Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-053

Nixon phone call with Davies on White House social events and Public relations

Wednesday, June 30, 1971 · 2:40 PM–2:42 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Davies, John S.Conversation006-053 on Tape 6 (tape position 01:04:05–01:05:19)StartWednesday, June 30, 1971 at 2:40 PMEndWednesday, June 30, 1971 at 2:42 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-053 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John S. Davies discuss the optics of an under-attended White House social event, noting a significant number of empty seats. Nixon expresses concern over the poor visual presentation and instructs Davies to see if nearby tourists can be recruited to fill the space. The conversation highlights the President's personal involvement in event management and his reluctance for First Lady Pat Nixon to appear at an sparsely attended gathering.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Mr. Davies?
Hello, Mr. President.
Uh, John.
Yes.
I was looking out there in this thing here and noticing that there...
about, you know, how many people there, but why don't we get the tourists in there to fill those seats?
You know, this is a great thing to hear that sort of thing.
Yes.
Well, now, of course, the visiting hours close at 12.
Yeah.
So I don't have any easy source to tap at this point.
Let me see what I can do if there are any people, you know, just outside.
The doors close, of course, at 12.
How do they make up this crowd?
Well, frankly, I don't know.
This was handled entirely by the social office, and so we were not involved in the people attending.
I wish we had been, frankly.
But let me see if there's any source at all that we can tap.
Well, take a look.
I agree with you.
It looks to me like it's just about 200 or 300 blacks and 800 empty seats, and that's ridiculous.
Right, of course.
To have everybody go out there.
Sure.
All right.
uh you know uh and in fact i don't think uh pat ought to really go out she's supposed to go out right they ought to fill the place up let me see what i can do right fine

NARA Description

On June 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John S. Davies talked on the telephone from 2:40 pm to 2:42 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-053 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-53

Date: June 30, 1971
Time: 2:40 pm - 2:42 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John S. Davies.

[See Conversation No. 532-23C]

     Tourists to fill seats for unknown White House social event
          -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

Also recorded on June 30, 1971

  • 006-049 2:31 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:31 pm.
  • 006-050 2:31 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:31 pm.
  • 532-021 2:31 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 2:31 pm.
  • 006-051 2:32 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leonard Garment talked on the telephone from 2:32 pm to 2:36 pm.
  • 006-052 2:36 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:36 pm and 2:40 pm.
  • 006-054 2:43 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Cynthia Frink talked on the telephone from 2:43 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 006-055 2:44 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:44 pm and 2:52 pm.
  • 006-056 2:44 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:44 pm and 2:52 pm.

All 66 conversations from June 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-053, June 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/006-053 (accessed October 5, 2026).