{"conversationCode":"549-016","tapeNumber":549,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-549-016","startDateTime":"1971-07-28T17:21:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-07-28T17:22:00.000Z","startDate":"28-Jul-1971","startTime":"1:21 PM","endDate":"28-Jul-1971","endTime":"1:22 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","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.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 549-016\n\nDate: July 28, 1971\nTime: 1:21 pm - 1:22 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542\n\n     Conservatives\n          -J. Daniel Mahoney\n                -John N. Mitchell\n          -William F. Buckley, Jr.\n                -Henry A. Kissinger\n\nThe President and Haldeman left at 1:22 pm.","filename":["549-016.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:43:41","tapeEnd":"03:45:59","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"549-015","nextCode":"549-017","transcript":[{"start":0.67,"end":9.34,"text":"Oh, the only other thing that matters is that Percy doesn't manage the whole unit."},{"start":9.36,"end":9.7,"text":"Percy said, why?"},{"start":9.72,"end":12.43,"text":"So don't you think that we might have to see him as a veteran?"},{"start":12.45,"end":12.55,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":12.57,"end":13.77,"text":"That's what they started calling us, they wanted to see you."},{"start":23.82,"end":34.88,"text":"I screw around with these, you know, there's rough groups, but there isn't any, it's very easy to handle it."},{"start":34.9,"end":36.12,"text":"You just use the power off."},{"start":36.14,"end":43.4,"text":"You put this here on Buckley, you put Mitchell on the other column, and you can rip them off pretty good."},{"start":43.42,"end":46.12,"text":"And let the others go on white, which is fine, it's a good composition."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Political Strategy","Conservative Movement","Charles Percy","John Mitchell","William F. Buckley Jr.","Executive Influence"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T23:32:08.929Z"},"topicSlugs":["political-strategy","conservative-movement","charles-percy","john-mitchell","william-f-buckley-jr","executive-influence"],"audioDurationSec":50,"audioFiles":[{"file":"549-016.mp3","bytes":2024799,"durationSec":50.49,"bitrate":320822,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:51.012Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:59.347Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/549-016.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/549-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/549/conversation-549-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}