Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 807 › Conversation 807-005

Nixon & Haldeman on National defense policy and Speechwriting

Thursday, October 26, 1972 · 9:16 AM–9:21 AM ET · Oval Office · 52 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation807-005 on Tape 807StartThursday, October 26, 1972 at 9:16 AMEndThursday, October 26, 1972 at 9:21 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 807-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to coordinate the messaging strategy for upcoming major speeches. Nixon directed Haldeman to focus his immediate national defense address on the themes of nuclear retaliation previously outlined in his San Francisco and American Legion speeches, noting his frustration that past political content had overshadowed those points. Additionally, Nixon instructed that preparations begin for a separate foreign policy speech to be delivered the following week.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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What I want is that on Saturday after Saturday is the national defense speech, not the foreign policy speech.
Now, tell President Floyd to read my San Francisco speech and build it around that and the Legion speech.
and just make it on national defense.
And the San Francisco speech has the theme, you know, of knocking down nuclear retaliation and so forth.
It didn't get the play it should have because some of the political statements got the bigger play.
That's what I want to go with.
The foreign policy one, I will say from next week, would put somebody very smart on it right away.
And I want to hit on that Saturday or Sunday, if it's okay.
And we'll go for the other stuff, right?
Fine, I'll see you a little later.

NARA Description

On October 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:16 am and 9:21 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 807-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 807-5

Date: October 26, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:16 and 9:21 a.m.
Location: Oval Office

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

        The President's forthcoming national defense speech
            -Foreign policy speech
            -Raymond K. Price, Jr.'s staff
                -San Francisco speech
                -American Legion speech
            -San Francisco speech
                -Theme
                     -Nuclear retaliation
                -News coverage of political content
            -Foreign policy speech
                -Timing

        The President’s schedule
            -Henry A. Kissinger

Also recorded on October 26, 1972

  • 807-003 9:05 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Mark I. Goode, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., William E. Timmons, Fritz Roland, White House photographer, and J. Caleb Boggs met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:05 am to 9:16 am.
  • 807-004 9:16 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:16 am and 9:21 am.
  • 807-006 9:21 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:21 am to 9:22 am.
  • 807-007 9:22 AM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:22 am to 9:54 am.
  • 807-008 9:54 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:54 am and 9:57 am.
  • 375-003 9:57 AM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:57 am and 10:01 am.
  • 375-004 9:57 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:57 am and 10:01 am.
  • 807-009 9:57 AM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 9:57 am on October 26, 1972 and 11:08 am on October 27, 1972.

All 47 conversations from October 26, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 807-005, October 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/807-005 (accessed October 9, 2026).