Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 573 › Conversation 573-002
Nixon, Haldeman & Cox on Apollo 15 and Press relations
Thursday, September 16, 1971 · 6:21 PM–6:29 PM ET · Oval Office · 8 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed the political potential of the Apollo 15 astronauts, specifically Colonel David R. Scott, before moving into a broad review of administrative challenges and scheduling. The conversation addressed the frustrations of managing press relations—notably regarding books by Walter Hickel and columnists Evans and Novak—and compared the executive demands of the presidency with those of governors and mayors. The pair concluded by coordinating upcoming meetings, including sessions with Black military officers and the American Legion commander.
- Apollo 15
- Press relations
- Presidential responsibilities
- White House scheduling
- H. R. Haldeman
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 14% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data
· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.
Which one of these foals is the captain?
Scott.
I think it's Scott.
Scott Purvis.
He's the one that mentioned Russ Hubbard as the best of all the astronauts of the whole, all through the program, as a political property.
Well, apparently he's articulate, dedicated, and just all of us.
Yeah, but this guy apparently has some
They said, they were just excited when they came back.
Hello?
Yes.
Hello?
Hi.
Yeah, how are you?
Yeah.
Yeah, I just, just was walking out.
I'm sorry I didn't go to that dinner.
Yeah, you went to that dinner?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, 6.30.
Yeah?
Did you want to ask something?
Huh?
Oh!
Well, are you all set on your things coming up?
You're coming to Camp David, aren't you?
Fine.
Well, what I think you should do, I think I told you that you stay in the accident scene, the two of you, so that they can have the big cabins, and then we'll, uh, we'll, uh, we'll, uh, we'll be up Saturday, too.
They'll eat Saturday night.
And you're going to say, you'll come up Friday evening.
Excellent, excellent.
Excellent.
Oh, yeah, that's excellent, excellent.
Everything going all right?
All right.
Can everybody see the program?
Where?
I'll be there.
You didn't see it?
Okay.
All right.
Of course.
He must just get so bored with these guys.
I think that's the problem.
They have nothing to talk about.
He wants to take my note.
He said, I can see now how it was harder for the governor to recover.
They're all nice guys, but they're all tied in.
Teachers are not reaching around the town.
Exactly.
It's really a lost goddamn job, isn't it?
It's awful and illegal.
Really, isn't it?
That's governors.
I think mayors have got other governors.
I really do, too.
And some more cities.
Some cities.
Around the city, at least.
The governor sits there, marching on the legislature, which is a slow form of life.
The city council isn't much either.
You've got a tough job, isn't it?
Oh.
all these sort of peanut-type problems, and no big ones.
The advantage of the presidency is you got a lot of peanut problems, but you got a few big ones, too, that are worth getting your teeth into.
They really need calm in those games.
He knows how to bang.
So I had to do the bashing today, and I did, I didn't get to talk, but, you know, Schultz and the rest are so challenged that they don't know how to, you know, they really try to answer the questions, but you use the down comment to answer the questions.
You know, they certainly said they had a hell of a lot to do, but I don't know about that.
I don't know.
We're sorry, Sam.
You notice again, on Sunday, we were going to, they didn't ask about having some Novak's book, or Hinkle's book, or the Conservative Revolt, or even the Dump Act.
You know, the questions that our people worry about, well, that our people worry about, are not the ones that usually come up.
You've got to be prepared on all of them.
Jackass, they come up in the Easter initials.
Someone's still loading on the TV.
What is this?
I don't think so.
We could have done it.
We have.
We can do it next week.
I mean, probably later.
We're still, if we can do it, I guess we can.
What's that?
Great Negro Black Flag Offices.
That's what it was then.
Black generals and admirals that we've put off a couple of times.
Indian scripture.
This is the first edition.
Okay.
There's something on it.
What's your show on that?
He's the new American Legion Commander.
His name is Respex.
NARA Description
On September 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:21 pm to 6:29 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 573-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 573-2
Date: September 16, 1971
Time: 6:21 pm - 6:29 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Apollo 15 astronauts
-Colonel David R. Scott
-Mission commander
-James B. Irwin
-Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld
-View of Scott
The President talked with Tricia Nixon Cox between 6:21 pm and 6:22 pm.
[Conversation No. 573-2A]
[See Conversation No. 9-45]
**********************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 03/09/2020.
1m 15s segment cleared for release. 4s remain closed as 573-002-w001.]
[Personal Returnable]
[573-002-w001]
[Duration: 1m 15s]
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[573-002-w001]
[Duration: 4s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
[End of telephone conversation]
**********************************************************************
Congress
Ronald L. Ziegler
-Announcement of meeting
Unknown person
-Marital status
State and local officials
-Meeting with unknown person [George P. Shultz?]
-Job of governor
-Job of mayor
-Comparison of responsibilities
-City Councils
-Compared to the Presidency
Press conference
-Handling
-John B. Connally
-Assistance
-Shultz
-News
-Questions
-Rowland Evans and Robert D. Novak
-Walter J. Hickel’s book
-Conservative revolt
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Staff concerns
-East Room
-Television
The President's schedule
-Black military officers
-Generals and admirals
-Indian scripture presentation
-Charles S. Rhyne
-Maurice H. Stans
-Possible topic for meeting
-Politics
-Minority business enterprise
-Scheduled meetings
-John Geiger
-National Commander of the American Legion
The President and Haldeman left at 6:29 pm.Also recorded on September 16, 1971
- 278-070 3:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:00 pm.
- 278-072 3:41 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:41 pm to 3:43 pm.
- 278-073 3:43 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:43 pm and 4:00 pm.
- 573-001 4:00 PM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, William L. Safire, Clark MacGregor, Herbert G. Klein, Stephen B. Bull, Patrick J. Buchanan, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:00 pm to 4:58 pm.
- 075-004 4:58 PM · 1 hr 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon and elected state and local officials, including Arch A. Moore, Jr., Richard B. Ogilvie, Thomas J. Meskill, Winfield Dunn, Warren E. Hearnes, J. James Exon, Wendall R. Anderson, Frank Licht, Luis A. Ferre, John C. West, William J. Connor, Gladys N. Spellman, Bernard Hillenbrand, Henry W. Maier, Louie Welch, John J. Gunther, Richard G. Lugar, Pat Healy, John B. Connally, James G. Martin, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Herbert Stein, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Charls E. Walker, Ronald L. Ziegler, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 4:58 pm and 7:00 pm.
- 009-045 6:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 6:21 pm to 6:22 pm.
- 009-046 6:22 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:22 pm and 9:03 pm.
- 573-003 6:29 PM · 49 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:29 pm and 6:31 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 573-002, September 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/573-002 (accessed September 26, 2026).