation549-016 on Tape 549 (tape position 03:43:41–03:45:59)StartWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 1:21 PMEndWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 1:22 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 549-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman briefly discussed political management strategies concerning conservative figures, specifically mentioning J. Daniel Mahoney, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Senator Charles Percy. The President expressed a desire to limit Percy's influence within the organizational structure while advocating for a strategy of leveraging John Mitchell and other loyalists to counterbalance dissenting conservative factions. The discussion concluded with a focus on utilizing executive power to navigate and neutralize potential political opposition.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Oh, the only other thing that matters is that Percy doesn't manage the whole unit.
Percy said, why?
So don't you think that we might have to see him as a veteran?
Yeah.
That's what they started calling us, they wanted to see you.
I screw around with these, you know, there's rough groups, but there isn't any, it's very easy to handle it.
You just use the power off.
You put this here on Buckley, you put Mitchell on the other column, and you can rip them off pretty good.
And let the others go on white, which is fine, it's a good composition.

NARA Description

On July 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:21 pm to 1:22 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 549-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 549-016

Date: July 28, 1971
Time: 1:21 pm - 1:22 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

     Conservatives
          -J. Daniel Mahoney
                -John N. Mitchell
          -William F. Buckley, Jr.
                -Henry A. Kissinger

The President and Haldeman left at 1:22 pm.

Also recorded on July 28, 1971

  • 549-012 11:51 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:51 am to 12:46 pm.
  • 549-013 12:46 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 1:20 pm.
  • 549-014 1:20 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:20 pm.
  • 549-015 1:21 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:21 pm.
  • 549-017 1:25 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 2:54 pm.
  • 549-018 2:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
  • 549-019 2:58 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-020 2:58 PM · 17 sec — Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.

All 44 conversations from July 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 549-016, July 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/549-016 (accessed October 12, 2026).