These conversations, released October 26, 2000, comprise the second of five chronological segments to be released.

Finding Aid

• Download the complete finding aid, which includes a detailed description of the conversations, information on how the tapes were processed according to the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA) (44 USC 2111 note) and its implementing regulations, and background information on the Nixon White House Tapes.

Participants

The conversations involve a wide variety of participants, including:

• White House staff members H.R. Haldeman, Henry Kissinger, John Ehrlichman, Charles Colson, Ronald Ziegler, and Rose Mary Woods.
• They also include members of the Cabinet, other department and agency personnel, Members of Congress, foreign leaders, members of the press, and the general public.

Topics

Conversations include a wide variety of issues and document the daily routine of the President and his staff. They include discussions on public relations, appointments, ceremonial events, polling information, speeches, and the President's schedule.

Tape subject logs, which indicate the specific topics discussed in each conversation, can be searched on this web site by going to Advanced Search and selecting "Tape Subject Logs" in the drop-down box. You may also request a free Finding Aid CD-ROM, which contains a searchable index, by contacting the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Please contact us at the preceding link if you need any assistance in using the tapes.

Domestic Policy Conversations

Topics also include domestic initiatives, such as:

• the appointment of Supreme Court Justices to replace Justices Black and Harlow, campaign finance reform, wage and price controls, revenue sharing, the appointment of Earl Butz as Agriculture Secretary, the President's speech to the AFL convention, the prison riot in Attica, New York, the Pentagon Papers, welfare reform, the Welander-Radford spy ring, the President's New Economic Policy, and J. Edgar Hoover's resignation as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Foreign Policy Conversations

The conversations also document foreign policies and world events, including:

• the Vietnam War, the re-election of Nguyen Van Thieu as President of South Vietnam, planning the President's trip to the People's Republic of China, the Strategic Arms and Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union, the end of the Gold Standard and changes in the international monetary system, the United Nations' vote to expel Taiwan from the UN General Assembly, the War between India and Pakistan, as well as the President's meetings with various foreign leaders and heads of state.

Abuses of Governmental Power  [See Also:  Abuse of Governmental Power Conversations]

There are also some conversations that detail Abuses of Governmental Power, as defined by the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA) and its implementing regulations. Most of these conversations were previously released in November 1996 and February 1999. These conversations, now in context, include discussions on:

• the activities of the Plumbers, the Pentagon Papers, domestic wiretapping and surveillance, campaign activities, misuse of federal agencies, and illegal political campaign contributions.

Restriction History  [See Also:  Why Taped Conversations are Withdrawn]

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) indicated 267 withdrawals on the Tape Subject Logs out of the 526 hours in this segment.

• The National Archives has designated:
  • approximately 88 hours as personal and returnable to the Nixon estate, in accordance with the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA).
  • approximately 9 hours are restricted for national security, as provided for in Executive Order 12958.
  • approximately 1 hour is restricted for invasion of privacy, 3 hours as unintelligible, and 4 hours as non-historicial.
    
    
• For national security withdrawals, the tape subject log indicates the main subject or subjects that have been withdrawn.

About this Release

There are no transcripts for these conversations.

• spans August 1, 1971 - December 31, 1971, and one tape (WHT 17) covers December 23, 1971 - January 3, 1972
• totals approximately 420 hours
• consists of approximately 4,140 conversations
• conversations recorded in the Oval Office, the President's office in the EOB, and the White House telephones
• released October 26, 2000
• release includes 143 White House Tapes available on 657 reference cassettes