Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 8 › Conversation 008-022

Nixon phone call with Safire on VFW speech and Speechwriting

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 9:40 PM–9:42 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.Conversation008-022 on Tape 8 (tape position 00:33:39–00:35:38)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 9:40 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 9:42 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 008-022 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and William Safire discussed the drafting process for an upcoming speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). They coordinated the involvement of John K. Andrews, Jr. and Raymond K. Price, Jr. regarding the speech's thematic content, specifically focusing on promoting the American spirit and ensuring the address remains impactful and newsworthy rather than derivative.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Yes, President.
Andrews is working on the VFW.
And the materials that we use will not be here.
Or he could work on that.
Right.
Don't use it all.
Use what you need.
Other stuff.
Okay.
One of the
That's right.
That's what he wants to do.
No, well, he may be right.
He can slam in there.
In other words, he'd be more newsworthy.
He may be right.
He may be right, but he would just sort of be an echo now later on.
He'd be a real power.
Good.

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 9:40 pm to 9:42 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 008-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 8-22

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: 9:40 pm - 9:42 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William L. Safire.

     Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW] speech, August 19, 1971
          -John K. Andrews, Jr.
                -Talk with the President
                -Materials
          -Content

                -Competition
                -American spirit
          -Safire's forthcoming talk with Andrews
                -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
          -[Unintelligible]

Also recorded on August 17, 1971

  • 008-016 9:07 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 9:07 pm to 9:10 pm.
  • 008-017 9:28 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:28 pm.
  • 008-018 9:34 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:34 pm.
  • 008-019 9:35 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John K. Andrews, Jr. talked on the telephone from 9:35 pm to 9:38 pm.
  • 008-020 9:38 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:38 pm and 9:40 pm.
  • 008-021 9:39 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 9:39 pm to 9:40 pm.
  • 008-023 9:42 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:42 pm and 9:54 pm.
  • 008-024 9:54 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 9:54 pm to 9:59 pm.

All 48 conversations from August 17, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 008-022, August 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-022 (accessed October 12, 2026).