Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-064
Nixon, Woods & Sanchez on Supreme Court nominations and Public relations
Thursday, October 21, 1971 · 8:48 PM–8:56 PM ET · White House Telephone · 9 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Rose Mary Woods discuss the overwhelmingly positive public and political reception to the President’s recent televised speech announcing his Supreme Court nominations. The conversation highlights the effective delivery of the speech and the public's preference for the President's direct messaging over the influence of the Washington Post. They also address minor logistical concerns regarding property near Mount Vernon and coordinate a plan for the President to follow up with key officials, including John Mitchell and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.
- Supreme Court nominations
- Public relations
- Nixon's television address
- Political strategy
- Mount Vernon
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Ja.
That's right.
Because everyone that called, Clark McGregor called me, he thought it was just great.
He called for you.
He wanted to tell you that your choices were superb.
And he didn't know which to do the most about you, your delivery or the choices, because they were both just excellent.
And he thought your emphasis on the academic and professional aspects was great.
Oh, he put that out.
Yeah, Freeman Gosling called and left work as an operator, that it was an excellent choice.
Es hat alle überrascht, dass es vielleicht euer bester geliebter Gespräch bis heute war.
Jeder hat sich darauf eingelassen.
Es war sehr gut geliebt, glaube ich.
Paul Bluth, das ist Paul, er ist im Madison Hotel.
Und er war sehr begeistert.
Und er sagte, er dachte, die Beliebung war wirklich großartig und er denkt, es ist einer eurer besten Stunden.
Sehr, sehr begeistert.
Sie alle lieben es, mich in die Medien zu geben.
I thought he handled this thing superbly to him.
I was particularly delighted that he treated the ABA properly by absolutely ignoring it.
That's right.
He said I thought it was constructive and I just can't imagine how it could have been done any better in any way.
Of course I praised him in the court.
You ought to feel good.
Well, he said it.
Well, everyone mentions that you love it.
He said the thing...
The key is that a lot of times people don't know, he said, and I'm sure this is his problem too, he said, I think all of these distasteful things will fade away.
And he said that he thinks that all of us listen too much to the around here, listen too much to the Washington Post.
Get weighted down, he says, out in Iowa, they don't pay attention to the Washington Post.
They get it straight from the president and they saw these two, and he thinks these two nominations are just tops.
Ja, das stimmt.
Und er sagte, er wäre froh, wenn er einen jüngeren Mann hätte.
Und er sagte, Paul ist großartig.
Er sagte, er ist einer der halben Dutzend Männer, die er in seinem Leben gekannt hat, den er auf dem hohen Niveau gewählt hat.
Er sagte, er wäre eine tolle Einladung in das Gericht.
Er ist ein Mann, der, wenn wir in einem idealen Weltraum leben, 15 Jahre zuvor auf dem Gericht gewesen wäre.
Das stimmt.
Ich habe ihm gesagt, dass er mich nicht nennen muss, aber ich kann mir keine Art und Weise vorstellen, wie er es besser geliefert hätte oder dass er es besser machen würde.
Well, if she gets in between, she doesn't know anything about, because like today I talked with the, with the, dear old Rep. And of course they can't, unless the Parks, National Parks, etc.
go, they can't do anything about the property.
Of course the State Department turned that down anyway today.
What's that?
That property across from George Washington's home, across from Mount Vernon.
Yeah, of course they should do that.
Yeah, well they did, they turned it down.
For any foreign government.
That's right.
Es ist alles meins, das ist die eine Sache.
Ich hatte keine Sapphire oder Reis.
Das ist die Unterschiede.
Es ist alles meins.
Und es war... Es war einfach für dich.
Du hattest nicht zu schauen.
Ich habe viel geschaut, aber ich habe es alles geschrieben.
Und das Ding ist, dass es deiner war.
Und es ist einfacher zu schreiben.
Ich kann es immer schreiben.
