Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-143

Nixon phone call with Mitchell on William T. Cahill and Nelson A. Rockefeller

Monday, November 29, 1971 · 11:11 AM–11:13 AM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Mitchell, John N.Conversation015-143 on Tape 15 (tape position 04:07:16–04:08:24)StartMonday, November 29, 1971 at 11:11 AMEndMonday, November 29, 1971 at 11:13 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-143 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted John Mitchell regarding whether to call New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill to commend his handling of a recent prison situation. Mitchell advised that the President avoid a direct call to prevent potential political friction with New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, whose own handling of similar issues was frequently compared to Cahill's. Ultimately, they decided that Mitchell would contact Cahill instead to convey the President's approval of his judgment, thereby maintaining a low-key approach.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
Hello.
Yes, Mr. President.
Do you feel that I might well give Cahill a call on telling me he's done well up there, or is it with that rub-off wrong on Rocky?
I don't have to do it.
I just noted it.
In connection with the prison?
Yeah, yeah.
I would think that it was such a low key that I'd let it go at that.
Why don't I call him?
Yeah.
And tell him.
Why don't you call him that you were in the office and we were discussing it.
And that I thought he did it, handled it with very great skill.
Yeah.
Otherwise, you see, the thing is, I did call Rocky and stood by him, but I don't want it to appear that I'm calling KO, because some people have tried to compare KO with Rocky, and the damn things aren't even comparable.
No, none whatsoever, and I think it might be, as you say, it might get back at Rockefeller as to why the hell he didn't do this.
But I can talk to Bill and tell him we were talking about it, and he's sure about it.
He exercised good judgment in it and let it go at that.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On November 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 11:11 am to 11:13 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-143 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-143

Date: November 29, 1971
Time: 11:11 am - 11:13 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     John N. Mitchell

The President talked with Mitchell.

[See also Conversation No. 625-16A]

     William T. Cahill
          -Call from the President regarding prison
                -Nelson A. Rockefeller
          -Call from Mitchell
          -The President's previous call to Rockefeller

Also recorded on November 29, 1971

  • 015-142 11:02 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:02 am and 11:11 am.
  • 625-015 11:02 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:02 am and 11:11 am.
  • 625-016 11:02 AM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:02 am and 11:13 am.
  • 015-144 11:13 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:13 am and 11:14 am.
  • 625-017 11:13 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:13 am and 11:14 am.
  • 015-145 11:14 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 11:14 am to 11:16 am.
  • 625-018 11:14 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:14 am to 11:16 am.
  • 015-146 11:20 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:20 am.

All 72 conversations from November 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-143, November 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-143 (accessed October 9, 2026).