Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 639 › Conversation 639-006

Nixon & Haldeman on Cabinet Dinner and John B. Connally

Saturday, December 18, 1971 · 12:50 PM–1:09 PM ET · Oval Office · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); [Unknown person(s)]Conversation639-006 on Tape 639 (tape position 00:17:03–00:25:34)StartSaturday, December 18, 1971 at 12:50 PMEndSaturday, December 18, 1971 at 1:09 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 639-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to coordinate upcoming administrative logistics, specifically focusing on the scheduling of a Cabinet dinner and holiday-related press engagements. The discussion touched upon the guest list for the dinner, including former administration members and various political figures, alongside planning for a CBS Christmas message and year-end media appearances. Haldeman also facilitated communication regarding John B. Connally’s schedule and return, while the participants finalized strategies for balancing these high-level social and public relations commitments.

Audio

Download MP3 · 18.4 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 18% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Now, just before we got in, I'm going to return the call.
I'm going to get this back to you.
I'm going to return the call.
I'm going to return it to you.
And we have the point that there's a possibility.
Well, it's necessary.
What is it?
Right.
Let's have it.
Right.
That makes it definite.
Now, so that you can start getting to the end.
That road's a long path if we mess around here.
In other words, it's going to be too big.
It's going to be too little.
It's not going to be enough.
I wouldn't go down quite a step.
I didn't think I would go.
It's kind of hard to figure out.
Hey, that's the rollout.
Nice, so it includes garnets, right?
Yes.
a real problem where you draw the line down and don't go
I'd like to get that, that, uh... After Rose is checked back, I'm sure they don't have it scheduled on that 21st.
and they know they're gonna hold the day, you see?
At the very fact that it's in motion, you know, you get a sign that you aren't doing anything.
You see what I mean?
Yeah.
I'd like to call some people.
It's possible some of the issues aren't going to be the same.
You know, it's very late.
Yeah.
We should be made money by all means.
It'll be good to get that when CBS came out and waited the second thing.
It was a hurry.
I may get the death watch pressed together as I did last year.
I mean, those don't want to be wrong.
I just don't mind if I do it.
I'm just here to spur them on.
Did you do that New Year's Eve last year?
Yeah.
I remember about New Year's Eve.
I think I did it, uh, Christmas.
Well, I remember it was in the end of everybody was gone.
Man, that guy.
Well, anyway, we'll figure it out.
Thanks for your good time.
Get him out of the meeting.
No, get him out.
He's over there.
He's over there.
He's over there.
He's over there.
He's over there.

NARA Description

On December 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 1:09 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 639-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 639-006

Date: December 18, 1971
Time: 12:50 pm - 1:09 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     John B. Connally
          -Schedule
               -The President’s schedule

Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 1:09 pm.

[Conversation No. 639-6A]

     Connally's return

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's schedule
          -Cabinet dinner
               -Rose Mary Woods
                      -Thelma C. (“Pat’) Nixon
               -Former members
                      -Clifford M. Hardin

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                      -Maurice H. Stans
                -Daniel P. Moynihan
                -Invited guests
                      -List
                -Staff members
                      -Leonard Garment
                      -Herbert G. Klein
                -Arthur F. Burns
                -Dr. John A. Hannah
                -Robert J. Dole
                -Woods
                -Date
                -Alexander P. Butterfield
                -Charles W. Colson
                -Woods
                      -Mrs. Nixon
                -Telephone calls
           -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
                -President’s Christmas message [?]
           -Press gathering
                -New Year's Eve
                -Christmas Eve
                -Planning
           -Connally
                -Talk with Haldeman

Haldeman left at 1:09 pm.

Also recorded on December 18, 1971

  • 016-106 12:37 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:37 pm and 12:42 pm.
  • 639-001 12:37 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:37 pm and 12:42 pm.
  • 016-107 12:42 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 12:42 pm to 12:43 pm.
  • 639-004 12:42 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:43 pm.
  • 016-108 12:43 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:43 pm.
  • 639-005 12:43 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, White House operator, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:43 pm to 12:50 pm.
  • 016-109 12:44 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 12:44 pm to 12:45 pm.
  • 016-110 12:45 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 1:40 pm.

All 52 conversations from December 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 639-006, December 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/639-006 (accessed October 11, 2026).