Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 787 › Conversation 787-010
Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on Congressional relations and Vietnam War policy
Tuesday, September 26, 1972 · 11:49 AM–12:04 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman reviewed congressional strategy regarding a potential tie vote on an 'end the war' bill, speculating on the role of Vice President Agnew in breaking a deadlock. The discussion transitioned to the President's upcoming speech at the International Monetary Fund meeting, where they criticized the influence of Henry Kissinger and the establishment media, particularly journalist Marvin Kalb. Following Stephen Bull's entry, the group finalized scheduling details for meetings with labor leaders and a photo session with the British Ambassador.
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I reject your call to talk.
I just called out.
Okay.
I used to overdo it that day.
I mean, I don't know what the hell else to say to them.
They didn't call me.
All right.
Well, did you just go down and see him?
The president wanted me to convey his personal message to you.
Thank you very much.
You know what?
Put yourself in the position of the speaker.
Or, I mean, or anybody else.
Suppose you do call.
I called him three weeks ago on a bulletin, right?
Now, this wasn't that big a deal anyway.
But we need to go over it.
Looks like maybe we were right to bring the leak back.
We may very well get the time of it today.
We've got 43, 4, and 42 against, and 3 doubtfuls.
And the doubtfuls, Matthias will go against, probably.
McIntyre will go for it, probably.
And Anderson, God only knows.
So it could very well end up as a tie.
It would be good if it did.
It would be good if it did.
Yeah, it would be a nice chance for him to have a clear issue after this play on a clear issue.
Good side.
All right.
I gave him a lot of substance on Monday, but I gave him shit.
You know, it's typical of that group, which I trusted, to put it across.
And it's not like they made the group perfectly proper in picking it up.
They gave that kite, Shite Schweitzer, a big bunch of applause, because we're closing in.
And we're going to throw him out in his ass, because he's against us.
And so they made something out of that.
But that's a hell of a reflection on them.
And I don't know whether we can turn around on McNamara or not, but I'm very much inclined to do so if we can.
Henry's judgment is sort of visibly bad on some things.
Connolly got took on that, too.
Connolly got took on it, too.
But I think Henry took it.
I think you're right.
I think Henry took it.
But I do have to remember that Henry himself is an establishment
Deep down, he's scratching deep in Germany.
He will go with the establishment jury for the press on the TV.
That's why he wants to go on with that Jew on CBS and call.
Yeah.
It was a damn snidey divider.
You know, go on and call.
Henry's absolutely wrong.
He wants to go on with that.
This time we're not going to have to do that.
What's his name over at the State Department?
He says, you know, we completely agree with the BIO guy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We agree with John Calvin.
He says, we've applied every sanction we can think of and made up some new ones.
And he says, there's no way we can screw up any worse than they are.
And they're, you know, it's called scum robbing, you know.
That's right.
But the call, the call, let's face it, he gets his stuff from Henry.
Henry talks to my father.
He does.
He definitely does.
It's a funny thing.
We've got to hammer and hammer to get him to talk to Howard Smith.
Howard Smith goes on.
He was on last night and just knocked the good Jesus out of the government.
What is your feeling about these things?
Shouldn't they just send it to the high-level PAC?
Absolutely.
And don't take on anybody.
Don't even talk about the choice and all that bullshit.
The higher the level, the better.
And I ask for the chance to confess the worth of that piece and all that sort of stuff.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Absolutely.
I have a very strong feeling.
The less speech you have, the better it is.
The labor people are on it.
Yeah, that's right
NARA Description
On September 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 12:04 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 787-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 787-10
Date: September 26, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:49 am and 12:04 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
The President's schedule
-Possible telephone call to Carl B. Albert
-Recent automobile accident
-William E. Timmons
-The President’s recent telephone call to Albert on vote
End the war vote in Congress
-Tie vote
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
-Thomas J. McIntyre
-John B. Anderson
-Agnew
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 9m 50s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
*****************************************************************
The President's schedule
-International Monetary Fund [IMF] meeting
-The President’s speech
-Pierre-Paul Schweitzer
-Relationship with the administration
-Reception
-Robert S. McNamara
-Henry A. Kissinger
-John B. Connally
- Kissinger
-Relationship with establishment
-Press, media
Marvin L. Kalb
-Characterized
-Kalb
-State Department official
-Public Information Officer [PIO]
-William P. Rogers
-Joseph C. Kraft
-Howard K. Smith
-George S. McGovern
Speeches
-Content
-Peace
Bull entered at an unknown time after 11:49 am.
The President's schedule
-Labor leaders
-Speeches
-Tone
Haldeman left at an unknown time before 12:04 pm.
The President's schedule
-Meeting with labor leaders
-Ambassador from Great Britain [George R.S. Baring] [Earl of Cromer]
-Photograph session
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
Bull left at an unknown time before 12:04 pm.Also recorded on September 26, 1972
- 787-007 11:17 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:17 am and 11:30 am.
- 787-008 11:17 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:17 am and 11:30 am.
- 787-009 11:30 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:30 am to 11:49 am.
- 787-011 11:49 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 12:04 pm.
- 787-012 12:04 PM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon and presidents of building trades unions, including John H. ("Jack") Lyons, Martin J. Ward, Peter Fosco, Thomas F. Murphy, Andrew T. Haas, Wylie Lawhead, Kenneth M. Edwards, Hunter P. Wharton, Joseph T. Power, Charles H. Pillard, Edward J. Carough, James D. Hodgson, Laurence H. Silberman, Willie J. Usery, Jr., and S. Frank Raftery, as well as Stephen B. Bull and the White House photographer, met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:04 pm to 12:30 pm.
- 787-013 12:30 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, George R. S. Baring, Mrs. George R. S. Baring, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:30 pm to 12:39 pm.
- 787-014 12:39 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
- 787-015 12:39 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:45 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 787-010, September 26, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/787-010 (accessed October 12, 2026).