Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 815 › Conversation 815-019
Nixon, Haldeman & Woods on Watergate and Cabinet appointments
Friday, November 24, 1972 · 11:47 AM–12:47 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 hr
AI Summary
President Nixon met with H.R. Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull to discuss administrative transitions, personnel changes, and political strategy following the 1972 election. A significant portion of the discussion focused on the necessity of a formal, categorical statement regarding the Watergate investigation to protect the integrity of the presidency. Additionally, the participants deliberated on the logistics of announcing cabinet shifts and strategies for managing key political figures, including Bob Dole and Dwight Chapin.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On November 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:47 am to 12:47 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 815-019 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 815-19
Date: November 24, 1972
Time: 11:47 am - 12:47 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Rose Mary Woods.
Present
Oval Office furnishings
-Music box
-Antique
-Elephant
-Louie B. Nunn
-Heirloom
-Placement in office
-Nunn’s [?] telephone call
-Lucy Ferguson
[Music box in operation]
[My Old Kentucky Home]
White House gifts
-Music boxes
-Cost
-Number
-Cost
-Songs
-52-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Selection
-Costs
-Tie pins
-Cuff links
-Tie tacks
-Cabinet
-Women
-Bow pins
-Cuff links
-Cabinet
-Departures
-Robert H. Finch
-Herbert G. Klein
-George W. Romney
-John H.Volpe
-Wives
-Ambassadors [?]
H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 11:49 am.
-Cost
-Cabinet
-State gifts
-Music boxes
-Tricia Nixon Cox, Edward R. F. Cox
-Music boxes
[Music box in operation]
-Cabinet
-Sample
-Description
-Date
-Lighthouse
-Purchase
-Numbers
-Manufacturer
-Belkin
White House mail
-53-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
White House gifts
-Vases
-Presentation of boxes
-Composition
-Lucite
-Alloy
-Description
-Replica
-Walter H. Annenberg
-Star of the President
-Steuben
-Styles
-Presentation boxes
-The President’s memoranda
-Recipients
-Celebrities
-Friends, supporters
-Foreign visitors
-Costs
-Star of the President
-Presentation boxes
-Distribution
-Display
-Presentation boxes
-Cost
-State gifts
-Cuff links
-Number
-Music boxes
-Cabinet
-Cost
-Songs
-Catalog
-Color
-Presidential blue
-Songs
-Victory at Sea
-Musical comedy
-Oklahoma, The King and I
-54-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Color
-Blue
-Compared to brown
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during
chronological review 2007-2013]
White House gifts
-Cost
-F. Donald Nixon
-Ryan family
-Close family friends
-Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
-Robert H. Abplanalp
-Music boxes
******************************************************************************
The President’s schedule
Weather
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming trip to New York
-Leonard Garment
-Reaction to invitation
Woods left at 12:01 pm.
-Recent meetings with John A. Volpe and George W. Romney
-Tone
-Haldeman
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Volpe
-Ambassadorship to Italy
-55-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
******************************************************************************
[Previous Deed of Gift Privacy (D) rereviewed on 11/21/2022. Segment cleared for release.]
[Privacy]
[815-019-w002]
[Duration: 9s]
The President’s schedule
-Recent meetings with John A. Volpe and George Romney
-John A. Volpe
-John A. Volpe, Jr.
-Health
******************************************************************************
The President’s schedule
-Recent meetings with John A. Volpe and George Romney
-John A. Volpe
-Departure
-Romney
-Meeting with Peter G. Peterson
Vietnam negotiations
-William P. Rogers, unknown person
-Haldeman’s recent conversation with Henry A. Kissinger
-Report of meeting of Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, Xuan Thuy, and Alexander
