Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 744 › Conversation 744-001
Nixon, Haldeman & Butterfield on Presidential press conferences
Friday, June 30, 1972 · 8:06 AM–8:50 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman conducted an extensive post-mortem review of the President's recent press conference, analyzing his performance, the style of his responses, and the media's reaction. They discussed a broad range of policy issues addressed during the session, including the Supreme Court's stance on the death penalty, Vietnam troop withdrawals, and concerns regarding food prices and the economy. Additionally, the President issued specific directives regarding a potential veto of the public broadcasting appropriation bill and discussed political strategies for managing press relations.
- Presidential press conferences
- Media relations
- Death penalty
- Vietnam War
- Economic policy
- Public broadcasting
- Executive branch strategy
Audio
Audio for this conversation has not been released by the National Archives.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available because the audio has not been released.
NARA Description
On June 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:06 am to 8:50 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 744-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 744-1
Date: June 30, 1972
Time: 8:06-8:50 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
[This recording began at an unknown time while the conversation was in progress]
The President's schedule
-Meeting with unknown man [John N. Mitchell?]
-Tailor
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 43s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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The President's previous press conference
-Robert Pierpoint
-The President's quips
-Helen Thomas, Mrs. Douglas B. Cornell
-Dan Rather
(rev. Feb-02)
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 6m 36s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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News leads
-Death penalty
-George S. McGovern
-Food prices
-Administration action
-Timing of press conferences
-McGovern, George C. Wallace
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 22s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
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-The President's conversation with Paul Keyes
-Tom Brokaw
-McGovern
-The President’s comments to press
The President's previous press conference
-Pierpoint's question
-Frequency of press conferences
-Patrick J. Buchanan
(rev. Feb-02)
-Henry A. Kissinger
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-The President's style of answering questions
-Haldeman’s view
-Questions
-Vice Presidency
-Spiro T. Agnew
-John B. Connally
-The President’s comments
-Death penalty
-Supreme Court's decision
-Opinions
-William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White
-Kidnapping, hijacking
-The public
-Rape, assassination
-Stewart
-The President’s position
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Popular opposition
-Warren E. Burger
-Killing of policemen
-Life in prison
-Cruelty, cost, parole
-Haldeman’s view
-Recidivism
-Format
-Sammy Davis, Jr.’s call
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Opinion of the President's performance
-French missing in action [MIAs] in Indochina
-Arms control
-Soviet Union's military expenses
-Anti-ballistic missiles [ABM], B-1 bombers, submarines
-Costs
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-US position in world
-The President's style
-Length of answers
-Length
-The President’s response
-The President’s view
(rev. Feb-02)
-Frank Cormier
-Troop withdrawal from Vietnam
-Press conference format
-The President's activities in foreign policy
-Questions
-Draftees in Vietnam
-Food prices and domestic issues
-Buchanan
-Welfare
-Child care
-Social security
-Agnew
-Unemployment
-British pound
-Vietnam
-Agnew
-The economy
-Unemployment
-Inflation
-The President's style
-The President’s view
-Domestic Council
-National Security Council [NSC]
-Haldeman’s view
-Questions
-The President’s responses
-Effect
-The public
-Delores Higby
-Lawrence M. Higby
-Charles W. Colson
-Pierpoint
-Thomas (Mrs. Cornell)
-Quip
-Knowledge of reporters' names
-Rather
-Quips
-Relations with press
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Buchanan
-Attacks by others
-Colson, Kenneth W. Clawson, Buchanan
-Factual accuracy
(rev. Feb-02)
-Richard A. Moore
-The President's answer to Pierpoint
-Commentary
-Donald Oberdorfer, Jr.
