Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 597 › Conversation 597-001
Nixon & Haldeman on Personnel vetting and James Mann
Wednesday, October 20, 1971 · 9:05 AM–9:17 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss the vetting of personnel and potential political appointees within the administration. The conversation focuses on identifying specific individuals involved in recent internal conflicts, specifically mentioning legal professionals and figures like James Mann. They aim to assess the loyalty and backgrounds of these individuals to manage ongoing administrative challenges.
- Personnel vetting
- H.R. Haldeman
- James Mann
- Administration appointments
- Loyalty
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 170.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 89.2 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 00:03:45 into the tape and ends around 00:06:08.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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
NARA Description
On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:05 am and 9:17 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 597-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 597-1
Date: October 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:05 am and 9:17 am
Location: Oval Office
The President talked with an unknown person [H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman ?]
Frederic V. MalekAlso recorded on October 20, 1971
- 011-156 9:05 AM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Frederic V. Malek, Alexander P. Butterfield, and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 9:05 am to 9:19 am.
- 597-002 9:17 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Frederic V. Malek, and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:17 am to 9:25 am.
- 011-157 9:19 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 9:19 am to 9:25 am.
- 011-158 9:25 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 10:23 am.
- 597-003 9:28 AM · 2 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Bryce N. Harlow, Ronald L. Ziegler, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:28 am to 12:20 pm.
- 011-159 10:23 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Bryce N. Harlow talked on the telephone from 10:23 am to 10:35 am.
- 011-160 10:35 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 2:23 pm.
- 011-161 10:35 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 2:23 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 597-001, October 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/597-001 (accessed September 28, 2026).