Es geht einfach in deine Form.
Was öffnet sich?
Welche Zeit ist es?
Ja, und Rogers und alle Leute, die von der Blair House von links und links angerufen haben.
Ich glaube, die Leute, die ich anrufen werde, sind Rogers.
Und natürlich musste ich mit Mitchell sprechen.
Und ich denke, ich sollte mit Berger sprechen.
Das ist der große Unterschied.
Und das ist alles, was ich kenne.
Niemand von den anderen hat dich gefragt.
Die anderen, die du denkst, sollen genannt werden, außer Louis Rogers, weil er hat mit Berger gesprochen.
Ich hätte mich mit Mitchell genannt.
Ja, du hast ihn genannt.
Well, I don't think you need to call any others.
Romney called, Stanley called.
No, no, no other Catholic people.
No, I don't think so.
Richardson, I don't really believe... No, they're doing it for routine.
They're just doing it on their behalf.
Well, except they were more enthusiastic, I must say.
I was pleased with their... Well, I know, but I'm not going to call them.
Oh, I don't think you should either.
I don't think you should either.
There are already senators and congressmen and the else that are...
Well, maybe I suppose Clark has been here.
He may have taken those calls.
Why don't you call anybody he thinks I should call.
Anybody should call back and let me know.
Okay, call me back.
Okay.
NARA Description
On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone from 8:48 pm to 8:56 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-064 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 012-064
Date: October 21, 1971
Time: 8:48 pm- 8:56 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/15/2017.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w001]
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
[Duration: 33s]
Julie Nixon Eisenhower call to Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon
-[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II
-Appointment of Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist versus a female
-American Bar Association [ABA]
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Telephone calls to the President
-Supreme Court speech, October 21, 1971
-Clark MacGregor
-Freeman F. Gosden
-Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
-Madison Hotel
-Warren E. Burger
-American Bar Association [ABA]
-Iowa
-Washington Post
-Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/15/2017. 3s
segment cleared for release. 26s remain closed as 012-064-w002.]
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w002]
[Duration: 3s]
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w002]
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
[Duration: 26s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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Gerald Rapp (Sp?)
-National Parks
-State Department
-George Washington
-Mount Vernon
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/18/2017. 2m
11s segment cleared for release with two segments of 28s and 23s remaining closed as 012-064-
w004 and 012-064-w005 respectively.]
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w004]
[Duration: 2m 11s]
Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon
-Women voters
-Democrats
-Supreme Court nominee
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Proposed call
-American Bar Association [ABA]
-Call to Rose Mary Woods
-[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w004]
[Duration: 28s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
******************************************************************************
Tricia Nixon Cox
-Edward R. F. Cox
-Harvard Law
-Law school class rankings
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal Returnable]
[012-064-w005]
[Duration: 23s]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
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The President's announcement, October 21, 1971
-William L. Safire
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Patrick J. Buchanan
The President conferred with Manolo Sanchez at an unknown time between 8:48 pm and 8:56
pm.
The President's schedule
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
[End of conferral]
Telephone calls to the President
-William P. Rogers
-Alexander P. Butterfield
The President's schedule
-Telephone calls
-Rogers
-John N. Mitchell
-Burger
-George W. Romney
-Maurice H. Stans
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Clark MacGregorAlso recorded on October 22, 1971
- 012-060 8:32 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 8:32 pm to 8:39 pm.
- 012-061 8:40 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:40 pm.
- 012-062 8:40 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 8:40 pm to 8:47 pm.
- 012-063 8:48 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:48 pm.
- 012-065 8:56 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:56 pm and 9:00 pm.
- 012-066 8:56 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:56 pm and 9:00 pm.
- 012-067 9:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 9:00 pm to 9:02 pm.
- 012-068 9:03 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Warren E. Burger talked on the telephone from 9:03 pm to 9:13 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 012-064, October 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-064 (accessed October 25, 2026).