The day after Nixon's election as President in November 1968, he asked Chotiner what job he would like, and Chotiner indicated that he wanted to be chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), but was told that was impossible. However, Mitchell and soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman wished to see Chotiner given a position outside the White House, as they saw him as a rival. Accordingly, they proposed that Chotiner be made RNC executive director, to wield the real power with the chairman as figurehead. A reluctant Nixon, who was worried about Chotiner's hatchet-man reputation, finally agreed, and Chotiner wrapped up his affairs in California.