Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-079

Nixon phone call with Nelsen on Congressional relations

Wednesday, October 13, 1971 · 9:22 AM–9:25 AM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Nelsen, AncherConversation011-079 on Tape 11 (tape position 01:57:36–02:00:42)StartWednesday, October 13, 1971 at 9:22 AMEndWednesday, October 13, 1971 at 9:25 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-079 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417190055 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls Representative Ancher Nelsen to offer birthday well-wishes and acknowledge Nelsen's past political loyalty. The discussion shifts to Nelsen’s recommendation of attorney John E. Hogan for a Superior Court appointment, which Nixon directs him to coordinate through Clark MacGregor and John Mitchell. They also strategize on the pending cancer bill, with Nelsen proposing an oversight committee to ensure the White House maintains direct control over the program while maintaining legislative cooperation with Representative Paul Rogers.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ancher Nelsen talked on the telephone from 9:22 am to 9:25 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-079 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-079

 Date: October 13, 1971
 Time: 9:22 am - 9:25 am
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with Ancher Nelsen.

 [See Conversation No. 590-2D]

        The President's schedule

        Congressional birthdays
             -Clark MacGregor
                  -Nelsen

                           -Age cited
                           -White House lobbyists
                                 -James H. Cavanaugh
                                 -John S. Zapp
                                 -Cancer bill
                           -Retirement plans
                                 -John E. Hogan
                                      -Lawrence E. ("Ed") Walsh
                                      -Possible appointment
                                      -Superior Court
                                      -Clark MacGregor
                                             -John N. Mitchell

        Cancer bill
            -Paul G. Rogers
            -The President's need for direct communications
                    -Jerome H. Jaffee
                    -Henry S. Kaplan

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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yes anchor i was awfully busy uh as you can imagine because of the the amounts i made yesterday but i noted in uh clark mcgregor keeps me informed when when some very good friends have birthdays and you you know hell he told me you were had a birthday and i said hell you can't be that old
By golly, I'm 67 years old.
That's right, and you just look great.
Yeah.
Well, I just want you to know that I, as I saw that little note from Clark, and he did, of course, I remembered how you really came to bat with us in those early days before 68 and everything.
Your boys right here in the office, Cavanaugh and Zapp, they're over here lobbying on something.
They're lobbying on something?
Yeah.
Don't do it.
We're working on the cancer bill.
Oh, that's all right.
You do that.
Sometime I'd like to drop by.
If I get out of here at the end of this term, one request, and that's...
John Hogan, who really did the crime bill.
Right, right.
A good lawyer.
He was with Judge Walsh.
Yeah.
Put him on the pad because... What would you like him to do?
Have him on that court somewhere.
Right.
Is he?
He's not in a court now?
No, no.
I'll talk to you.
Say, you're a little bit hoarse.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
It's just a little heat.
Let me ask you to do this.
Yeah.
Just, uh, you put his name.
How old is he now?
He's about 50, one or two.
He'd like to be on one of the district courts up there?
I'd say the Superior Court here.
He's really good.
Oh, he's here in Washington?
Yeah, he's here.
He lives in the district.
A good, strong man, is he?
Oh, yeah.
All right.
I'll tell you what you do.
You don't have to wait and anything.
You just...
uh give the name uh get it down to clark yeah send it down to me and uh send it send it down and or and tell him to bring it into me and uh i'll give it to mitchell and boy when we get into vacancy why we'll take a hard look at him we're trying to work out some kind of a compromise on the on the cancer thing because oh yeah it's pretty adamant so we're trying to figure out some way so that there's a direct line from your office
to the operation of the program without leaving a little face favor for Paul Rogers, who's a great man.
I know he is.
He's a fine man.
We'll work it out.
Well, I appreciate that.
The reason I need the direct line is this, is you know what happens, Anchor, you can tell Paul.
It all gets down in the woodwork and nobody pays any attention, but it's just the feeling that the president really cares about it.
It's like I'm working with Chaffee on this drug thing.
I suggested in the hearing that...
There'd be an overview group, maybe three people appointed by the president, that ties right in with the cancer operation in the NIH.
It gives you a direct line in there and a control of it, and this would give Paul sort of what he wants, and he might buy that.
And Dr. Kaplan, one of the original committee, endorsed that kind of an idea.
drew that conclusion from my interrogation of witnesses.
He said he liked this Nelson idea.
That worked.
Sounds good to me.
Okay, fine.
All right.

Also recorded on October 13, 1971

  • 011-076 8:53 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:53 am and 9:09 am.
  • 590-002 8:53 AM · 2 hr 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, Ancher Nelsen, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:53 am and 11:06 am.
  • 011-077 9:09 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:09 am to 9:13 am.
  • 011-078 9:13 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:22 am.
  • 011-080 9:25 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 12:37 pm.
  • 011-164 9:25 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 12:37 pm.
  • 590-003 11:06 AM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Walter E. Washington, Jerry V. Wilson, John D. Ehrlichman, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:06 am to 12:02 pm.
  • 590-004 12:03 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry C. Clausen, Mrs. Henry C. Clausen, R. Lee Lockwood, Mrs. R. Lee Lockwood, Joshua K. Shepard, C. Fred Kleinknecht, George A. Newbury, Donald L. Witter, Harvey R. Doane, Sir Ralph Hone, Lady Sybil (Simond) Hone, R. A. Ingham Clark, Sir Basil McFarland, Sir Ian A. Johnson-Gilbert, Robert Burnett, William E. Timmons, Henry C. Cashen, II, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:03 pm to 12:14 pm.

All 31 conversations from October 13, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-079, October 13, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417190055). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-079 (accessed November 12, 2026).