Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-053

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Rose Mary Woods

Friday, December 24, 1971 · 9:35 PM–11:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 8 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation017-053 on Tape 17 (tape position 02:19:50–02:19:58)StartFriday, December 24, 1971 at 9:35 PMEndFriday, December 24, 1971 at 11:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-053 ↗

President Nixon instructed the White House operator to place an outgoing call to his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods. The brief interaction served exclusively as a procedural request to facilitate communication with his long-time aide on Christmas Eve. No policy matters or administrative decisions were addressed during this connection.

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Yes, please.
You ring this, would you?
Thank you.

On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:35 pm and 11:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-053 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 17-53

Date: December 24, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:35 pm and 11:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Request for a call to Rose Mary Woods
  • 017-046 9:14 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover talked on the telephone from 9:14 pm to 9:17 pm.
  • 017-047 9:17 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:17 pm and 9:19 pm.
  • 017-048 9:19 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, McIntyre Faries, and Geralyne Faries talked on the telephone from 9:19 pm to 9:20 pm.
  • 017-049 9:20 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:20 pm and 9:22 pm.
  • 017-050 9:22 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald McI. Kendall talked on the telephone from 9:22 pm to 9:30 pm.
  • 017-051 9:32 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Hobart D. Lewis talked on the telephone from 9:32 pm to 9:35 pm.
  • 017-052 9:35 PM · 6 min — Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Ann Davis talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:35 pm and 11:17 pm.
  • 017-054 9:35 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:35 pm and 11:17 pm.

Conversation 017-053, December 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-053 (accessed October 12, 2026).