Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 579 › Conversation 579-009
Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on POWs and National League of Families
Tuesday, September 28, 1971 · 4:14 PM–4:23 PM ET · Oval Office · 7 min
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted with H. R. Haldeman, Stephen Bull, and Alexander Butterfield regarding the logistics and messaging for his upcoming attendance at the National League of Families convention. The group discussed the political optics of the President's public schedule, specifically balancing his concern for POWs with his potential attendance at Justice Hugo Black's funeral. Additionally, Nixon reviewed a draft statement concerning the draft extension bill and expressed his personal disdain for the ideological leanings of some judicial philosophies.
- POWs
- National League of Families
- Hugo Black
- Supreme Court
- Draft Extension Bill
- Public Appearances
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 15% 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.
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NARA Description
On September 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:14 pm to 4:23 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 579-009 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 579-9
Date: September 28, 1971
Time: 4:14 pm - 4:23 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Manolo Sanchez.
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 4s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and Sanchez left at 4:15 pm.
Public appearances by the President
-National League of Families convention
-Dinner
-Melvin R. Laird's speech
-The President's actions
-Vietnam
Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 4:15 pm and 4:23 pm.
[Conversation No. 579-9A]
Prisoner of war [POW] material
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule
-League of Families convention
-Time
-Speech
-Invocation
-Statement
-Seating
-Time
-Program
-Time
-The President's concerns for POWs
-Press coverage
-Informing press corps
-Military band
“Strolling Strings”
-Fanfare
-Dinner
-Number in attendance
-Laird's statement
-Administration and policy changes
Bull entered at an unknown time after 4:15 pm.
-Group
Bull left at an unknown time before 4:19 pm.
-League of Families convention
-Laird's speech
-Text
-Business meeting
-The President’s attendance
-Duration
-Importance
Funeral for Justice Black
-[General Lewis Hershey ?]
-White House correspondents
-The President's view of Black
-Minister for services
-Unitarian
-Civil rights, freedom
-Strict construction
-The President's attendance
-Public effect
-Politics
-Compared to White House correspondents' event
-John N. Mitchell
Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 4:19 pm.
Statement by the President on draft extension bill
-Wording
Butterfield left at 4:20 pm.
Supreme Court appointments
-Black's funeral
-The President’s attendance
-Possible interpretations
-Mitchell
Haldeman left at 4:23 pm.Also recorded on September 28, 1971
- 579-007 3:06 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:06 pm to 3:15 pm.
- 077-007 3:15 PM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Organization of African Unity, including Moktar Ould Daddah, Hamdi Ould Mouknass, Dr. Njoroge Mungai, Capt. Charles Sissoko, Elijah Mudenda, Jean Keutcha, Diallo Telli, Mohamed Sahnoun, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr., David D. Newsome, W. Marshall Wright, Robert Bruce, Alec G. Toumayan, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 3:15 pm to 3:52 pm.
- 579-008 3:59 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John C. Stennis, Gordon L. Allott, Leslie C. Arends, F. Edward Hébert, Melvin R. Laird, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Peter M. Flanigan, Ronald L. Ziegler, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:59 pm to 4:13 pm.
- 010-011 4:21 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 4:21 pm to 4:22 pm.
- 010-012 4:23 PM · 12 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 4:23 pm to 4:55 pm.
- 010-013 4:23 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:55 pm.
- 579-010 4:23 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, Clark MacGregor, Ronald L. Ziegler, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 5:21 pm.
- 010-014 4:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:55 pm to 4:57 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 579-009, September 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/579-009 (accessed October 2, 2026).