Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-076

Nixon phone call with Burger on Supreme Court and William H. Rehnquist

Saturday, December 25, 1971 · 10:53 AM–10:55 AM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Burger, Warren E.Conversation017-076 on Tape 17 (tape position 03:00:30–03:03:01)StartSaturday, December 25, 1971 at 10:53 AMEndSaturday, December 25, 1971 at 10:55 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-076 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon called Chief Justice Warren E. Burger to exchange Christmas greetings and discuss the recent additions to the Supreme Court, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist. The President expressed his confidence in Rehnquist’s work ethic and emphasized that he viewed the judiciary as the "Burger Court" rather than the "Nixon Court." The conversation concluded with a brief exchange regarding the President's upcoming travel to Florida to meet with Prime Minister Eisaku Sato.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Keep Justice Berger on the line, sir.
Warren, I just called to wish you and all the family a Merry Christmas.
Well, how wonderful of you to take the trouble.
And to tell you that I'm really pleased that you've now got a couple more people in that court, and that load you've been carrying is a little bit lighter.
Well, it is.
It's going to be at least two really first-class men.
Right.
One thing I think, of course, you've known Powell for years, but one thing...
One thing about Rehnquist that I think you'll be pleased, he is a bearcat for work, and he's totally honest and objective, and so I just pile it on him.
He can take, you know, most people think that the only cases that come to the court are the spectacular ones, but my guess is 80% of them are things that are just hard work.
And this fellow is a fantastic worker.
That's one of the reasons that when I finally came down, I thought he'd be a good one to add to the court.
He certainly shows every sign of it.
I've had two, three visits with him.
Have you?
Good.
And he's just so eager to get to work.
And, of course, from his work with Bob Jackson, he knows the machinery of the course and the technique.
Right.
So he's got a running head start.
I won't be here for the swearing-in because I'll be down with Sato.
Oh, yeah.
But I met them the other day and gave them their commission.
So the main thing is you work them in.
Let me say that all this talk about the Nixon court is nonsense.
To me, it's the Burger court.
That's what we want.
It's the Supreme Court.
I think now we're on the way to having a mighty good court for the future.
Right, right.
You're getting off soon, are you?
Well, I have to go to Florida tomorrow for meetings.
We're down at Williamsburg.
We took the house down here, then took our son and daughter, and we're just taking it easy.
We went to design service at the old Bruton Parish house last night and had a great time.
Wonderful.
Well, give our very best to Mr. Nixon, will you?
Well, you've been a great credit to the court, and the country's grateful.
Well, I think we're on the way to maybe getting this country back on the road, and your part in the way these things are going, and your department are going beautifully.
It's a little cooler than it was.
I said, how's the health of the country?
I said, better.
But I said, it's never going to be perfect.
I said, we don't live in a perfect world, but every year we'll make a little progress.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Okay.
Bye.

NARA Description

On December 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Warren E. Burger talked on the telephone from 10:53 am to 10:55 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-076 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-76

Date: December 25, 1971
Time: 10:53 am - 10:55 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Warren E. Burger.

     Christmas greetings

     Supreme Court
          -Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
          -William H. Rehnquist
               -Praise
               -Robert C. Jackson
               -Swearing-in
                     -The President's schedule
                          -Florida
                                -Meeting with Eisaku Sato

     Burger's family
          -Visit to Williamsburg, Virginia

     Thelma C. (“Pat’) Nixon

     Supreme Court

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/21/2017.
Segment will remain closed.]
[Personal Returnable]

[017-076-w001]
[Duration: 5s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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

     Health of the US
          -Improvement

Also recorded on December 25, 1971

  • 017-073 10:37 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur E. Summerfield, and Miriam Summerfield talked on the telephone from 10:37 am to 10:38 am.
  • 017-074 10:38 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:38 am and 10:53 am.
  • 017-075 10:38 AM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:38 am and 10:53 am.
  • 017-077 10:55 AM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 11:02 am.
  • 017-078 11:02 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Michael Lauer, Ann Marie Lauer, Kathy Lauer, and Kevin Lauer talked on the telephone from 11:02 am to 11:05 am.
  • 017-079 11:07 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Hugh Scott, and Marian Scott talked on the telephone from 11:07 am to 11:09 am.
  • 017-080 11:10 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Carl B. Albert talked on the telephone from 11:10 am to 11:12 am.
  • 017-081 11:12 AM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:12 am and 11:21 am.

All 57 conversations from December 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-076, 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/017-076 (accessed October 10, 2026).