Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 556 › Conversation 556-003
Nixon & Haldeman on Oval Office and Congressional leadership
Friday, August 6, 1971 · 10:00 AM–10:03 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman met to coordinate the logistical arrangements for upcoming meetings with John B. Connally, Rudolph A. Peterson, and Congressional leadership. The pair focused on the spatial organization of the Oval Office, specifically discussing the optimal seating placement for the Congressional leaders. They ultimately decided to move the leadership seating to the left bench to better accommodate the group.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 29.8 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:17:59 into the tape and ends around 00:19:32.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
NARA Description
On August 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:00 am to 10:03 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 556-003 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 556-3
Date: August 6, 1971
Time: 10:00 am - 10:03 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
President's schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with John B. Connally
-Rudolph A. Peterson meeting
-Congressional leadership meeting
The President and Haldeman left at 10:03 am.Also recorded on August 6, 1971
- 556-001 9:42 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:42 am to 10:00 am.
- 556-002 10:00 AM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:00 am.
- 556-020 10:03 AM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:54 am.
- 556-004 10:34 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, John B. Connally, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., George H. W. Bush, Rudolph A. Peterson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:34 am to 11:38 am.
- 556-005 11:39 AM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Leslie C. Arends, Gerald R. Ford, Robert P. Griffin, Hugh Scott, William E. Timmons, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:39 am to 12:02 pm.
- 556-006 12:02 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:06 pm.
- 556-007 12:02 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:06 pm.
- 007-064 12:06 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:06 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 556-003, August 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/556-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).