Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-065

Nixon phone call with Buchanan on News conference and Anti-war protests

Thursday, April 29, 1971 · 10:36 PM–10:39 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Buchanan, Patrick J.Conversation002-065 on Tape 2 (tape position 02:23:17–02:26:23)StartThursday, April 29, 1971 at 10:36 PMEndThursday, April 29, 1971 at 10:39 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-065 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan reviewed the President’s recent news conference, focusing on the effectiveness of his messaging regarding anti-war demonstrations and foreign policy. Nixon emphasized his goal of projecting confidence and signaling that the administration would not be deterred by protesters, while specifically highlighting his remarks on “peace in their time” and the recent opening of relations with China. The conversation concluded with Nixon praising Buchanan and the White House staff for their preparation for the event.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 34% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Yeah.
Hello.
Hello, Pat.
How are you?
Well, you picked most of the answers.
Yeah, that woman asked a silly question about Johnny Rose.
Oh, well, it was a good thing that dude showed up, the poor guy.
They were giving him a bad rap, you know, and all that.
Yeah.
Well, the main thing was to get across the feeling of confidence.
Tell the demonstrators that we weren't going to be affected.
We sure got that across, didn't we?
And also, I put down the State Department and their silly goddamn comments about, you know, God, they're going all off the rockers, you know.
Yeah, I'm hoping the attorney is very effective.
What?
The what?
The attorney.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
We didn't stop it right on time.
We let it go at about, actually, five minutes over, actually.
But, uh, I think the, uh, I think that the real lead, though, is something that, there were two leads that, you know, things that, little things that stuck.
One that, as I looked at the teenagers, my concern
was not peace just in our time, but peace in their time.
See, that gets across.
People understand that.
The other thing is that with regard to China, he's broken the ice.
Now he's got to test the water to see how deep it is.
People understand that, huh?
But to tell these little bastards that are demonstrating, hey, look, we're not worried about peace in our time.
We can get that very easy.
But what about you little shit-ass?
What's going to happen to you, huh?
And that Washington's not under siege.
I looked at the camera, you know, I said, tell them that was out of your region.
Well, we'll see.
But very good, very good preparation.
Tell Alan and all the rest of the crew, very good job.
Okay, fine.
How'd you like my answer when I said it?
Except that I was the only lawyer in the White House that nobody could afford.
Okay.

NARA Description

On April 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 10:36 pm to 10:39 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-065 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-65

Date: April 29, 1971
Time: 10:36 - 10:39 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.

                                                                                               Back to Top

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order from
December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums, et al. v. James M.
Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records Administration produced this
transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]

[End of transcript]

******************************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/19/2017.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[002-065-w001]
[Duration: 17s]

     Buchanan's wedding plans
         -Shelley A. (Scarney) Buchanan

******************************************************************************

     President's news conference

Also recorded on April 30, 1971

  • 002-061 10:25 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:25 pm and 10:31 pm.
  • 002-062 10:25 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:25 pm and 10:31 pm.
  • 002-063 10:25 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:25 pm and 10:31 pm.
  • 002-064 10:31 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:31 pm.
  • 002-066 10:39 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker talked on the telephone from 10:39 pm to 10:40 pm.
  • 002-067 10:40 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 10:40 pm to 10:49 pm.
  • 002-068 10:50 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:50 pm and 10:57 pm.
  • 002-069 10:50 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:50 pm and 10:57 pm.

All 14 conversations from April 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-065, April 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-065 (accessed October 12, 2026).