Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-129

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Edward J. Kiernan

Wednesday, May 26, 1971 · 1:30 PM ET · White House Telephone · 16 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation003-129 on Tape 3 (tape position 03:15:27–03:15:44)StartWednesday, May 26, 1971 at 1:30 PMEndWednesday, May 26, 1971 at 1:30 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-129 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to facilitate a telephone call to Edward J. Kiernan, who was attending a patrolman's funeral. The operator informed the President that Kiernan would likely be unavailable until mid-afternoon and offered to attempt contact via his vehicle. Nixon instructed the operator to have Kiernan return the call at his earliest convenience.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.2 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Hello?
Mr. President, I was just called as Mr. Edward Kerner.
They all seem to be at the patrolman's funeral, you know.
Oh, yeah.
The man said probably it would be about 3.30.
I said, can you contact him in the car?
You can return the call when it's convenient for you.
All right, Mr. President.
I'll tell them.

NARA Description

On May 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:30 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-129 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 003-129

Date: May 26, 1971
Time: 1:30 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President

[See Conversation No. 505-010A]

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

     Call to Edward J. Kiernan
           -Kiernan's location
           -Return call

Also recorded on May 26, 1971

  • 505-007 12:43 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, David K. E. Bruce, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:43 pm to 1:17 pm.
  • 505-010 1:22 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:22 pm and 1:37 pm.
  • 505-008 1:25 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:25 pm to 1:26 pm.
  • 505-009 1:26 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:26 pm and 1:30 pm.
  • 505-011 1:37 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:41 pm.
  • 505-012 1:37 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 1:41 pm.
  • 505-013 1:41 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:41 pm to 2:02 pm.
  • 253-009 2:10 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:10 pm and 2:17 pm.

All 83 conversations from May 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-129, May 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-129 (accessed October 3, 2026).