-Vietnam
-The President’s comments
-Advisors' feeling toward press
-Relations with press
-John A. Scali's memorandum
-Press's opinion
-Attacks on media
-Buchanan, Agnew, Ehrlichman, Colson, Clawson
-Press fear of McGovern
-Washington Post
-Comparisons
-Chicago Tribune
-Orlando Sentinal
-Support for the President
-Santa Monica Outlook
-Copley Chain
-Nashville Banner
-Frank van der Linden
-Support for the President
-Haldeman’s view
-The President's style
-Agnew
-Ronald W. Reagan
-The President's 1962 statement
-Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1964 statement at convention
-The President's supporters
-Scali
(rev. Feb-02)
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 59s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
The President's previous press conference
-Terence F. Smith
-Press comment
-Podium
Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 8:06 am and 8:50 am.
[Conversation No. 744-1A]
Haldeman’s briefcase
[End of telephone conversation]
Julie Nixon Eisenhower's speech
-Press coverage
-The President's coverage as Vice President
-Compared to Tricia Nixon Cox
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 40s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
*****************************************************************
(rev. Feb-02)
Colson
William L. Safire
-Meatloaf comments
-Meat prices
The President's private office
McGovern
-Statement on bombing in Vietnam
-Adolf Hitler
-Buchanan's response for Agnew
Alexander P. Butterfield [?] entered at an unknown time after 8:06 am.
Document for the President’s signature
Public broadcasting appropriation
-Instructions for Ehrlichman
-Possible veto
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Sander Vanocur's salary
The President, Haldeman and Butterfield left for the President's private office at 8:50 am.Also recorded on June 30, 1972
- 744-002 8:50 AM — during a photographic session, President Richard M. Nixon and incumbent Republican senators and representatives as well as Congressional candidates, including Howard H. Baker, Jr., J. Caleb Boggs, Edward W. Brooke, Clifford P. Case, Mark O. Hatfield, Charles H. Percy, Jr., James B. Pearson, John G. Tower, John B. Anderson, Mark Andrews, William Archer, Jr., Leslie C. Arends, John M. Ashbrook, Edward G. Biester, Jr., William G. Bray, Clarence J. Brown, Jr. [?], James T. Broyhill, John H. Buchanan, Jr., J. Herbert Burke, John N. ("Happy") Camp, Elford A. Cederberg, Don H. Clausen, Delwin M. Clawson, James C. Cleveland, Harold R. Collier, Silvio O. Conte, Philip M. Crane, Glenn R. Davis, Edward J. Derwinski, William L. Dickinson, John J. Duncan, Pierre S. duPont, IV, William J. ("Jack") Edwards, John N. Erlenborn, Marvin L. Esch, Paul Findley, Bill Frenzel, H. R. Gross, James R. Grover, Charles S. Gubser, William H. Harsha, James Harvey, H. John Heinz, III, Craig Hosmer, Jack F. Kemp, Daniel Kuykendall, John Kyl, Sherman Lloyd, Manuel Lujan, Jr., James A. McCLure, Jack H. McDonald, Robert C. McEwen, William S. Mailliard, Richard W. Mallary, Robert B. Mathias, David T. Martin, Wiley Mayne, Clarence E. Miller, William E. Minshall, Charles A. Mosher, John T. Myers, Ancher Nelson, Alvin E. O'Konski, Jerry L. Pettis, Walter E. Powell, Albert H. Quie, Thomas F. Railsback, John J. Rhodes, Donald W. Riegle, Jr., Howard W. Robison, Earl B. Ruth, Charles W. Sandman, Jr., John P. Saylor, William J. Scherle, Herman T. Schneebeli, William L. Scott, Joe Skubitz, M. Gene Snyder, Robert H. Steele, Sam Steiger, William A. Steiger, Charles M. Teague, Vernon W. Thomson, Guy Vander Jagt, William C. Wampler, John Ware, Charles W. Whalen, Jr., G. William Whitehurst, Lawrence G. Williams, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, Wendall Wyatt, C. W. ("Bill") Young, John