Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 009-066
Date: Friday, September 17, 1971 at 7:51 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Smith, Stan; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Smith, Stan
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-066

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello?
[0:11] Oh, Stan?
[0:12] I wanted to congratulate you on that victory and also to tell you that I was...
[0:17] I talked to the Vice President.
[0:18] I was so pleased to note that you gave your prize to the Davis Cup.
[0:25] That was a terribly generous thing to do, you know.
[0:29] That shows...
[0:30] I remember when we were in the White House, you were so interested in that.
[0:34] Two years ago, right?
[0:37] Yeah.
[0:38] And you must feel pretty good, don't you?
[0:40] To be at the top of the heap, huh?
[0:45] Yeah.
[0:46] I haven't seen much tennis, but the only...
[0:49] I don't get to see much television, but I caught your match with... Oh, the third one with Marty...
[0:58] Yeah, you know, where there were little complaints about the calls and this and that.
[1:05] But when you won that one, the way you kept your calm and kept wanging over those serves, I thought you were going to win it.
[1:19] Well, I didn't think I'd really get that far, but I was lucky.
[1:21] I actually saw my offense in the finals.
[1:22] I didn't see that one.
[1:22] I know it was a hard match from reading the papers.
[1:25] I guess Mr. Agnew was there when I played Marty.
[1:28] Yeah, he was there, yeah, and I saw that on TV.
[1:31] Right.
[1:32] Well, for a private in the Army to do all this is a hell of a thing.
[1:37] Right.
[1:41] Yeah.
[1:42] Do you miss Pasadena?
[1:50] Oh, are you going to play on that Pacific Southwest, or is that over?
[1:54] Pacific Southwest, that's a great tournament.
[1:56] Now does that do they have that an open tournament tournament now or?
[2:01] Do you play as an amateur or the pro?
[2:06] I see.
[2:08] Yeah.
[2:11] Yeah, just before you went in, you're right, right?
[2:15] Well.
[2:18] Yeah, I'd love to be out there, but I'm what?
[2:20] What is the date of it stand?
[2:25] Yeah.
[2:26] Well, you see, I have to go up to Anchorage to meet the Emperor of Japan that week, and so I'll probably miss it.
[2:33] I may catch a little of it on television, but I'm not going to bet against you.
[2:37] I can assure you of that.
[2:39] Right.
[2:40] Well, I wish you the best, and I think you're a great credit to the game, and the way that you, you know, helped the Davis Cup this way was really a fine example for everybody.
[2:53] Yeah, I remember.
[2:59] You remember the Romanians.
[3:00] I saw the Romanian ambassador today and I said, how are they doing?
[3:03] He says, well, we hope to do better than we did last time.
[3:08] Why is clay harder?
[3:09] Because... Oh, they don't have the grass.
[3:14] I see.
[3:16] Is clay faster than lawn?
[3:22] Yeah.
[3:30] They do.
[3:33] I see.
[3:35] Well, you'll handle it.
[3:37] You'll handle it.
[3:39] Right.
[3:40] Well, good to talk to you, and you really handled it well, boy.
[3:44] Bye.