Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 5 › Conversation 005-142

Nixon phone call with Brown on Vietnam War and Nedzi-Whalen amendment

Wednesday, June 23, 1971 · 2:51 PM–2:52 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Brown, Garry E.Conversation005-142 on Tape 5 (tape position 04:25:07–04:26:11)StartWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 2:51 PMEndWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 2:52 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 005-142 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon called Congressman Garry E. Brown to commend him for his courageous floor speech opposing the Nedzi-Whalen amendment, which sought to limit U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Nixon praised Brown's performance within the Republican caucus and expressed confidence that Brown's stance would prove politically advantageous by the following year. Brown acknowledged the political sensitivity of the issue in his district, while both men briefly signaled alignment on the broader trajectory of the administration's Vietnam policy.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.8 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
I have Congressman Gary Brown.
Yeah.
Hello.
Hello.
Gary, I just wanted to call to tell you that I
I heard several reports from the caucus the other day that one of the most effective talks in the whole deal was made by you on that Nesty Whelan thing, and coming as you do with your interesting neighbor up there, I thought that took a lot of guts, and I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated it.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. President.
I was happy to do it.
I hope you don't get too much flack.
Of course, as I often say to my friends, you're an intellectual.
They'll believe you.
Well, I trust that you're right.
The district is very transitional in this area.
And, of course, that was the whole issue of my campaign last time.
But I think you're right.
Well, the main thing, let me tell you this.
Just remember that I said on June the 23rd, you're going to look awful good next year about this issue.
And that's my job, and we're going to do it.
Well, I have confidence in you, too.
And we're moving along.
Okay.
Well, thanks very much for calling.
Fine, Gary.
Very nice of you.
Bye.

NARA Description

On June 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Garry E. Brown talked on the telephone from 2:51 pm to 2:52 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-142 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 5-142

Date: June 23, 1971
Time: 2:51 pm - 2:52 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Garry E. Brown.

[See Conversation No. 258-42A]

     Brown's talk before Congress on Lucien N. Nedzi-Charles W. Whalen, Jr. issue

     Vietnam

Also recorded on June 23, 1971

  • 005-139 2:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, F. Edward Hébert, and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 2:39 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 005-140 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre S. DuPont talked on the telephone from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 258-039 2:45 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 258-040 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre S. DuPont met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 005-141 2:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles S. Gubser talked on the telephone from 2:46 pm to 2:48 pm.
  • 258-041 2:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles S. Gubser met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:46 pm to 2:48 pm.
  • 258-042 2:48 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Garry E. Brown met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:48 pm to 3:04 pm.
  • 005-143 2:52 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:52 pm and 3:05 pm.

All 52 conversations from June 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 005-142, June 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-142 (accessed October 17, 2026).