Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-098
Nixon phone call with Lewis on Supreme Court nominations
Friday, October 22, 1971 · 10:00 PM–10:02 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted with Hobart D. Lewis to celebrate the successful announcement of his Supreme Court nominees, Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist. Nixon expressed satisfaction with his strategy of misleading the press and the American Bar Association to secure appointments that prioritized conservative ideology over typical vetting pressures. The two discussed the long-term impact of these appointments on the Court's ideological balance, agreeing that the move successfully trapped critics who previously demanded judicial excellence.
Audio
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data
Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.
NARA Description
On October 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Hobart D. Lewis talked on the telephone from 10:00 pm to 10:02 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-098 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 012-098
Date: October 22, 1971
Time: 10:00 pm- 10:02 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis.
The President's Supreme Court nominees
-Lewis’ view
-The President's action
-American Bar Association [ABA] Committee
-Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Jr.
-William H. Rehnquist
-Potter Stewart
The President's scheduleAlso recorded on October 23, 1971
- 012-089 9:13 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:13 pm.
- 012-090 9:13 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:13 pm and 9:18 pm.
- 012-092 9:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 9:18 pm to 9:23 pm.
- 012-093 9:25 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:25 pm.
- 012-094 9:30 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:30 pm.
- 012-095 9:46 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone from 9:46 pm to 9:49 pm.
- 012-096 9:52 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:52 pm.
- 012-097 9:52 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:52 pm and 10:00 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 012-098, October 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-098 (accessed October 23, 2026).