Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 749 › Conversation 749-001

Nixon, Haldeman & Butterfield on 1972 Presidential Campaign and John Mitchell

Friday, July 21, 1972 · 10:11 AM–10:16 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation749-001 on Tape 749StartFriday, July 21, 1972 at 10:11 AMEndFriday, July 21, 1972 at 10:16 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 749-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander Butterfield and H. R. Haldeman to coordinate the President’s administrative schedule and discuss political developments. The discussion addressed the transition of John Mitchell following his departure from the Committee to Re-elect the President, specifically touching on his personal difficulties regarding his wife, Martha Mitchell. Additionally, the participants reviewed ongoing 1972 campaign polling data and recent interactions with administration officials.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
All right, good.
Yeah, it's 11 o'clock.
Well, they've been right here.
Let me tell them all.
They ready?
No.
Uh, just a second.
Do you want to look?
Can I tell them where your address is?
I thought that was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
I thought it was a good idea.
These guys are not taking any part of this.
I'm not sure I'll see them sit down.
Mitchell's not here.
He's going to come to you and meet.
He's got a lot of problems.
You know what he says.
Yeah, I talked to him about it yesterday.
And it's apparently really bad.
But it's a fact that's all gone.
I'm glad we got him out of that job, because he's... Is he ready to cry?
No.
I think he's all right, but he's, uh...
If he were in the job, I think he would be.
I think the fact that he's being out as, uh... as public safety, as well as... on the earth, is just...
He doesn't know what to do about it.
I think he's going to have to lock her up anyway.
Yes.
If he could do it, now that he's quit, if he could do it, he would now.
You know, I was screwed.
If I were you, we couldn't get any of that.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
But it's interesting how that shows that they did many things.
They had a whole set of crop losses.
It sure proves that they didn't eat one of their five food values.
They lost a little as far as the loss of food.

NARA Description

On July 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:11 am to 10:16 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 749-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 749-1

Date: July 21, 1972
Time: 10:11 am - 10:16 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

      The President's schedule
           -Forthcoming Cabinet meeting
                 -William T. Pecora funeral
                       -Timing

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 10:13 am.

Butterfield left at 10:14 am.

           -Robert Dole
           -Clark MacGregor
           -Recent breakfast meeting
                 -William P. Rogers
                 -Melvin R. Laird

      John N. Mitchell
           -Martha (Beall) Mitchell
                 -John Mitchell’s talk with Haldeman
           -Performance in former position [Director of Committee to Re-elect the President]

      1972 campaign
          -George H. Gallup poll
               -Advanced notice
               -White House poll
               -George C. Wallace vote

The President and Haldeman left at 10:16 am.

Also recorded on July 21, 1972

  • 104-009 10:16 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Cabinet officers and staffers, including William P. Rogers, George P. Shultz, Melvin R. Laird, Ralph E. Erickson, Rogers C. B. Morton, Earl L. Butz, James D. Hodgson, John G. Veneman, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, David M. Kennedy, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, Robert J. Brown, Charles W. Colson, Dr. James R. Schlesinger, James C. Fletcher, Donald E. Johnson, Frank J. Shakespeare, Dr. John A. Hannah, Arthur F. Sampson, Frank C. Carlucci, Clark MacGregor, Robert J. Dole, Herbert Stein, Arthur J. Sohmer, and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:16 am and 10:57 pm.
  • 749-002 10:45 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Clark MacGregor, and Robert J. Dole met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:45 am to 11:39 am.
  • 749-005 11:43 AM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:43 am to 1:02 pm.
  • 027-031 12:07 PM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:07 pm and 1:02 pm.
  • 749-006 1:02 PM · 9 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:02 pm and 1:30 pm.
  • 027-032 1:41 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:41 pm.
  • 027-033 1:45 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 1:45 pm to 1:46 pm.
  • 027-034 1:47 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 1:47 pm to 1:53 pm.

All 35 conversations from July 21, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 749-001, July 21, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/749-001 (accessed October 2, 2026).