Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 658 › Conversation 658-030

Nixon & Haldeman on George P. Shultz and George Meany

Thursday, January 27, 1972 · 3:07 PM–3:13 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation658-030 on Tape 658 (tape position 04:48:14–04:50:36)StartThursday, January 27, 1972 at 3:07 PMEndThursday, January 27, 1972 at 3:13 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 658-030 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to coordinate administrative scheduling and discuss George P. Shultz’s upcoming testimony. They evaluated the President's recent outreach to AFL-CIO leader George Meany, specifically analyzing Meany’s reaction and the potential for a follow-up meeting with Shultz. The conversation touched upon broader labor relations, including comparisons between labor leaders and business executives, alongside the political implications of recent legislative amendments.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 131.3 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 04:48:14 into the tape and ends around 04:50:36.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
4:47:55Okay.
4:47:57Well, I'll tell you.
4:47:59I'll tell you what I'll do.
4:48:00I'll have their office.
4:48:02I'll get in touch with your secretary and set it up.
4:48:04And I just think that we've got to do it because it's supposed to be okay.
4:48:09Thank you.
4:48:10Always help.
4:48:12One thing I thought would be interesting to know, you know, I know that you, some of your friends probably took you to task for setting up some of those amendments down there, you know, the so-called deadline amendments, but do you now see why we had to fight?
4:48:27Because we had to fight because we were in negotiations all the time, so it doesn't look so bad now.
4:48:42Oh.
4:48:44Chuck?
4:48:57Chuck?
4:48:58Oh, sure.
4:48:59Okay, back again.
4:49:07Be well.
4:50:02I'll just give you a back message.
4:50:04You want to stay in the 40-department?
4:50:05I'm in the 40-department.
4:50:07Yeah, I'll be coming in just five minutes.

NARA Description

On January 27, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 3:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 658-030 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 658-30

Date: January 27, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:07 pm and 3:13 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

     George P. Shultz’s schedule

          -Testimony
                -The President’s attempted call
          -Message from the President
                -The President’s telephone call to George Meany
                     -Content
                     -Meany’s reaction
                           -Possible meeting with Shultz
                           -Henry A. Kissinger
                                 -Briefing
                           -John C. Stennis
                           -Paul N. McCloskey, Jr.
                                 -Collective bargaining
                -Meany
                     -Compared to business leaders

Also recorded on January 27, 1972

  • 658-026 2:50 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and George Meany met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:50 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 019-143 2:56 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George Meany talked on the telephone from 2:56 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 019-144 3:00 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-027 3:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-028 3:00 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 019-145 3:07 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-029 3:07 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-031 3:13 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:13 pm to 3:46 pm.

All 57 conversations from January 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 658-030, January 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/658-030 (accessed October 12, 2026).