Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-019

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Call management

Friday, December 24, 1971 · 3:37 PM–3:44 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation017-019 on Tape 17 (tape position 00:51:36–00:52:38)StartFriday, December 24, 1971 at 3:37 PMEndFriday, December 24, 1971 at 3:44 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to coordinate his holiday schedule and manage incoming communications. The discussion focused on tracking the availability of associates Jack Mulcahy and W. Clement Stone, who were currently unreachable. Nixon provided instructions for his call routing between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. and explicitly requested that the operator place follow-up calls to Ralph H. Cake and Charles W. Colson.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Mr. President, I found that Mr. Mulcahy is on his way to a hunting spot.
It should take an hour, but of course he's been on his way since then.
Oh, I see.
And I'll try that.
And then Mr. Clement Stone is out, as I expected him to have, and I don't know that word.
Oh, I see.
Well, if we, um, between 4 and 5, um, pretty much target, so maybe around 5 o'clock, if you get any, if you get any new calls, you can try.
Okay.
Okay.
And, uh... And it's before four?
No, any... Oh, yeah, if you get something before four, I can take it.
Fine.
And then between four and five, I will be tied up.
Yes, ma'am.
And then, operator, if you could get Mr. Ralph Cake.
That's code 503-292-2244.
Thank you, sir.
And after that, I'll talk to Mr. Coulson, too.
Fine.
Thank you.
All right.

NARA Description

On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 3:37 pm to 3:44 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-19

Date: December 24, 1971
Time: 3:37 pm - 3:44 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President.

     John A. (“Jack”) Mulcahy's and W. Clement Stone's locations

     The President's schedule

     Request for a call to Ralph H. Cake

     Request for a call to Charles W. Colson

Also recorded on December 24, 1971

  • 017-016 3:09 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:09 pm.
  • 017-017 3:09 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:09 pm and 3:12 pm.
  • 017-018 3:12 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 3:12 pm to 3:37 pm.
  • 017-020 3:45 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 3:45 pm to 3:58 pm.
  • 017-021 3:58 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:58 pm and 4:34 pm.
  • 643-002 4:20 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:20 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 643-016 4:28 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:28 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 017-022 4:34 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, Edward C. Nixon, and Gaye Lynne (Woods) Nixon talked on the telephone from 4:34 pm to 4:39 pm.

All 54 conversations from December 24, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-019, December 24, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-019 (accessed October 7, 2026).