Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 219 › Conversation 219-012

Nixon phone call with Byrnes on Legislative Strategy and Republican Party

Tuesday, October 10, 1972 · 8:52 PM–8:55 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Byrnes, John W.Conversation219-012 on Tape 219StartTuesday, October 10, 1972 at 8:52 PMEndTuesday, October 10, 1972 at 8:55 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 219-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Representative John W. Byrnes to express appreciation for a successful legislative vote and to coordinate strategy for an upcoming meeting with Republican senators. The President directed Byrnes to pressure holdouts to ensure party unity ahead of a critical conference, emphasizing the need for lawmakers to stand firm. They agreed to hold a session on Thursday morning to formalize this legislative push and secure necessary support.

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.3 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Well, I just wanted to thank you for a great job you did today.
That was a hell of a vote.
And, uh, right.
I'm going to, uh, have in the, uh, senators, uh, you know, the Republican senators at least, Thursday morning at 9 o'clock.
And, uh, you know... Huh?
Oh, I will.
Now, uh, will, uh, you have any guidance as to what we ought to do?
Tell him to let us know and I'll have him there at 9 o'clock and work him over.
Tell him that this is a matter of the people that are going to be in that conference.
They better damn well stand up.
Yeah, you can do that, can't you?
Yeah, I see.
It's what you've got.
He's pushing hard over there.
He ought to be able to get 35, 40 volts, I think.
All right.
I got the message.
And we'll let it cool today, and then 9 o'clock Thursday morning, I'll put her into the fire.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On October 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:52 pm to 8:55 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 219-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 219-12
Date: October 10, 1972
Time: 8:52 pm - 8:55 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with John W. Byrnes.

[See Conversation No. 148-10]

Also recorded on October 11, 1972

  • 148-007 8:44 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:44 pm and 8:46 pm.
  • 219-009 8:44 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:44 pm and 8:46 pm.
  • 148-008 8:46 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:46 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 219-010 8:46 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:46 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 148-009 8:50 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:50 pm and 8:52 pm.
  • 219-011 8:50 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:50 pm and 8:52 pm.
  • 148-010 8:52 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:52 pm to 8:55 pm.
  • 148-011 9:04 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:04 pm and 9:34 pm.

All 48 conversations from October 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 219-012, October 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/219-012 (accessed September 24, 2026).