M. Haig, Jr.
-Decisions
-November 25, 1972 meeting
-The President's trip to New York
-November 25, 1972 meeting
-Instructions
-Message
-November 25, 1972
-US position
-Explanation
-Kissinger's return to US
-Timing
-56-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-The President's messages to Kissinger
-Instructions
-Kissinger's call to Haldeman
-Haldemans’s recent conversation with John N. Mitchell
-Tone
-The President's message to Kissinger
-Possible breakdown of talks
-October 8, 1972 meetings
-Strategy
-Recall of Kissinger for consultations
-US bombing
-Public Relations [PR]
-Compared to the President’s November 3, 1969, Cambodia
[April 30, 1970] and May 8, 1972 speeches
-1972 campaign
-Recent meetings
-Kissinger’s recent meeting with [Lt. Gen. T.N.J. Suharto
and Adm. Malik] in Brussels
-State Department
-“Let down”
-Congressional relations
-Options
-Limitations
-PR
-Kissinger’s responsibility
-Pace of talks
-South Vietnam
-Raised expectations
-1972 election
-Political problems
-1972 election
-Peace with honor
-Settlement agreement
-Necessity
-Opposition by Nguyen Van Thieu
-The President's recent message
-Tone
-Kissinger
-Possible separate peace
-The President’s May 8, 1972 proposals
-57-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-US public support
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Cease-fire
-South Vietnamese self-determination
-US Options
-PR
-Congress
-Aid cut off
-Effect on South Vietnam
-The President's Message
-Tone
-The President’s message to Kissinger
-North Vietnamese intransigence
-October 8, 1972 meetings
-Recall of Kissinger for consultations
-The President’s directive
-Subtlety
-Kissinger’s mood
-Alternative
-Congress
-Reactions in January 1973
-George S. McGovernites
-Lie allegation
-US bombing
-Funding
-Polls
-Timing
-Change
-Thieu
-Tenure
-Cease-fire
-POWs
-South Vietnamese self-determination
-Elections
-North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during
-58-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
chronological review 2007-2013]
Republican National Committee Chairmanship
-Robert J. Dole
-Meeting with the President
-Mitchell
-Arrangements
-Possible problems
-Party support for change
-Meeting with the President
-Difficulties
-Full-time chairman
-Meeting with Mitchell
-The President’s letter to Finch
-Support
-California
-Problems
-Attacks from Ronald W. Reagan
-Right
******************************************************************************
Watergate
-Mitchell
-Recent conversation with Haldeman
-Possible meeting of Haldeman, Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman and John W. Dean,
III
-Discussion of problems
-The President’s conversation with Dean, September 15, 1972
-Ehrlichman’s possible presence at current meeting
-Protection of Presidency
-Dean’s possible statement
-Timing
-The President’s August 29, 1972 statement
-Dean report
-Involvement of White House staff
-Reiteration
-Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP]
-Maurice Stans
-59-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Mitchell
-Jeb Stuart Magruder
-Donald H. Segretti
-Timing
-Ehrlichman’s view
-“Hang-out”
-Dean’s investigation
-Rebuttals
-Charles W. Colson
-Haldeman
-Dwight L. Chapin
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Ehrlichman’s and Dean’s view
-The President’s involvement
-PR
-Dean’s report per the President’s direction
-Findings
-White House involvement
-White House staff
-Chapin
-CRP request
-Recommendation
-Direction and knowledge of activities
-Forthcoming staff meeting
-Departure
-Chapin
-White House plans
-Segretti
-Gordon C. Strachan
-Activities
-Compared to Chapin
-Activities
-Timing
-1972 primaries
-1972 election
-Republican National Convention
-Chapin
-White House plans
-Departure
-Nixon Foundation
-60-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Marriott Corporation
-Strachan
-Law practice
-Age
-Compared to Chapin
-Ehrlichman
-Conversation with the President
-Legalistic approach
-Protection of Presidency
-Dean report
-Dean’s possible statement
-Clarity
-Dean report
-Individuals’ involvement
-Watergate
-Segretti
The President's schedule
-Meeting with Gerald R. Ford
-Timing
-Return to Washington, DC
-Cabinet appointments
-Presentation to press
-Timing
-Lunch
-Briefing
-Ehrlichman
-Letters
-Changes
-Public service
-Departures and new appointments
Second term reorganization
-Cabinet appointments
-Presentation to press
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Camp David
- -The President’s possible statement
-Letters
-Changes
-61-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Public service
-Departures and new appointments
-Rogers
-Possible statement
-Photograph opportunity
-The President’s role
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Questions
-Announcements
-Camp David
-Timing
-Decisions
-Future
-Arrangement
-Roy L. Ash
-Caspar W. (“Cap”)Weinberger
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Melvin R. Laird
-Rogers
-George P. Shultz
-Herbert Stein
-Peterson
-Europe
-David M. Kennedy
-Donald H. Rumsfield
-Labor Department
-Department of Housing and Urban Development
[HUD]
-Labor Department
-Peter J. Brennan
-Colson
-Timing
-HUD
-Romney
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Earl L. Butz
-United Nations [UN]
-Economic European Community [EEC] [?]
-Kleindienst
-62-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Shultz
-News coverage
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Camp David
-Haldeman’s recent conversation with John B Connally
-William P. Clements, Jr.
-Richardson
-State Department
-[David] Kenneth Rush
-Under secretary
-Duration
-William T. Casey’s role
-Casey’s role
-Compared to Clements’s role
-Defense Department
-Connally’s request for a meeting with the President
-Agenda
-Soviet Union gas deal
-National Park Service
-George B. Hartzog, Jr.
