Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 9 › Conversation 009-085

Nixon phone call with Brooke on Political support and Public speaking

Sunday, September 19, 1971 · 6:58 PM–7:00 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Brooke, Edward W.Conversation009-085 on Tape 9 (tape position 02:19:25–02:21:18)StartSunday, September 19, 1971 at 6:58 PMEndSunday, September 19, 1971 at 7:00 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 009-085 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated this call with Senator Edward W. Brooke to express personal appreciation for the Senator's recent speech supporting the administration. Following this political discussion, the President inquired about Brooke's recovery from a recent bout of viral pneumonia. Nixon shared anecdotes regarding William P. Rogers' own experience with the illness to offer encouragement and emphasize the importance of medical recovery.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Mr. President, I have Senator Edwards.
Fine.
Hello, Ed?
Fine.
Over the weekend, I had a chance to read your speech of the 17th, and I've been at Camp David, and I just want you to know I just greatly appreciated what you had to say.
And I know that you had to step up to some hard ones there, and I just want you to know how much I appreciated it.
And I think that there are some events coming up which we don't need to discuss, but in the next couple of months, which will be encouraging.
We hope, at least.
Yeah.
How have you been, Ed?
How have you been?
Yeah.
Boy, I know, I know.
When Colson told me, I said, my God, you're...
tough one to go through is it virus and pneumonia yeah so that didn't you take it take penicillin i suppose yeah and of course you got to remember that if you didn't have penicillin you'd probably be dead it used to kill that's right bill rogers incidentally uh told me that when he was in the service he got right after you know after
Or at least during 45, he had viral pneumonia.
And for three or four days, penicillin saved him.
So I guess it happens to all you fellows that have to take these big things.
Well, you take care.
Good to talk to you, Ed.
Bye.

NARA Description

On September 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Edward W. Brooke talked on the telephone from 6:58 pm to 7:00 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-085 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 9-85

Date: September 19, 1971
Time: 6:58 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Edward W. Brooke.

     Brooke's speech, September 17, 1971
          -The President's reading

               -Camp David
          -Appreciation of support
          -Schedule

     Brooke's health
          -The President's conversation with Charles W. Colson
          -William P. Rogers

Also recorded on September 19, 1971

  • 009-071 9:32 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:32 pm and 9:59 pm.
  • 009-082 6:40 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:40 pm and 6:54 pm.
  • 009-083 6:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 6:54 pm to 6:56 pm.
  • 009-084 6:56 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:56 pm and 6:58 pm.
  • 009-086 7:02 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William W. Keeler talked on the telephone from 7:02 pm to 7:07 pm.
  • 009-087 7:07 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:07 pm and 9:55 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 009-085, September 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-085 (accessed October 17, 2026).