Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 596 › Conversation 596-019

Nixon & Haldeman on Judicial appointments and Warren Burger

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 1:37 PM–1:39 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation596-019 on Tape 596 (tape position 03:18:22–03:18:49)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 1:37 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 1:39 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 596-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss the potential judicial appointment of an individual referred to as 'Buster.' The dialogue centers on the strategic handling of Chief Justice Warren Burger regarding the candidate's professional qualifications and his standing with the American Bar Association. The participants evaluate whether Burger would approve the nomination if confronted directly about the candidate's credentials.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 124.8 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 03:18:22 into the tape and ends around 03:18:49.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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3:18:22Would it be out of the way at all to not let me in?
3:18:24I mean, we said Burger didn't have you on his list, but I don't think you wanted to ask Burger about it.
3:18:32Why don't you just put up with Burger flat out and say, well, you remember that we checked and you didn't get the top rate of the bar.
3:18:41Would you still think that he would pass Buster?
3:18:43I think that if he passed Buster, burgers might not have been something to eat.

NARA Description

On October 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:39 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 596-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 596-19

Date: October 19, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:37 pm and 1:39 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     Previous telephone conversation with John N. Mitchell

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

  • 011-134 1:37 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:39 pm.
  • 596-020 1:37 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:39 pm.
  • 011-135 1:39 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald H. Rumsfeld talked on the telephone from 1:39 pm to 1:44 pm.
  • 596-021 1:39 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald H. Rumsfeld met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:39 pm to 1:44 pm.
  • 011-136 1:44 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:44 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 011-137 1:44 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:44 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 292-001 1:45 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:45 pm and 2:53 pm.
  • 292-002 1:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:45 pm and 2:53 pm.

All 93 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 596-019, October 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/596-019 (accessed September 28, 2026).