Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 17 › Conversation 017-092

Nixon phone call with Heath on Christmas greetings and US-UK relations

Saturday, December 25, 1971 · 11:47 AM–11:48 AM ET · White House Telephone ·1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operator;  Heath, Edward R. G.Conversation017-092 onTape 17 (tape position 03:17:42–03:19:09)StartSaturday, December 25, 1971 at 11:47 AMEndSaturday, December 25, 1971 at 11:48 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-092 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated a brief holiday call to British Prime Minister Edward Heath to exchange Christmas greetings and express his anticipation for their continued collaboration in the coming year. The conversation included personal reflections on their holiday activities, with Nixon mentioning the presence of Mamie Eisenhower and his appreciation for orchestral music. No formal policy matters were addressed during this social exchange.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, sir?
Secretary Hodgson, please.
Yes, sir.
The Prime Minister's coming right on.
Who?
The Prime Minister.
Oh, yeah.
I'll hang on.
Yeah.
on the line.
Hello, Mr. Prime Minister?
Well, you just beat me to it.
I have no crisis to talk about, no problems, but I just wanted you to know that Mrs. Nixon and I send our very best to you and all your colleagues on this day and we just look forward to working together next year.
As a matter of fact, I'm just listening to
to piano and orchestra with Rachmaninoff.
I thought you could hear it in the background.
Yes, we're going to do that.
Mrs. Eisenhower is here, and we're going to just open ours right now.
I certainly will, and we will look forward to seeing you again for too long.
Thank you very much.
Bye.

NARA Description

On December 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Edward R. G. Heath talked on the telephone from 11:47 am to 11:48 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-092 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-92

Date: December 25, 1971
Time: 11:47 am - 11:48 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Request for a call to James D. Hodgson

     Edward R.G. Heath on the line

The President talked with Heath.

     Christmas greetings
          -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

     Music
         -Piano and orchestra

     Mamie G.D. Eisenhower

     The Royal Family

Also recorded on December 25, 1971

  • 017-088 11:34 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield talked on the telephone from 11:34 am to 11:36 am.
  • 017-089 11:38 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:38 am.
  • 017-090 11:38 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:38 am and 11:45 am.
  • 017-091 11:45 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 11:45 am to 11:46 am.
  • 017-093 11:49 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. Hodgson talked on the telephone from 11:49 am to 11:51 am.
  • 017-094 11:51 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 11:51 am to 11:55 am.
  • 017-095 11:55 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:55 am and 12:44 pm.
  • 017-096 11:55 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:55 am and 12:44 pm.

All 57 conversations from December 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-092, 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/017-092 (accessed September 18, 2026).