Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-009

Nixon phone call with Hughes on Otto E. Passman and Legislative relations

Friday, December 24, 1971 · 1:50 PM–1:51 PM ET · White House Telephone · 49 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hughes, James D. ("Don")Conversation017-009 on Tape 17 (tape position 00:12:09–00:12:56)StartFriday, December 24, 1971 at 1:50 PMEndFriday, December 24, 1971 at 1:51 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-009 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191781 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed Major General James D. Hughes to telephone Representative Otto E. Passman to secure his support for a specific presidential initiative. Hughes was directed to convey the President's personal holiday wishes and assure Passman that Nixon trusted his judgment regarding the expenditure of taxpayer funds. By positioning the initiative as an exception and emphasizing mutual confidence, the President sought to cultivate goodwill and influence the congressman's legislative cooperation.

Otto E. Passman
Legislative relations
Presidential initiatives
Government spending
Political strategy

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 1:50 pm to 1:51 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-9

Date: December 24, 1971
Time: 1:50 pm - 1:51 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Maj. Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes.

[See Conversation No. 309-8]

     President’s initiatives
           -Hughes to call Representative Otto E. Passman
                -Talking points
                -Passman
                -Taxpayers' money

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Hello.

Yes, sir.

I forgot to tell you, I want you to call Otto Passman on the phone, if you would.

All right, sir.

And say you're calling at the president's request, that you brought it up, that there is a, that this will be an exception.

But the president said that if, told you that if Otto Passman felt that it was a good idea, that he would approve it, and that he, Otto, can so state.

All right, sir.

In other words, we want to make a few points with him on it, too.

We're fine.

But you should call him and say, and the president wants to extend his very best wishes for Christmas and all that.

He said that he had complete confidence in auto-passing because he knows he wouldn't spend the taxpayers' money unless it was in a good cause.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Thank you, sir.

Also recorded on December 24, 1971

017-006 1:46 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:46 pm and 1:48 pm.
017-007 1:48 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 1:48 pm to 1:49 pm.
309-006 1:48 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:48 pm to 1:49 pm.
309-007 1:49 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 1:49 pm.
017-008 1:50 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:50 pm.
309-008 1:50 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:50 pm to 1:51 pm.
017-010 1:51 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:51 pm and 1:56 pm.
309-009 1:51 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:51 pm and 1:56 pm.

All 74 conversations from December 24, 1971 →

Nixon & Hébert on Legislative relations and House Armed Services Committee June 23, 1971 · 4 min
Nixon, MacGregor & Sanchez on Legislative relations and Republican Party unity March 29, 1972 · 4 min
Nixon, O'Neill & Ford on State of the Union and Legislative relations January 3, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon & Bull on Gift Giving and Bulova Watches August 7, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon, Passman & Timmons on Legislative strategy and Congressional relations August 7, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon & Bull on Diplomatic credentials and Otto E. Passman April 27, 1973 · 4 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-009, December 24, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191781). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-009 (accessed October 30, 2026).