Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 725 › Conversation 725-030
Nixon & Haldeman on John B. Connally and Resignation
Tuesday, May 16, 1972 · 11:49 AM–11:57 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to strategize the press narrative surrounding Treasury Secretary John B. Connally’s resignation, specifically aiming to preempt speculation linking the departure to the recent shooting of George C. Wallace or Texas political dynamics. They discussed the content of the President’s statement, emphasizing that the timing was pre-planned during a January meeting in San Clemente rather than reactive. Additionally, they touched upon the personal transition for Nellie Connally, comparing her reluctance to leave Washington with the Nixons' own past experiences with relocation.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 100.2 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 03:41:03 into the tape and ends around 03:46:30.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
NARA Description
On May 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 11:57 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 725-030 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 725-30
Date: May 16, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:49 am and 11:57 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
John B. Connally
-Resignation as Secretary of Treasury
-Press briefing
-Duration
-Reasons
-President's statement
-Evaluation
-Content
-George C. Wallace
-President's offer of services
(rev. Jan-02)
-Connally
-Tone
-Tenure
-December 14, 1971
-January 1972 meeting in San Clemente
-Extension
-Speculation on reasons
-Wallace shooting
-Texas election
-Wallace shooting
Press
-The President’s view
-White House approach
Connally
-Resignation
-Feelings
-Idanell B. (“Nellie”) Connally
-Living in Washington, DC
-Compared with President's return to California
-The President’s view
-Haldeman’s view
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon's knowledge
The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time
between 11:49 am and 11:54 am.
[Conversation No. 725-30A]
[See Conversation No. 24-149]
[End of telephone conversation]
President's Moscow trip
President talked with Mrs. Nixon between 11:54 am and 11:55 am.
[Conversation No. 725-30B]
[See Conversation No. 24-150; one item has been withdrawn from
this conversation.]
[End of telephone conversation]
(rev. Jan-02)
Haldeman left at an unknown time before 11:57 am.Also recorded on May 16, 1972
- 101-009 11:03 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Cabinet officers and staffers, including John N. Irwin, II, John B. Connally, [David] Kenneth Rush, Richard G. Kleindienst, Rogers C. B. Morton, Earl L. Butz, Peter G. Peterson, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, George P. Shultz, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Peter M. Flanigan, Clark MacGregor, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., John A. Scali, Herbert G. Klein, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Charles W. Colson, Frederic V. Malek, Robert J. Brown, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Ezra Solomon, and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:03 am and 11:59 pm.
- 725-039 11:03 AM · 14 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:03 am and 11:30 am.
- 725-027 11:30 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:30 am.
- 725-028 11:31 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:31 am to 11:35 am.
- 024-149 11:49 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 11:54 am.
- 725-029 11:49 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:49 am to 11:56 am.
- 024-150 11:54 AM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 11:54 am to 11:55 am.
- 725-031 11:55 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:55 am and 12:03 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 725-030, May 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/725-030 (accessed September 18, 2026).