Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-098
Nixon phone call with Lewis on Supreme Court nominations
Friday, October 22, 1971 · 10:00 PM–10:02 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted with Hobart D. Lewis to celebrate the successful announcement of his Supreme Court nominees, Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist. Nixon expressed satisfaction with his strategy of misleading the press and the American Bar Association to secure appointments that prioritized conservative ideology over typical vetting pressures. The two discussed the long-term impact of these appointments on the Court's ideological balance, agreeing that the move successfully trapped critics who previously demanded judicial excellence.
Audio
NARA Description
On October 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Hobart D. Lewis talked on the telephone from 10:00 pm to 10:02 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-098 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 012-098
Date: October 22, 1971
Time: 10:00 pm- 10:02 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis.
The President's Supreme Court nominees
-Lewis’ view
-The President's action
-American Bar Association [ABA] Committee
-Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Jr.
-William H. Rehnquist
-Potter Stewart
The President's scheduleTranscript (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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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Also recorded on October 22, 1971
- 012-089 9:13 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:13 pm.
- 012-090 9:13 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:13 pm and 9:18 pm.
- 012-092 9:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 9:18 pm to 9:23 pm.
- 012-093 9:25 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:25 pm.
- 012-094 9:30 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:30 pm.
- 012-095 9:46 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone from 9:46 pm to 9:49 pm.
- 012-096 9:52 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:52 pm.
- 012-097 9:52 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:52 pm and 10:00 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Supreme Court appointments October 20, 1971 · 4 min
- Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Supreme Court appointments October 21, 1971 · 6 min
- Nixon phone call with Colson on Supreme Court appointments October 21, 1971 · 14 min
- Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Supreme Court nomination October 19, 1971 · 5 min
- Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Supreme Court and American Bar Association October 20, 1971 · 7 min
- Nixon phone call with Goldwater on Supreme Court appointments and Conservatism October 6, 1971 · 3 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 012-098, October 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191699). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-098 (accessed October 30, 2026).