Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 13 › Conversation 013-100

Nixon phone call with Annenberg on Frank Rizzo and Foreign aid

Wednesday, November 3, 1971 · 12:25 PM–12:31 PM ET · White House Telephone · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Annenberg, Walter H.Conversation013-100 on Tape 13 (tape position 03:33:59–03:39:46)StartWednesday, November 3, 1971 at 12:25 PMEndWednesday, November 3, 1971 at 12:31 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 013-100 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Ambassador Walter Annenberg discussed a range of political matters, beginning with the positive reception of Nixon's congratulatory call to newly elected Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo. The two also addressed the administration's strategic legislative outlook, specifically the Senate's foreign aid setback and the upcoming confirmation of Supreme Court nominees Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist. Furthermore, they reviewed diplomatic tensions regarding British Prime Minister Edward Heath's reaction to the announcement of Nixon's Moscow trip and U.S. policy toward international issues.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Ambassador.
Hello, Walter.
How are you?
Couldn't be better.
Well, I just want to congratulate you on that fine man you elected as mayor.
Well, Frank phoned me the day after you spoke to him.
Yeah, Rose told me about it.
He was a boy.
He was what?
He was just as thrilled as a boy.
Great.
He was so delighted that you phoned him.
He called me right away and he said, you have no idea who called me.
And I said, oh, yes, I do.
Yeah, yeah.
He was so delighted.
Great.
I am your great friend in Frank, Mr. President.
Let me say that don't you really feel that that's a lot better for us than to have had Longstreth?
No question about it.
No question about it.
That's the way we played it.
And I really feel, I just think we just got to keep frank from being taken in by that Democratic hierarchy.
Mr. President, I want to assure you that I'm going to stick as close to that situation as I possibly can.
Well, you're not coming in Thanksgiving, I understand.
No, no, because if I do come then, I don't think it would be proper for me to return again for Christmas.
And that you ought to do.
Well, in any event, I'm just going out for, frankly, the dedication, and I have to come back because I've got a very heavy schedule here at the moment.
I think it's very generous of you to go... Well, Bob Hope is such a good friend, and I just want to be sure that he knows we're supporting him.
And it's a great project, too.
So I'm just... May I tell you how very much I admire your continuing to grasp all the initiatives?
Well, you know, some of your... You may have noted some people are sort of saying that this foreign aid thing is a defeat.
Just don't believe it, because we'll get a continuing resolution.
The Senate's going to look very bad on this.
and quite possibly you might come out with a type of legislation that will even be better.
We hope so.
And we're going to keep right on top of them.
The U.N. voted, so there wasn't a thing we could do about that.
We did the best we could.
And I can assure you that we...
We're going to remember our friends on that one, too.
I know, but in these areas, your footwork has been awfully good.
You'll turn it around.
We certainly got two good judges, incidentally.
They'll both be confirmed, two very strong men, Powell and Rehnquist.
I had a letter from a friend of mine from Virginia who is so enthusiastic because...
Judge Powell has been one of his closest friends.
He couldn't have a finer American.
His only problem is his age, but as I said to the press, 10 years of him is worth 30 of, basically, Douglas.
That's the way I feel about it anyway.
Mr. President, I'm going to stay very close to that situation because I recognize what is involved.
How are you getting along at the present time with Heath and the foreign ministry?
Heath, I think, was just a little hurt.
that he was only given one-hour notification, you know, about the news re-going to Moscow.
Right, right.
It would appear to me that the Russians did a bit of talking.
Well, as a matter of fact... About a week ahead of time.
The difficulty is that...
I subsequently found that out.
The Russians talked, but they told us not to.
That was the problem.
Mm-hmm.
But in any event, I had inferred as much to Hume when I talked.
I was trying to signal him that something was coming.
I had been, you know, we had made a commitment.
But we'll just, we've got to remember, Heath's got to remember that we're not going to embarrass them on South Africa or Rhodesia or any of those things.
Meanwhile, whereas Heath would ordinarily be inclined to be understanding, he's got to put on some kind of a facade for the European group.
That's correct.
He's got to get in under the tent.
So he has to act perhaps a little colder for several months.
That's the way I read the cards.
I understand that.
And, of course, we've supported him on his Common Market initiative, and that was a fine victory for him, too.
Well, anyway, it's good to talk to you, and I hope you and Lee...
Thanks for calling.
And give Lee my best.
I'm delighted to do that, Mr. President.
From Pat, bye.
Right on.

NARA Description

On November 3, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Walter H. Annenberg talked on the telephone from 12:25 pm to 12:31 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 013-100 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 013-100

Date: November 3, 1971
Time: 12:25 pm - 12:31 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Walter H. Annenberg.

[See Conversation No. 301-13C]

     Frank L. Rizzo
          -Election
          -Telephone call to Annenberg
                -Rose Mary Woods’ conversation with President
                -Reaction to President's call
          -Contrasted with William Thacher Longstreth
          -Future relations with Annenberg
                -Administration support

**********************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 02/11/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

[013-100-w001]
[Duration: 49s]

       Walter H. Annenberg
              -Influence in Pennsylvania
              -Role in assisting President’s re-election
                      -Potential of winning Pennsylvania
                      -South Jersey
                      -Delaware
                      -Plan to stay involved

**********************************************************************

     Annenberg's schedule

     President's schedule
           -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope

     President's policies

     Foreign aid program
          -Senate vote
                -Continuing resolution
                     -Administration options

     United Nations vote on Taiwan

     Supreme Court nominations
          -Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist
          -Powell
               -Letter from unknown Virginian to Annenberg
               -Age
                     -William O. Douglas

     Rizzo and Pennsylvania

     Edward R.G. Heath
         -Notification of President's forthcoming trip to Moscow

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                 -President's previous conversation with Sir Alexander F. Douglas-Home
            -US policy toward South Africa and Rhodesia
            -Relations with Europeans
            -Common Market

     Lee Annenberg
          -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

Also recorded on November 3, 1971

  • 013-097 12:16 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:16 pm.
  • 013-098 12:16 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 301-008 12:16 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:16 pm.
  • 301-009 12:16 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:30 pm.
  • 301-010 12:16 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:30 pm.
  • 301-011 12:16 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:30 pm.
  • 301-013 12:20 PM · 55 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:20 pm to 1:16 pm.
  • 013-099 12:22 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 12:22 pm to 12:23 pm.

All 67 conversations from November 3, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 013-100, November 3, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/013-100 (accessed September 30, 2026).