Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-147

Nixon phone call with Cox on Twenty-sixth Amendment and Voting age

Monday, July 5, 1971 · 7:35 PM–7:38 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Cox, Tricia NixonConversation006-147 on Tape 6 (tape position 03:00:24–03:03:28)StartMonday, July 5, 1971 at 7:35 PMEndMonday, July 5, 1971 at 7:38 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-147 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417189185 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his daughter Tricia Nixon Cox discussed the certification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18. Nixon explained his role in urging Ohio to be the 38th state to ratify the amendment and described a ceremony he attended with young people and interns. Tricia shared her experience signing autographs for tourists from various countries at the White House fence. They also briefly touched upon Nixon's upcoming travel and his mother's visit to Camp David.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.2 MB

NARA Description

On July 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 7:35 pm to 7:38 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-147 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-147

Date: July 5, 1971
Time: 7:35 pm - 7:38 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Tricia Nixon Cox.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 05/02/2023. 1m
35s segment cleared for release. 31s remain closed as 006-147-w001.]
[Personal Returnable]
[006-147-w001]
[Duration: 31s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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[Personal Returnable]
[006-147-w001]
[Duration: 1m 35s]

     The President's schedule
          -Certification of Twenty-sixth amendment

     Tricia Nixon Cox's schedule
           -Signing autographs at White House fence
                -Tourists
                      -Pakistan
                      -India
                      -Europe
                      -New York
                      -New Jersey

     The President's schedule
          -Certification of Twenty-sixth amendment

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[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 05/02/2023.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[006-147-w002]
[Duration: 53s]

     The President’s schedule
          -Camp David
                -Swimming
          -July 6, 1971
                -California
                -Kansas City, Missouri
                -Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

     Julie Nixon Eisenhower

          -Birthday
                -Telephone call from the President
                -Telephone call from Tricia Nixon Cox
                -Dinner at the embassy

     Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Cox[unintelligible]
NixonThe 26th Amendment. It's the, you know, the 18-year-old vote. So tonight they have quite a bit of stuff on it. The, but it's—
CoxDid you know they were going to have that ceremony today?
NixonOh, yeah, yeah, I did. I had set it up. I knew last week they'd have it because I was the one that urged the young people in Ohio to get the 38th state, you know.
CoxOh, yes.
NixonAnd so it was Ohio that put it over and so then I invited three of them to come down and they did it, and then they certified it, and so forth.
CoxGee, you know what I did? I went down to the fence today, to the southeast gate, and talked to the people, signed autographs.
NixonOh, good! Tourists?
CoxYes, there are a lot of people there. It was so much fun.
NixonWhere were they from? All over?
CoxPakistan, India, someone from Europe, someone from New York, someone from New Jersey, you know, everything, everywhere.
NixonYeah, that was great.
CoxAnd I have this, a whole pocketful of pictures they gave me, polaroids, that they'd taken of themselves and me and, you know, so it's a lot of fun.
NixonWell, listen, watch the news. Oh, listen, at 9:00 if you want to turn on the entertainment, I guess they'll carry that. PBS.
CoxOh, oh, that would be fun, yes.
NixonIt's, well, it's pretty good. I had all the young people, five hundred of them, from, who are working in the White House here, and government and, you know, all the summer interns. And that was interesting.
CoxOh, that's nice.
NixonAnd they had this, these young singers. They are really good, this group of 30, and then I spoke and signed the, gave a, you know, certified the document, and so forth.
CoxGee, how wonderful. I didn't know they were going to do all that. So you had a busy 4th of July, I mean 5th of July.
NixonWell, I worked all afternoon, you know, so that was good.
CoxDid you go to Camp David at all?
NixonNo, I didn't go. Mother went up, and but I didn't go because I had to work.
CoxWell, are you going to get up to go swimming again, or anything?
NixonOh, yeah, oh, sure. When, when we get through with this work, why, and get back to San Clemente, we'll get enough of that, you see.
CoxRight. Oh, yes.
NixonAre you going to look at that news tonight? NBC, CBS and ABC?
CoxYes, I have them on right now, flipping back and forth.
NixonAll right, my dear. Give my love to Ed.
CoxAll right, and enjoy yourself.
NixonOkay. Bye.
CoxOkay, lots of love, bye-bye.
NixonBye.

Also recorded on July 5, 1971

  • 006-143 7:21 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:21 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 006-144 7:25 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:25 pm.
  • 006-145 7:26 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:26 pm to 7:28 pm.
  • 006-146 7:28 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:28 pm and 7:35 pm.
  • 006-148 8:26 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:26 pm and 8:38 pm.
  • 260-028 8:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:26 pm and 8:38 pm.
  • 260-029 8:26 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:26 pm and 8:38 pm.
  • 006-149 8:38 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Florence P. Dwyer talked on the telephone from 8:38 pm to 8:41 pm.

All 26 conversations from July 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-147, July 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417189185). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/006-147 (accessed November 7, 2026).