Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 829 › Conversation 829-011

Nixon & Haldeman on Political patronage and Delegation appointments

Monday, January 1, 1973 · 9:35 AM–9:40 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation829-011 on Tape 829StartMonday, January 1, 1973 at 9:35 AMEndMonday, January 1, 1973 at 9:40 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 829-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictates instructions to H. R. Haldeman regarding the selection process for official U.S. delegations, specifically citing the recent funeral of Lester Pearson as an example of overly bureaucratic choices. Nixon mandates that future delegations prioritize rewarding loyalists, major financial and political supporters, and key allies in Congress and the media rather than relying on State Department officials. To streamline this process, he orders the creation of a standing list of approximately 100 vetted individuals to ensure delegations can be formed quickly while maintaining minimal administration representation.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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This kind of delegation, of course, is, whether it is inaugurating a funeral, a celebration of an annual day or what have you, is a way that we can reward some of our loyalists.
Inevitably, the very few who come from states named some former ambassador or some state department type
The other tendency is to overload it with official types like the vice president, chaplain, officers, etc.
In the case of the Pearson delegation, we would have gotten up in such a hurry that the only names that were submitted to me were the official type.
State Department recommendations and a couple of labor leaders in Colson.
What we need here is to look at major financial contributors, major political supporters, major publishers, and
are loyalists in Congress, as well as some of the loyalists in the majority.
And they have a list of about 100 from which we can crawl in the future whenever we have to put together an delegation in a hurry.
This way, it will not be done on the basis of who happens to be the most vigorous
and getting his constituency represented on the delegation.
Paragraph.
On this list, I want the, I want officials from the administration, I want a representation from administration officials kept to the bare minimum necessary to give it
uh the uh status that uh give the delegation status uh what we need to do is put down the line they've got some other names

NARA Description

On January 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:35 am and 9:40 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 829-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 829-11

Date: January 1, 1973
Time: Unknown between 9:35 am and 9:40 am
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a memorandum to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

       Selection of attendees at funeral of Lester Pearson
             -Reward for loyalists
                   -Ambassadors
                   -State Department
                   -Spiro T. Agnew
                   -Cabinet members
                   -Names submitted to the President
                   -Labor leaders
                          -Charles W. Colson
             -Criteria for selection
                   -Major financial supporters
                   -Major political supporters
                   -Publishers
                   -Loyalists in Congress
                   -“New Majority” loyalists

       List of delegates to attend functions
             -Minimum administration attendees
             -Reasons for list
             -Types of delegates
                                                -9-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on January 1, 1973

  • 829-009 9:25 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:25 am to 9:35 am.
  • 829-010 9:35 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:35 am and 9:40 am.
  • 829-012 9:40 AM · 1 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:40 am to 10:40 am.
  • 829-013 10:40 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:40 am and 10:45 am.
  • 829-014 10:45 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Walter H. Annenberg, George H. Allen, Felix Lumbroso, Mrs. Felix Lumbroso, Henrietta ("Etty") Allen, George F. Allen, Greg Allen, Bruce Allen, Jennifer Allen, and Michael J. Farrell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:45 am to 10:57 am.
  • 829-038 10:57 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, George H. Allen, Henrietta ("Etty") Allen, Felix Lumbroso, Mrs. Felix Lumbroso, George F. Allen, Greg Allen, Bruce Allen, Jennifer Allen, and Michael J. Farrell met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:57 am and 11:14 am.
  • 829-015 11:14 AM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:14 am and 11:16 am.
  • 829-016 11:14 AM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:14 am and 11:16 am.

All 32 conversations from January 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 829-011, January 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/829-011 (accessed September 18, 2026).