Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-132

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller

Tuesday, December 21, 1971 · 10:35 PM–11:59 PM ET · White House Telephone · 9 min

Participants[Unknown person(s)]; White House operatorConversation016-132 on Tape 16 (tape position 05:07:24–05:08:10)StartTuesday, December 21, 1971 at 10:35 PMEndTuesday, December 21, 1971 at 11:59 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 016-132 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191513 ↗

AI Summary

An unknown individual attempted to reach the White House via the operator, but the call remained incomplete. No substantive information was exchanged as the connection failed before any discussion could take place. Consequently, no policy decisions or developments occurred during this brief interaction.

Audio

Download MP3 · 11.9 MB

NARA Description

On December 21, 1971, unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 pm and 11:59 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-132 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 16-132

Date: December 21, 1971
Time:
Location: White House Telephone

An unknown person signaled the White House operator.

     Call was not completed

Transcript (AI-generated)

No speech has been transcribed for this recording. An AI model that listened to the whole recording reported: Operator answers twice at the beginning, followed by static, background hiss, and occasional mechanical clicking/switchboard tones throughout the remainder of the call. Material withdrawn by the National Archives (for privacy or national security) is replaced with a tone or silence in the released audio.

Also recorded on December 21, 1971

  • 016-128 5:58 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 10:11 pm.
  • 016-129 5:58 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 10:11 pm.
  • 016-130 5:58 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 10:11 pm.
  • 639-027 5:58 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 6:07 pm.
  • 639-028 5:58 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 6:07 pm.
  • 639-029 5:58 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:58 pm and 6:07 pm.
  • 639-030 6:07 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:07 pm to 6:59 pm.
  • 016-131 10:11 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 10:11 pm to 10:35 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 016-132, December 21, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191513). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-132 (accessed November 9, 2026).