Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-083

Nixon phone call with Cox on Foreign Policy and SALT Negotiations

Thursday, May 20, 1971 · 12:36 PM–12:39 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Cox, Tricia NixonConversation003-083 on Tape 3 (tape position 01:45:24–01:48:09)StartThursday, May 20, 1971 at 12:36 PMEndThursday, May 20, 1971 at 12:39 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-083 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his daughter Tricia Nixon Cox discuss the positive public reception of the President's recent televised announcement regarding foreign policy developments. Tricia relays favorable commentary from NBC's John Chancellor, who praised the administration's progress in relations with China and the Soviet Union for transcending domestic politics. The President confirms logistical details for an upcoming cocktail reception at the White House for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) negotiators, inviting Tricia and Julie Nixon Eisenhower to attend.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Oh, there he is.
Just a minute.
Hello?
Oh, thank you.
Daddy?
Hello, Trish.
Hi.
Sorry, Bob, if you have to.
It's all right.
No, no, no, no, no.
I don't have anybody.
You can go right ahead.
Oh, great.
No, we just saw the broadcast.
I don't know if it was such a well-kept secret, but I thought that it was really done well, you know.
Did it come over all right?
Very simple, yeah.
We did it in the newsroom.
Yeah, I noticed that.
The lighting wasn't very good in there, but it came all right.
I'll tell you, I thought the picture was good.
I thought you looked especially good in it, you know.
Did you like the short announcement?
Yeah, very short.
You know why I like the short ones?
Why?
Because, well, I'll tell you, I wasn't sure at first.
Then I heard, but it's more dramatic that way.
Yeah.
You know, in other words, you're not talking about a lot of false promises.
Yeah.
And then the next press conference, you can tell.
how it came about but you know what it did it took the emphasis away from the political to the meaning of it in other words it is a great you know personal triumph and political triumph and all that yeah and you could have gone on about how you've been working on it and all that and that would have been very effective too but this is what the commentators mentioned afterward commentated upon they said that you know that it was taken out of the realm of politics and that you you
We saw NBC, John Chancellor, and he said that this was such good news, that's how he ended it.
We couldn't believe we were on the right channel with the right person.
But he said that we had taken it out on the realm of politics.
That's right.
And he was impressed, and he said you had every right to do that, because it was a great triumph.
And that's the word he used, but words to that effect, that this was unique in the post-war,
world history, because you're better in relations with the Chinese, the Red Chinese, and the Soviet Union.
And so he was very impressed, and he reiterated it over and over.
And he ended, he said, this is really good news.
And those were his last words.
So I mean, if NBC played it up, you know it has to be impressive.
There must be something wrong with it.
They were astounded.
Are you there with Mommy?
No, I'm just in here.
Julie and Mommy and I all saw it together.
Oh, good.
I'm going to have the people that are going over to Vienna negotiate about... That's what she said, six to eight.
Yeah.
No, there'll be more than that.
No, I mean from six to eight is the cocktail?
No, no, no, no, six to seven.
Oh, it'll be just 45 minutes, actually.
We're just going to have them up in the yellow oval room, and what I want to do is to do something different, is to open up the...
The windows and the doors so that they can run out there.
This will be the biggest thrill in the life for them, you see.
Rogers will be here, too, and Laird.
It'll be a nice crowd, okay?
That's great.
Fine.
I hope you and Julie will come.
Thank you.
Okay.
Great.
Bye-bye.

NARA Description

On May 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 12:36 pm to 12:39 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-083 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 3-83

Date: May 20, 1971
Time: 12:36 pm - 12:39 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Tricia Nixon.

[See Conversation No. 502-12A]

     President's schedule
          -Announcement
                 -Location
                 -President's appearance
                 -Commentators' remarks
                       -John W. Chancellor of National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC]
                             -People's Republic of China [PRC], Union of Soviet Socialist
                                  Republics [USSR]
                       -Tricia Nixon's, Julie Nixon Eisenhower's and Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon's
                             viewing
          -Cocktail party for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT] negotiations
                 -Time
                 -Location
                 -William P. Rogers
                 -Melvin R. Laird
                 -Ms. Nixon and Mrs. Eisenhower
                                               47

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 9/08)

Also recorded on May 20, 1971

  • 003-080 11:50 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone from 11:50 am to 11:53 am.
  • 502-012 12:05 PM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), John A. Scali, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:05 pm to 12:48 pm.
  • 003-081 12:31 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John A. Scali talked on the telephone at 12:31 pm.
  • 003-082 12:31 PM · 34 sec — the recording device engaged at an unknown time between 12:31 pm and 12:36 pm, but the conversation appears to be blank.
  • 003-084 1:42 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:42 pm and 1:44 pm.
  • 502-013 1:42 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:42 pm and 1:44 pm.
  • 003-085 1:44 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Justin W. Dart talked on the telephone from 1:44 pm to 1:47 pm.
  • 502-014 1:45 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Justin W. Dart, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John A. Scali, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:45 pm to 2:05 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-083, May 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/003-083 (accessed October 12, 2026).