-Retention
-Claudia A. (Taylor) (“Lady Bird”) Johnson
-Belton K. (“B.K.”) Johnson
-Administration's image
-Camp David
-The President’s schedule
-Appointments
-Announcements
-Camp David
-Ziegler’s role
-Presence of appointees
-Biographies
-Press relations
-Clements
-Teens
-Press relations
-The President’s role
-Tone
-Meeting with President
-63-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
The President's schedule
-Meeting with Ford
-Meeting with Archibald K. Davis
-James T. Lynn
-John A. Scali
-Thomas (“Tommy the Cork”) Corcoran
-Under Secretaries
-Ehrlichman
-William E. Simon
-Treasury Department
-Selection for meetings
-Counselors
-Importance
Second term reorganization
-Cabinet
-Brennan
-Department of Transportation
-Frederic V. Malek
-Ivy League image
-Brennan
-Davis
-Butz
-Lynn
-Education
-Adelbert College
-Ohio
-Harvard University
-West Coast
-Harvard University
-Richardson
-Kleindienst
-Weinberger
-Lynn
-Ash
-Masters of Business Administration [MBA]
-Lynn
-Background
-Ohio
-Ethnicity
-64-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Scandinavia
-Age
-Compared to Peterson
-Recruitment
-States
-Texas
-Midwest
-Shultz
-Chicago
-West
-Education
-Shultz
-Princeton University
-Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]
-Butz
-Purdue University
-Davis
-University of North Carolina
-Malek
-Brennan
-City College
-Rogers
-Colgate University
-Cornell University
-Harvard University
-State background
-New York
-Massachusetts
-Arizona
-Illinois
-California
-Ohio
-Indiana
-North Carolina
-Maryland
-New York
-Brennan
-California
-Ash
-Ash
-65-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Education
-Harvard University
-Malek
-Education
-Harvard University
-Department of Transportation
-Volpe
-[Adm. Eugene Joseph Peltier]
-Background
-Ethnicity
-France
-Navy
-Bureau of Yards and Docks
-The President’s recent meeting with Volpe
-Ehrlichman
-Robert J. Hitt
-Morton
-The President’s conversation with Ehrlichman
-Loyalty
-Department of Transportation
-Benjamin F. Biaggini
-Background
-Possible Catholicism
-Support for the President
-Fund raising
-Possible conflict of interest
-Qualifications
-Management ability
-Biaggini
-Hitt
-Loyalty
-The President
-Morton
Post-1972 election
-Haldeman’s recent conversation with Mitchell
-Gabriel Hauge
-[Watergate]
-Mood
-Hauge letter
-66-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Flanigan’s view
Ambassadorships
-Flanigan’s responsibility
-The President’s recent conversation with Flanigan
-Stans
-Stan’s responsibility
-Kissinger’s role
-Haldeman’s role
-Rogers
-Kissinger’s role
Post-1972 election
-Hauge letter
-Flanigan’s view
-Mood
White House Staff
-Letter writing
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Speech writing
Haldeman’s possible telephone call to Rogers
-Vietnam negotiations
-The President’s instructions
-Option
-Copies
-Second term reorganization
-State Department
-John N. Irwin, III
-Ambassadorship to France
-U. Alexis Johnson
-Departure
Stephen B. Bull entered at 12:31 pm.
Bull’s schedule
-The President’s forthcoming trip to New York
Bull’s job
-67-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-1972 Campaign [?]
Bull left at 12:32 pm.
Ambassadorships
-Elmer H. Bobst
-“Intelligence reports”
-The President’s possible telephone call
-The President’s schedule
-Possible visit to [Elmer Holmes Bobst General Library and Study
Center]
***************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and will
remain closed 11/21/2022.]
[Unintelligible]
[815-019-w006]
[Duration: 1m 3s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
**************************************************************************
Second term reorganization
-Morale
-The President’s possible visits to agencies and departments
-Ehrlichman’s view
-[Watergate]
-Heckling
-Alternative
-The President’s possible meetings with Cabinet level officials
-Cabinet Room
-State Department, Defense Department
-Ehrlichman’s view
-Appointments [personnel changes]
-68-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 815-19 (cont’d)
-Number
-Retentions
-Promotions
-Departures
-Alternative
-The President’s possible meetings with Presidential appointees
-Presentation by Cabinet officers
Bull entered at unknown time after 12:32 pm.
White House
-Chairs
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
Haldeman and Bull left at 12:47 pm.Also recorded on November 24, 1972
- 815-011 9:37 AM · 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George W. Romney, John D. Ehrlichman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:37 am to 10:14 am.
- 815-012 10:14 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:14 am and 10:15 am.
- 815-013 10:14 AM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Peter M. Flanigan met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:14 am and 10:43 am.
- 815-014 10:43 AM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and John A. Volpe met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:43 am to 11:37 am.
- 815-015 11:38 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:38 am to 11:44 am.
- 815-016 11:44 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:44 am and 11:47 am.
- 815-017 11:44 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:44 am and 11:47 am.
- 815-018 11:44 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:44 am and 11:47 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 815-019, November 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/815-019 (accessed October 12, 2026).