M. Zwach, James Abdnor, Alfred Adams, Stockton Adkins, William Armstrong, Charles A. Avarello, Wayne Bobbitt, L. A. ("Skip") Bafalis, Bill Baker, Charles T. Banken, Jr., Raymond E. Barrows, Robin L. Beard, Paul D. Bethel, Allan Bloom, Joseph H. Boyd, Jr., Richard T. Bozzone, Fuller H. Brooks, Bill Brophy, Vernon E. Brown, Frederick D. Bryant, Clair W. Burgener, Carl Butler, Caldwell Butler, Gil Carmichael, Robert Carter, J. C. Carter, Roland S. Catarinella, Charles E. Chase, William Chin-Lee, William Thad Cochran, John B. Conlan, Rodney M. Cook, John W. Cooper, Jr., David R. Countie, Paul W. Cronin, Robert W. Daniel, Jr., Atlee Dodge, Peter V. Domenici, William F. Dowd, James E. Doyle, Jonathan Dugan, Theodore R. Ellsworth, Lewis Emerich, Ernest C. Fackler, Billy Joe Finney, Philip T. Fleuchaus, Richard O. Funsch, John F. Gangemi, Benjamin A. Gilman, Cliff Gosney, James Griffin, Donald W. Gropp, Tennyson Guyer, Jon Haaven, Bruce R. Haller, Robert P. Hanrahan, Peter Hannaford, Phil Hansen, Carol D. Harner, Doug Harlan, James M. Hewgley, Jr., Robert Hirsch, John J. Hoellen, Robert Holcomb, Marjorie S. Holt, Eugene W. Hubler, William H. Hudnut, III, Laban P. Jackson, James D. Johnson, William A. Johnson, Phil Kaelin, Jr., William M. Ketchum, Leonard C. Koldin, Robert B. Lamkin, Jane Pickens Langley, Jesse Ledbetter, II, Thomas Lento, Louise Leonard, Alvin W. Levenhagen, J. Sidi Limehouse, Trent Lott, Rayfield Lundy, Charles D. McAtee, Ronald McDonald, Ronald V. McGrath, Joe McGraw, Nicholas R. Macchio, Jr., Edward R. Madigan, Joseph J. Maraziti, Alfred Marroletti, James G. Martin, Edward J. Mason, Kenneth C. Miller, Donald J. Mitchell, Robert D. Morrow, Joe Neal, Ed Nelson, George M. O'Brien, Standford E. Parris, Gus A. Pedicone, Joseph Pereira, William Pfender, B. Leonard Phillips, Edlo E. Powell, Robert L. Prange, George E. Presson, Bill Reams, Ralph S. Regula, Matthew J. Rinaldo, Ralph Rhoades, Joseph C. Richards, Courtney Roberts, Ronald A. Sarasin, Alfred D. Schiaffo, William Scholes, Dieter J. Schrader, Garth Seehawer, E. G. ("Bud") Shuster, Herbert Edgar Smith, Howard J. Snider, Robert Statchen, Alan Steelman, Wardell F. Steigerwalt, Gregg Tria, Ben Valentine, Carl A. Vergari, John Vickerman, Thomas E. Vilt, John F. Walsh, William F. Walsh, Wayne N. Whatley, Robert K. Wolthuis, Samuel H. Young, Sergio J. Zilli, John E. Nidecker, and Clark MacGregor as well as unknown person(s) [technicians], met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:50 am to 9:53 am.
- 744-003 9:55 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:55 am to 10:05 am.
- 103-010 10:05 AM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Cost of Living Council, including George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, Virginia H. Knauer, Gen. George A. Lincoln, Caspar W. ("Capt") Weinberger, James D. Hodgson, Peter G. Peterson, Earl L. Butz, Marvin H. Kosters, Richard B. Cheney, Richard J. Alfultis, Joseph Mullaney, Donald Smith, J. Dawson Ahalt, Bert M. Concklin, J. Charles Partee, Donald A. Paarlberg, Richard C. Van Dusen, Laurence H. Silberman, and Ronald Brooks, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:16 pm.
- 026-027 11:04 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:04 am and 11:07 am.
- 744-004 11:04 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:04 am to 11:05 am.
- 744-005 11:05 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:07 am.
- 744-006 11:05 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:07 am.
- 744-026 11:05 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:05 am and 11:07 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 744-001, June 30, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/744-001 (accessed September 18, 2026).