Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 9 › Conversation 009-012

Nixon phone call with Keyes on Laugh-In and Television ratings

Tuesday, September 14, 1971 · 8:56 PM–8:59 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Keyes, Paul W.Conversation009-012 on Tape 9 (tape position 00:25:43–00:28:38)StartTuesday, September 14, 1971 at 8:56 PMEndTuesday, September 14, 1971 at 8:59 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 009-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls television producer Paul W. Keyes to congratulate him on the successful season premiere of the comedy program *Laugh-In*. Keyes reports that the show achieved high ratings, outperforming competitors and securing a dominant share of the viewing audience. The conversation also includes a brief discussion regarding public relations strategies for First Lady Pat Nixon, with the President suggesting that media coverage should focus on her interactions with others rather than direct interviews to better showcase her demeanor.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. Paul Keyes, sir.
Hello?
Yes, sir.
Paul?
Yes, sir.
Well, how did your program rate?
Well, we beat everything in sight.
We not only led our time period, but we...
We beat Hope, who fought.
We were the highest rated show all night.
Good, good.
It was a smash.
Good.
How was the reaction?
I only saw about 15 minutes of it because I was busy and caught just the last, well, about 15 minutes before it was over.
Oh, yeah.
Well, everybody's been very good about it.
We've had marvelous reaction and the network called me and
You know, this thing was canceled without me, and now they said that this could go on another five years.
I mean, they're ecstatic.
Are they really?
Right.
Of all sets in use, of all television sets that were tuned on, I had 40% of the audience.
Right.
And, you know, that leaves six other stations to divvy it up.
So you can see, we beat the opposition two to one.
We had a marvelous rating.
Great.
So it'll be in the, you know, it hasn't been in the top ten for two years.
And now it'll be right up there.
Right.
Depending on what happens the rest of the week.
You mean the reviews and all that?
Well, no, the rating.
I mean, it depends.
See, this is premiere week, and when you think of all the new shows that are coming on this year, and they will still tune into a show that's on for its fifth year, it's got to be good.
Right.
You know, so depending on what happens later in the week, if somebody draws more than we did, but right now we're number one.
Great.
So it was a personal victory for me.
Great, great, great.
I appreciate your... Well, I'm delighted, and I just hope they give you your due.
Well, thank you, sir.
Thank you.
One thing I meant to say the other night, you might pass it around to the television guy.
Right.
is I think when they deal with the First Lady,
She is much more at ease and better when the camera observes what she's doing with other people than when they confront her with questions.
Yeah, yeah.
You know?
I agree, yeah.
I think that's the key.
She was marvelous, and she tends to be a little uneasy in the direct question and answer, but if they can just film her like coverage of what she's doing, she'll win every time.
Right.
It's great.
Right, right.
Well, I appreciate your call.
Well, fine.
The program, she's had very good reactions to it, a lot of wires and all that sort of thing.
Yeah, well, that's marvelous.
Right.
I couldn't be happier.
Right.
I loved it, and I talked to people, and I checked around, and they liked it.
Right.
Well, ABC, to their credit, made it very positive that nothing was negative in the whole thing.
but they promoted it very well.
Good ads out here and good, you know, people will tune in if they know it's there, but they really promoted it, which was good.
I thought it was a very positive thing.
Good.
Well, Paul, I just hope you had a great success.
Mr. President, I appreciate your thought.
Okay, boy.
Thank you.
Bye, sir.

NARA Description

On September 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone from 8:56 pm to 8:59 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 9-12

Date: September 14, 1971

Time: 8:56 pm - 8:59 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Paul W. Keyes.

[See Conversation No. 277-1]

     Television program Laugh In
          -Rating
          -Time period
          -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
          -Success of program
          -Reactions
                -The President's schedule
                -Cancellation
          -Future broadcasts
          -Percentage of television audience
                -Rating
                -Future broadcasts
                -Premiere week
          -Keyes’ advice
                -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
                      -Position of camera
                      -Interaction with individuals
          -Mrs. Nixon's broadcast
                -Responses
                      -American Broadcasting Company [ABC] promotion

Also recorded on September 15, 1971

  • 009-009 8:16 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:16 pm and 8:20 pm.
  • 009-010 8:20 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:20 pm to 8:27 pm.
  • 009-011 8:27 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:27 pm and 8:56 pm.
  • 277-001 8:56 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:56 pm and 8:59 pm.
  • 009-013 9:16 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone from 9:16 pm to 9:18 pm.
  • 277-002 9:16 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:16 pm to 9:18 pm.
  • 009-014 10:19 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 11:59 am.
  • 277-003 11:05 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:05 am to 11:15 am.

All 57 conversations from September 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 009-012, September 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-012 (accessed October 23, 2026).