Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-010

Nixon phone call with Hughes on Texas drought and Air Force One

Tuesday, April 20, 1971 · 3:54 PM–3:55 PM ET · White House Telephone · 47 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hughes, James D. ("Don")Conversation002-010 on Tape 2 (tape position 00:10:24–00:11:12)StartTuesday, April 20, 1971 at 3:54 PMEndTuesday, April 20, 1971 at 3:55 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with General James D. Hughes to arrange a larger aircraft for an upcoming trip to Texas, specifically for Secretary of Agriculture Clifford M. Hardin and his delegation. Hughes confirmed that they would utilize the backup aircraft, designated '970,' which shares the same presidential paint scheme and capacity as Air Force One. Nixon authorized this change to accommodate an expanded party of approximately 60 people.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
General Hughes, sir.
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Could you lay on a bigger plane for this trip to Texas?
I may have to add two or three people to it.
Have you got one available?
bigger than uh bigger than a jet star oh yes sir uh what we plan to do is to was to take your backup plane yeah uh you know 970 which is just yeah roughly the same size as yours going to carry more people you're going to take 970 i thought we'd back up because of the i figured there'd be a pretty big uh well going my point is then they will go in 970 that was our plan when i talked to uh oh fine to ken i think that that way they're both presidentially painted and you know it's
Well, have 970, which will look like Air Force One.
Yes, sir.
That's correct.
All right.
Take them at 970, and then I'll tell the secretary to add anybody he wants.
Yes, sir.
We're up to about 60 people.
Great.
Fine.
Fine.

NARA Description

On April 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 3:54 pm to 3:55 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-10

Date: April 20, 1971
Time: 3:54 pm - 3:55 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with General James D. (“Don”) Hughes.

[See Conversation No. 483-17D]

     Texas drought
          -Plane for trip
               -Jetstar
               -"970" plane
               -Ken [Surname unknown]
               -”970"
                      -Air Force One
                      -Capacity
               -Clifford M. Hardin

Also recorded on April 20, 1971

  • 002-007 3:35 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:35 pm and 3:47 pm.
  • 483-017 3:35 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clifford M. Hardin, Gen. George A. Lincoln, Peter M. Flanigan, White House photographer, White House operator, John B. Connally, James D. ("Don") Hughes, George H. Mahon, and Clark MacGregor met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:35 pm to 4:10 pm.
  • 002-008 3:47 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 3:47 pm to 3:48 pm.
  • 002-009 3:48 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 3:54 pm.
  • 002-011 3:55 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:55 pm and 4:04 pm.
  • 002-012 4:04 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George H. Mahon talked on the telephone from 4:04 pm to 4:07 pm.
  • 483-018 4:10 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Ronald L. Ziegler, Fred Maroon, Manolo Sanchez, unknown person(s), and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:10 pm to 4:19 pm.
  • 483-019 4:20 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John N. Mitchell, John W. Dean, III, White House photographer, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Sue Morrison met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:20 pm to 5:14 pm.

All 51 conversations from April 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-010, April 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-010 (accessed October 21, 2026).